The Vikings spoke a language called Old Norse. Its written form is almost the same as the modern Icelandic
language. The Vikings left inscriptions in letters called runes; you can see an example in the picture. The name
of the runic alphabet used to write the Old Norse language is “Futhark”. There are a lot of Old Norse poems and
stories about their gods and heroes that you can still read today.
The Vikings had many gods. One of the most important was Odin, the god of war, death, and sorcery, among other
things. He was also known as Woden, and our Wednesday is named after him. In Old Norse texts he is described as
one-eyed and bearded, wearing a cloak and a big hat. He is often accompanied by animal companions like wolves or
ravens. A lot of the violence of the Vikings was motivated by their belief in Odin and another god, Thor, who
was the god of strength, thunder, lightning, and other things.
The Vikings were skilled at raiding and looting. The axe was the weapon of choice, used for throwing and
fighting; also used swords, and bows and arrows. You can see some of their swords in the picture. Their ships
sometimes had shields on the sides. Berserkers were
the scariest Vikings, fighting furiously as if in a trance. We get our word “berserk,” meaning “going crazy,”
from their name. They were the first
ones off the boat during a raid and their goal was to shock and terrify the victims of the raid. The people they
didn’t kill they would sometimes kidnap, and keep the women as wives or sell the men as slaves to Arab traders.
