A Day in the Life of a Viking Captive

It is day thirty-three of being a “captive” of the Vikings although. I am not really captive as they allow me to walk about their village freely. All around me is the strange culture of the Norse.

From what I can gather there are only three classes here, slaves (called thralls), freemen (called Karls), and Nobles (called Jarls). The slaves have been captured from war, but they can be freed (why the Vikings have chosen not to enslave me is a mystery.) The freemen are farmers, traders, craftsmen, warriors and landowners. Many, though, are like the peasants, of my beloved England. The nobles or chieftains each ruled a portion of land. Their power depended upon their popularity at any given time.

The merchants here sell goods that look to be of the Byzantine Empire. They sell silk, glass and spices. They also seem to have a thriving slave trade. The Vikings also seem to have a system of writing. Who would have thought that a group of barbarians could have developed such an advanced system.

The Viking warriors wear iron helmets and some of the wealthier ones wear chain mail. They carry round wooden shields and fight mostly with spears, bows, axes and swords. In the battle I was captured in, I saw them form a wall of shields, when I asked the Viking translator what that was, he said they called it the skjaldbogr.

From what I could tell with my limited farming experience I have seen that they have grown wheat, barely and rye. I have been fed porridge, cabbage, onions and leeks. It is going to take a while for me to get used to this.

Many of the houses I have visited appear to be just one room, The women make the clothes raise the children and take care of the house. The women here wear dress like clothes that appear to be made out of linen.

The Vikings are also a very rowdy group. They enjoy playing many games such as swimming, wrestling and skiing. Many Viking are frequent hunters. From what I can tell of their religion they believe there are more then one god. The gods I have heard of are Odin, who apparently is the god of wisdom, and Thor, the god of lightening.

Although I would like to see England again, I think I could learn to like living with these barbarians from the north.