What was life like in Viking Britain?

Some of the Vikings came to Britain to fight and others wanted to live peacefully. Many Vikings worked as farmers, craft workers and blacksmiths selling their goods at markets.

Viking families lived in longhouses with just one room to share with their animals.

The Vikings worshipped many gods and told myths. They were great law-makers and would settle problems at a meeting or ‘Thing’.

Eric Bloodaxe was a fierce, powerful Viking warrior who killed some of his brothers.

He raided Scotland and became King of Northumbria twice in AD947 and AD952.

Eric ‘Bloodaxe’ led his own kingdom in York in the 950s.

31 coins minted at York bear Eric’s name but he was betrayed and killed in AD954 by an Anglo-Saxon army.

Many Vikings worked as farmers. Everything had to be done by hand on a Viking farm, so life was tough.

Farmers grew oats, barley and wheat. They ground the grain to make flour, porridge and ale. They planted vegetables, and kept animals like cows, sheep, pigs and chickens.

Other jobs were:

• Craft workers who made plates, cups, belts and shoes.
• Jewellers who made rings and brooches from precious metals.
• Blacksmiths who hammered red-hot iron into tools, knives and swords.
• Potters who baked clay pots in a wood fire oven.

People sold these goods at markets. Here a family could buy anything from amber beads and apples, to walrus tusks and wolf-skins. Vikings also sailed the seas to buy silver, silk, spices and furs.

• With just one room for all the family to share with their animals, a longhouse would have been a crowded and smelly place to live.

• This was built from wood, wattle and daub (strips of wood covered in clay) or stone and had a thatched or turf roof on top.

• Inside the longhouse, there was a fireplace in the middle of the room which was kept burning all day for heating and cooking.

• There was no bathroom inside, but the Vikings kept clean by washing in a wooden bucket or beside a stream.

• Instead of toilets, people used a cesspit, which was a hole outside dug for toilet waste.

The Norse people worshipped many gods and loved to tell stories of magic and monsters around the fire.

The Vikings gathered to worship in open spaces in the woods. These sacred places were called groves. Viking ceremonies lasted many days with some humans and animals offered to the gods.

The Vikings loved to tell myths and legends about their gods.

• Vikings had their own laws and government.
• People gathered at a meeting called a ‘Thing’. Here they would settle problems and make decisions.
• People could vote on what should happen. For example, the Thing might decide who owned a piece of land or how to punish a criminal.
• All this was overseen by a judge known as a law-speaker.
• Viking laws were not written down, so laws were passed from person to person by word of mouth.
• People who broke the law became outlaws. They had to live in the wilderness and anyone was allowed to hunt them down and kill them.
• Vikings could also settle arguments with a fight known as a Holmgang. Whoever won the duel was seen as chosen by the gods.

Have a look at the thinking points below and think about your answer to each question. You could even write them down on a piece of paper or discuss them with somebody else if you want to.

• What jobs did the thralls do in Viking society?

• How were longhouses different to modern houses?

• Why do you think the Vikings gathered at a meeting or ‘Thing’?

Click on each of the Viking family members below to find out more about their life.

Click on the labels to find out more about what was inside a longhouse.

Are you a parent, carer or teacher? Take a look at some of the links below on KS2 History which are packed full of knowledge, videos, quizzes and activities.