Comments on: Marriage Imperative of the Viking Age

By: Jean Mead

Jean Mead — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:13:12 +0000

I am the autor of The Widow Makers historical saga trilogy 1842 – 1900.

I have also written a novel based on a woman living in Norway at the beginning of the Viking raids on Britain, Freya 800 AD is to be published soon.

The designer of the cover for the book is looking for an image of a woman in her thirties, with long reddish hair. Does anyone in the group have such an image we can use?

Hope to hear from someone.
Jean

By: Leif Rafngard

Leif Rafngard — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:49:13 +0000

I remember once reading that the prohibition on Christians trading with non-christians came about right around the same time as the begining of the viking age.

Perhaps Scandinavians, long used to trading with people further south, decided to use more extreme methods to get goods when their pagan money was no longer good enough?

Har det bra,
Leif

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 09:55:19 +0000

Pretty poor research. The Viking expansion into what is now Scotland started in the 7th century according to datable archaeological evidence found in the Shetland Islands. The so-called (and oft-used) ‘quote’ about the fury of the Norsemen is a 1960′s invention, no such actual quotation has been found in the writings of the time, though there certainly were warnings about the Norse! Where is the evidence of female infanticide? Sources and provenance are required for this, otherwise it’s merely uninformed speculation.

By: Leslie Fish

Leslie Fish — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:31:44 +0000

But why does Dr. Barrett assume that there was a lot of female infanticide? Where is the evidence for it? The Vikings were a good bit more egalitarian than most people in Europe at the time; why should they undervalue female children? Much of Viking history, literature and mythology shows much the opposite: that a Viking warrior usually had a wife back home to take care of the homestead — which also involved fighting off any bandits who tried to raid the livestock — while he was off a-viking.

Could it be that there’s a more psychological reason for the sudden flood of Viking raids into Europe? Is it only coincidence that this was also the period when Christianity was spreading through Europe? Could it be that the Pagan Vikings were offended by Christian missionaries showing contempt for the Pagan deities, and set out to punish the offenders? Could it be that the Vikings saw Christianity as weakening more southerly Europeans, and couldn’t resist easy prey? Or did they notice that monasteries and convents were full of non-combatants who collected substantial treasuries, and couldn’t resist easy pickings? Given the nature of Viking society, any of these are more likely reasons than female infanticide.

–Leslie <

By: Kaj

Kaj — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:27:29 +0000

I haven’t heard of tieing the legs, but the arms were bound together to symbolise the bond.

By: Julia Smith

Julia Smith — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:19:25 +0000

Hello, I was trying to figure out if Viking marriage rituals consisted of the bride and grooms’ legs being tied together?

Thank you