Vikings Archives — The Rational Heathen

Viking Winter Preparations and Activities

December 7, 2022 The Rational Heathen Comments 0 Comment

I thought I’d talk about Viking winter preparations and activities since we’re in December. Preparing for winter isn’t something we modern Heathens have to worry about much. I mean, maybe you get your car serviced or make sure that you’ve got snow tires on your car, but actual winter preparations isn’t usually something most people in modern, developed countries really have to worry about.

I often ponder how our ancestors coped with their hard lives in the context of the seasons. While many of us are worried about preparing for back-to-school and the holidays, our Northern ancestors were engaged in surviving another winter with brutal cold and an unforgiving landscape. Little wonder that they turned to the gods to aid them when they could.

Viking Winter Preparations and Activities: Food for Thought

So what were the Viking winter preparations and activities? Most of our ancestors were farmers until modern times. Farming, in most cases, was how people supported themselves, their families, and their communities. They might have been required to pay their lord a certain percentage of food they grew, but in many cases, what people grew was necessary for survival during the winter months.

Most of what people ate were foods that they grew, raised, gathered, or hunted. Sure you might trade with your fellow landowner for something they grew, or occasionally bought exotic foods or spices from traders, but for the most part, your food was what you could produce.

If you had need of work such as a blacksmith, you might employ one, have a slave who could do the work, or do it yourself. You might pay in barter, such as food or products the smith might need, or if you obtained silver from raiding or trade, you might use that as payment.

Winter Celebrations

No doubt winter was a time for celebrating, since the farm work was pretty much done, especially if the harvest was good. After slaughtering the animals you weren’t going to keep through the winter, you had an abundance of meat, which meant preserving it or feasting on it.

I was listening to a podcast the other day where the expert pointed out that feasts in the Middle Ages were often used to show status. The lord would often have feasts to show off his wealth by offering foods that perhaps others didn’t have. This gave them a higher status in the community, or more cred.

Using feasts to show off one’s generousity and wealth makes sense. Cred, even back then, was vitally important in small communities. So, even our Viking ancestors probably showed off their wealth by providing feasts. What better time than after harvest and at solstice?

Winter Fun and Games

So, with all this time, what did our ancestors do? Sure, they hunted, tended to their animals and equipment, and preserved food, but they had free time. Much of it was spend playing games and doing outdoor activities.

tafl Games

Apparently, Northern peoples were gamers and played a lot of “tafl games” or table games. We know they played Hnefatafl, which died out when chess became popular. We only know the play rules because the Sami played a variation of it that is called Tablut. Tablut was still played in the 18th century and a clever botanist wrote down the rules during an expedition to Lapland.

There’s a lengthy explanation why Hnefatafl is a reconstucted game, including poor translations of the botanist’s writings and that’s it’s a variant and probably not the actual game.

Anyway, you can play it online, if you want to experience Hnefatafl. I’ve just downloaded an app to play, so feel free to search for it in the playstore. It’s also available as boardgames, so check out the links below.

Kubb or Viking Chess

Kubb is an outside game that some people in Norway call “Viking Chess.” It’s played with wooden blocks. It’s considered more of an summer game than one in the winter, and its dubious whether the Vikings actually played it, but what the Hel? You can have fun playing it anyway. The instructions for playing are in the link above. You can also get some nifty Kubb Games HERE.

Kubb took off in the 1990s, and from the resource mentioned above, there’s no mention of it beyond a century ago. However, since our religion is largely a reconstruction with debatably accurate sources, adding Kubb to your family’s and friends’ game list isn’t like Thor or Odin is going to smite you for introducing an anachronism. Besides the game sounds like something a bunch of drunk Vikings could have made up.

Viking Winter Preparations and Activities: Skiing, Snowshoeing, and Ice Skating

I suppose one can’t talk about northern peoples without mentioning skiing, snowshoeing, and ice skating. Our Northern ancestors didn’t invent any of those modes of transportation, but they sure did make them popular.

Snowshoeing

Snowshoes. Licensed through the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

Snowshoeing was invented at least 8000 years ago in central Asia, according to Snowshoe Magazine. The first snowshoe artifacts archaeologists have uncovered date to 4000 BCE, and archaeologists believe humans used them well before that. It’s assumed that snowshoes existed before skis although there have been skis uncovered in Russia that date to 8000 BCE. Archaeologists hypothesize that people looked at the feet of animals who could walk on snow and mimicked their pads by creating a snowshoe that could spread their own weight over a wider surface area.

