What was life like as a Viking boy?

What was life like as a Viking boy?

Viking children helped at home with cooking, weaving, and spinning. Younger children worked in the fields and the workshops, helping with metalworking and woodworking. But Viking life wasn’t all work and no play. In the summer, young Vikings swam and played ball, while in the winter they skated and played in the snow.

What did boys do in the Viking times?

VIKING BOYS had to work on the farm, or help to make goods in wood or metal. Boys didn’t get told off for fighting. In fact, they were actually encouraged to fight – not just with their fists or by wrestling, but with proper weapons: spears, axes and SWORDS.

What were Viking children expected to do?

Viking boys were expected to learn how to take care of themselves. This meant they must not only be good farmers, but also skilled warriors. They were also taught to fight using spears, swords and axes.

What was Viking life really like?

Everything had to be done by hand on a Viking farm, so life was tough. Farmers grew oats, barley and wheat. Then they ground the grain to make flour, porridge and ale. They planted vegetables too, and kept animals like cows, sheep, pigs and chickens.

Did Vikings have child support?

During the Viking age, it was common for a family to give one of their children to another family to foster. Typically, a child from a superior family was raised by an inferior family. The foster parents received either payment or support from the birth parents.

What did Vikings call children?

Vikings didn’t have family names. Instead, boys and girls usually took their father’s, or sometimes mother’s, first name as a surname and added “son” or “dottir” (daughter). So Leif, the son of Erik, became Leif Eriksson.

What age did Vikings marry?

Women tended to marry between the ages of 12 and 15, and families negotiated to arrange those marriages, but the woman usually had a say in the arrangement. If a woman wanted a divorce, she had to call witnesses to her home and marriage bed, and declare in front of them that she had divorced her husband.

What did Vikings do for fun?

Vikings engaged in running, swimming, tug-of-war called toga-honk and wrestling. Vikings also played a ball game with stick and ball. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to get hurt or even killed, as Vikings played rough. Women did not participate in these games, but they would gather to watch the men.

Did Vikings drink a lot?

For the ancient Norsemen, drinking was much more than just consuming alcoholic beverages. Drinking ale and mead was instead part of their ancestral lifestyle and had deep cultural and religious significance. Imported Viking-Age glass and pottery drink-ware found in Lofoten .

How Vikings treat their wives?

For this point in history, however, Viking women enjoyed a high degree of social freedom. They could own property, ask for a divorce if not treated properly, and they shared responsibility for running farms and homesteads with their menfolk. They were also protected by law from a range of unwanted male attention.

What was life like for a Viking boy?

Viking boys were expected to learn how to take care of themselves. This meant they must not only be good farmers, but also skilled warriors. In order to learning farming, young boys were either working with their father, sent to a family relative or a respected male in the ancient Viking society.

How old did a Viking boy have to be to go to war?

By the age of 16, a Viking boy could be sent off to war. Vikings didn’t have family names. Instead, boys and girls usually took their father’s, or sometimes mother’s, first name as a surname and added “son” or “dottir” (daughter). So Leif, the son of Erik, became Leif Eriksson.

What did the Vikings do in the summer?

In the summer, young Vikings swam and played ball, while in the winter they skated and played in the snow. By the age of 16, a Viking boy could be sent off to war. Vikings didn’t have family names. Instead, boys and girls usually took their father’s, or sometimes mother’s, first name as a surname and added “son” or “dottir” (daughter).

Who are the main characters in Viking boy?

Viking Boy is the coming of age story of Gunnar, whose peaceful life on his family steading is shattered forever by raiders. As his father dies, protecting his family, and his mother is taken prisoner by the raiders Gunnar swears a blood oath to avenge his family and to take back his life.