116 viking age
In spite of their reputation for ferocity, not all Vikings were warriors. Most of them were farmers, hunters, and fishermen who led peaceful lives and had a stable social structure. Family and social bonds were vital, for many communities were small and isolated, especially in the middle of the dark, grim northern winters. The literature that has come down to us from the Vikings shows that they had a strong sense of humor, common sense, and fairness. They were a brave people, acknowledging that life can be hard and that death will come to all, but it is to be met bravely and without complaint. The poem Rigsthula gives a detailed picture of how people lived in the Viking Age.
Viking Age The period in Scandinavian history from approximately 750 a. d. to the middle of the 11th century when military forces from Denmark and Norway, known collectively as Vikings, sailed west in long ships to the British Isles and east to Russia, colonizing the land as they went. The Viking Age lasted until nation-states emerged in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and leaders in this region were converted to Christianity.
The warriors who sailed the Viking long ships, raiding and destroying monasteries, villages, and settlements as they progressed, were followed by farmers and shipbuilders who made new homes in the conquered lands. During the Viking Age, Scandinavians had settlements along a route in the northern Atlantic Ocean that included northern England, Scotland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Isle of Man, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland.
The Viking Age is the time of the greatest runestone carving activity in the Viking world. At the beginning of the period, symbols of the carvings were largely of Norse gods and memorials to warriors who fought in Viking conquests. By the end of the age, the carvings contained crosses, other Christian iconography, and messages of conversion from the pagan religion to Christianity.
The Vikings spread the use of runes and Norse symbols as they ventured farther from home. Archaeologists have found evidence of the Viking Age in Western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, and western Asia.
Vili According to Snorri Sturluson in Gylfaginning, one of Odin’ s brothers, along with Ve; son of Bor and the giantess Bestla. Together the three sons of Bor created the Earth and the heavens from the body of the giant Ymir and the first humans from
Detail of a Viking ship found in Vyborg, Russia( Shutterstock)
the trunks of two trees. In Snorri’ s version of the creation story of Norse mythology, it was Vili who gave the humans their senses and the ability to move.
In the Voluspa, the three sons of Bor are named Odin, Hoenir( Vili), and Lothur( Ve).
Vimur A rushing river in Jotunheim. The giantess Gialp tried to raise the level of the torrent, some translations say by urinating in the river, to drown the god Thor, but Thor hit her with a well-aimed stone and she ran off, howling.
Vingolf( Friendly Floor, Friend Hall) Possibly the mansion home of the goddess Frigg and the other Asynjur. Vingolf stood in Asgard, home of the Aesir, next to Gladsheim, the palace that contained the thrones of Odin and the other 12 main gods.
Snorri Sturluson wrote in his Prose Edda that Vingolf is another name for Valhalla, the palace that Odin built in Asgard as a dwelling for human heroes who died in battle.
Volsunga Saga A late-13th-century prose epic, telling of the hero Sigurd( called Siegfried in