We know that the ancestors used snowshoes as their primary transportation when crossing the Bering Land Bridge to North America. How do we know this? Archaeologists have discovered that indigenous peoples still used snowshoes, but not skis. European ancestors tend to favor skis as they traveled west, which is why we see skiing as a popular sport originating in Europe.

Skis

Skis came about as people looked for faster ways to move over snow. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, skis were invented at least 10,000 years ago. Apparently archaeologists found skis in Russia dating to 7500 to 8000 BCE. We know that there’s a rock carving depicting skis and skiing in Norway that was carved 4000 BCE and pieces of skis from a Swedish bog date to around 3500 BCE.

As an aside, I expect the discrepancy in time between snowshoes and skis has to do with what is considered a ski and a snowshoe in the past. Skis often resembled snowshoes, and snowshoes might have resembled skis at one point, leaving it all to conjecture.

Although the Vikings didn’t invent skiing, the Norse actually gave the name to skis. We got the words ski and skiing from skríða á skíðum—“to stride on skis.” How awesome is that? Anyway, in 1274 the Norse had to outlaw hunting moose while the hunter was on skis because moose were in danger of becoming extinct. Wow. That’s really bizarre. Who would’ve thought skis would be a huge advantage when it came to hunting moose?

Ice Skating

Bone Ice Skates. Photo by Steven G. Johnson, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0.

Skate like a Viking! Seriously, our Norse ancestors strapped shin bones of deer or oxen to their feet to skate on the ice. They even used animal fat to make them slipperier. Some Norse used iron, but those who used bone skates tended to be faster. Probably had to do with the smoothness and the friction. Unlike skating blades people use nowadays, these were large, flat surfaces.

The Norse even held speed skating competitions where winners would receive prizes in the form of silver spoons, copper pots, swords, and young horses.

I think this blog post is long enough when it comes to Viking winter preparations and activities. Let me know what you think.

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Pop Culture Heathens

September 19, 2018 The Rational Heathen Comments 0 Comment

Quick, without Googling, name five Heathen gods or goddesses other than Odin, Thor, Freyja, Loki, or Hel. Now, assuming you didn’t cheat, can you tell me whether they’re Aesir, Vanir, Alfar, or Jotunn? (Again without Googling.)

If the names came easily to you, chances are you’ve been in Heathenry awhile. If you’ve equivocated on some of the races of the gods, chances are you’ve been in Heathenry for years.

However, if you really can’t name five, let alone understand why anyone would equivocate on what race some of the gods were, then you’re probably new at this. You may have come to Heathenry through pop culture, either from watching one of the Thor movies or watching Vikings. And that’s okay.

Neophyte Heathens and Asa-popes

The other day, I was talking to an agnostic on Facebook (yeah, you know who you are) who quizzed me about being a real Heathen. I wasn’t really bothered by it, but it got me to thinking about the Neo-Heathens who have joined Heathenry from watching pop culture movies and TV shows about Vikings and the gods. (Marvel springs to mind.) I also started thinking about the tendency for certain people in our religion to declare themselves gatekeepers or Asa-popes. Inevitably, there’s a clash between the Asa-popes and the neo-Heathens, because the Asa-popes and Gatekeepers are annoyed with the neophytes. They are annoyed that someone would show interest in our religion because of some pop culture reference.

Loki wives. Not historical. Neo-pagans. Neo-Heathens. None of this is particularly new. So, the Asa-popes discourage the newbies, and the newbies think all Heathens are asshats.

That’s Fine, Except…

That would all be well and good, except Heathens are pretty much a drop in the overall pagan pool. We don’t have the numbers to turn anyone legitimately seeking knowledge away. (Except the neo Nazis, whom we really don’t want.) Heathenry and all its forms (with the exception of the white supremacists) might equal 250,000 in the world. If that.

The Good Old Days of Heathenry

Back in the good old days when Heathenry flourished and people were lucky to live to 50 years old, there weren’t any Asa-popes telling people what to believe. Sure, there were gythias and gothis, but they weren’t connected by some universal Church. Some gods and goddesses were worshiped over others; some stories were told in some parts that weren’t told in others. When the Vikings went to new lands, they’d add gods and goddesses from those pantheons. Or maybe they figured that the names of those gods matched the Heathen gods. We have some artifacts that show the Christian god being worshiped alongside Thor for a time.

My point is that people back then didn’t have a single view of the gods. Like now, they chose their own traditions and their own gods to believe in. The concept of organized religion occurred with the growth of cities and with priesthoods looking to grab power and keep themselves within the power structure. Sure, you had shamans and whatnot doing the power thing if you were in a tribe, but I suspect most Heathens revered ancestors and tutelary spirits, with an occasional major god or goddess thrown in for good measure.

So, How Does This Work for Today?

Heathens weren’t a particular picky bunch when it came to revering gods and goddesses. How you came to what kind of gods you worshiped was probably your own business and really not worried about, as long as you weren’t a dickhead about it. You were pretty much considered a Heathen if you believed in the Heathen gods–as far as we know, you didn’t get singled out because you believed that Thor was better than Odin, or you worshiped Perun or Frau Holle. Hel, our ancestors probably gave you a pass if you revered Loki as long as you were part of the kindred. When you started identifying with Christian ideals that were aimed at destroying Heathenism, that’s when they got a bit tetchy about it.

So, when I look at where new Heathens are coming from, I shrug and think that they have to come from somewhere. If not from pop culture, then where? See, I think a lot of Heathens, especially recons, don’t give our gods enough credit. Who is to say that Bragi didn’t inspire the original writers at Marvel to dip into Nordic mythology and bring Thor to life on comic book pages? Who says that Odin couldn’t have given the mead of poetry to the writer of Vikings? And who can say that the interest in our gods in pop culture isn’t fueled by the gods, themselves?

But It’s Not Right!

At this point, I can hear the recons screaming: It’s NOT right! The stories are screwed up! You know, you’re right. The stories aren’t the legend and myths, and they don’t portray the gods exactly according to our beliefs. Doesn’t matter. They have piqued an interest in our gods and the Heathen ways that cannot be denied. Sure, some will become interested in the context of the movies, the shows, or the graphic novels and that’s all. Some may blend the pop culture and the legends together. But some will dig deeper and explore what it is like to be Heathen. Those are the ones we need to foster.

What About Pop Culture Heathens?

So, what should we do about pop culture Heathens? Nothing. Let them have their fun. Do you actually think that all Heathens were serious followers of our gods? If they were, then why was it so damn easy for Christianity to take hold? Christianity took hold because the powers that be declared it their religion. The masses joined up because that’s what kept them in good graces.

So, that’s my take on the neo-Heathens from pop culture. As usual, your mileage may vary.

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Chicks Dig Warriors: The Viking Lonely Hearts Club

January 23, 2017 Tyra Ulfdottir Comments 0 Comment

Let me start out this post by saying that I had half a post written that I intended to put up this week. But when faced with more information, that research totally derailed my supposition. Which happens, oddly enough. I am not too proud to say that sometimes I’m wrong. (I can see the recons fainting as we speak.) So, I was left with nothing, but as I was posting a third-party article due to some research into the other area, my warped brain came up with the title: Chicks Dig Warriors: The Viking Lonely Hearts Club. So, I’m going to write about why the Viking Age began and why our ancestors decided to rape, sack, and pillage — as well as extort — most of Europe.

Chicks Dig the Longboat

I ran across this article about why the Vikings raided: a shortage of girls. Now, I get that young men were trying to impress the girls back home in the hopes of wooing them away from being a concubine to a richer and more powerful man, or maybe looking for the Viking equivalent of a mail order bride, (but one you had to go get). That being said, I’m going to put forth some other ideas that will probably suggest that it was a multitude of factors and not just polygyny. So, let’s take a look at what caused our ancestors to terrorize the Christians.

Polygyny, or Something Else?

It’s easy to point out that a dearth of women would have caused a fair amount of unrest. An article by the Telegraph points out that a South American tribe had more aggressive men when polygyny was practiced. They point to the Yanomami tribe and say the Vikings were like that, only the comparison doesn’t fit well. The Yanomami are hunter-gatherers in the Brazilian rainforests. The Norse were primarily farmers in a very difficult place to farm.

Resources are very different between hunter-gatherers and farmers. Hunter-gatherers have few possessions–just what they can carry. Quite often, the possessions are communal. For example, a cooking pot may be shared by the community. Therefore, there is more attention paid to the basic necessities of food, water, shelter, and, of course, reproduction. Since food, water, and shelter are often already covered by the environment (especially in a rainforest), the need to reproduce become paramount when polygyny occurs.

While polygyny could have played a role in the Viking Age, archaeological evidence has shown that women have gone ashore with the men. If the men were really that hard up for dates, all they had to do was look in their own longships. If there were really women joining the men on voyages, then we can only assume that there were other reasons the Norse decided to raid.

It’s All About the Resources

I’m a real fan of Jared Diamond’s book, Guns, Germs, and Steel. In it, Diamond hypothesizes that it is the environment that shapes culture. I really do believe that. The contention for resources drove the Viking Age in ways that historians are still trying to piece together. While mates are indeed a viable resource for discussion, I would add that there was more than simply looking for love. I don’t think that the Viking raids were the Norse version of a lonely hearts club. To come up with that oversimplifies things. I really suspect that it was the lack of resources for survival that spawned the Viking age.

I did some quick research and found that in 1967 (that’s as far back as I could find), the percentage of arable land in Sweden was just shy of 7.6 percent. In Norway, the percentage of arable land was even less at a bit more than 2.7 percent. Now, granted, those are modern day numbers, with modern day populations, but even if we accounted for lower populations and less modernization, I’d bet the percentage of farmland wasn’t that impressive. What that did for freemen was require them to work for someone else’s farm in exchange for food and a place to live. Those who inherited the farm had a way to make enough food for themselves. Those who didn’t were stuck trying to eek out a living.

Land was at a premium in Scandinavia when it came to farming. The Norse considered three slaves were the minimum needed to handle a farm with two horses and a dozen head of cattle. Unless you were an exceedingly wealthy farmer, the cost of running a farm was expensive, just in the cost of purchasing slaves alone. That’s assuming you didn’t go raiding for them, and in that case, you can rest assure that someone had to manage the farm while you were gone. So, in a lot of ways, having more than one wife was probably prohibitive for most of the common folk. Those with the real wealth could probably have several wives, (namely the royalty), but in a place with limited resources, it probably wasn’t too common for everyone else. What was more likely is laxness in relationships. (After all, if Sven is gone for three years, it’s doubtful either Sven or his wife is going to remain celibate.)

So, land was a valuable commodity for the Norse populations. That left a fair number of those in the “Karl” classes looking for work and a way to better their circumstances. Any increase in population would guarantee that there is a surplus of people looking for something to do. That probably includes young men, and women, looking to increase their opportunities.

We’ve Seen this Play Out throughout the Middle Ages

Getting rid of the excess population is nothing new here. Throughout Europe, it was not uncommon for nobles to send their sons and daughters who were unlucky enough to be secondborn or later into the clergy. They did this to ensure their firstborn male heirs would inherit their estate without contention. Girls were used as collateral for forging alliances with influential families. Your family increased in wealth and stature by being associated with families greater than your own. If you had several daughters, you could get in good graces by sending your youngest girls to the Church to become nuns. Or, you could at least get rid of a daughter who for some reason wasn’t marriageable by having her take the vows.

“Have Fun Storming the Castle”

So, let’s say you have a bunch of young warriors (both men and women) who have no prospects in Scandinavia. They can either fight among themselves in various raids on other Norse groups — which, incidentally, they did — or they can go out and seek their fortune preying upon some hapless monks in Lindisfarne and look for some lands they can settle down in and start their own farms. Seems to me the choice is pretty obvious. Why fight against people who you know are as good in fighting as you are? Why not fight someone else who isn’t part of your clan anyway? Makes perfect sense. And yes, while it might be to gain more station and more goods (thereby more chance at finding a mate), the practicality of being well off is far better than working as a farmhand and hoping you’ll have enough wealth to support a family. Having wealth from going Viking meant that you could possibly buy land and property in your own country, thus having a better future.

The Viking Longboat

The one thing that made all this possible was the advent of the seaworthy Viking longboat. Without that key piece of technology, I’m certain that the Norse would have stayed squabbling amongst themselves. Had it not been for such a fast and seaworthy craft, it’s unlikely that we would’ve seen so much movement.

There are possibly other reasons for Viking raids, such as getting back at the Christians for forced baptisms and persecution. Those are certainly reasons worth considering. In a later post I may offer my analysis, but in the meantime, I’d argue that the advent of the longboat combined with the need for Norse free men and women to find a way to improve their fortunes was the real reason for the Viking Age.

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