15 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Vikings

When you think of vikings, you probably picture blond people wearing furs and horned helmets on long ships who live off of fish. While the vikings were incredible warriors and did, in fact, love their fish, there's a lot more to them. The Vikings were Germanic Norse seafarers of Scandinavian descent. In Scandinavian history, the Viking Age is believed to have been from the 790s to 1066 AD, after the Norman conquest of England. The Vikings had a rich culture, language, and faith. Check out these interesting facts and buff up on your Viking knowledge! 

1. "Viking" is Old Norse for "Pirate Raid".

via Heritage History

2. Erik the Red was actually so violent that other Vikings exiled him from Norway and Iceland.

via Wikipedia / Arngrimur Jonsson

3. Vikings never wore horned helmets. 

via Dreamatico

They were worn long before the Vikings, by Norse and Germanic priests.

4. The Vikings actually visited North America approximately 500 years before Columbus, around 1000 AD. 

via Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador

L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, is acknowledged as the earliest pre-Columbus settlement in North America. 

5. Viking housewives enjoyed rights such as being able to own property and being able to divorce their husbands.

via Nerdist / History Television

They could even divorce their husbands for reasons such as showing too much chest hair. 

6. After a divorce, men had to pay their ex-wives maintenance payments, similar to modern child support. 

via BBC 

7. Vikings were actually very clean compared to other Europeans at the time. 

via JORVIK Viking Centre

Beauty tools such as tweezers have been found, and it is known that Vikings bathed once per week in addition to spending time in hot springs. 

8. In the winter, they'd bring cattle and poultry into the longhouse where the family lived.

via History / Maurizio Gambarini / dpa / Corbis

9. The word 'berserk' comes from 'berserkers', a word used for Vikings who wore bear or wolf skins and would howl like animals during battle, fighting with an uncontrollable fury. 

via Weapons & Armor of the Ancient World

10. Most Vikings were farmers, not warrior sailors. 

via The Ancient Web

11. Vikings weren't a unified group, they were just Scandinavians who went on overseas journeys. 

via Dragon Harald Fairhair

12. A "Thing" was an outdoor gathering where Vikings met to discuss the law. 

via Wikipedia / W.G. Collingwood

13. The Runic alphabet "futhark" comes from the Vikings. 

via Glen Avalon

14. Before Christianization, the Vikings followed Norse mythology. 

via Mythology Wiki

15. The Vikings were international merchants, and while they raided many countries, they also traded peacefully with many countries. 

via Mittelalter Wiki

Main image via 1. Weapons and Armor of the Ancient World 2. Historic Sites Association of Newfoundland and Labrador 3. Nerdist /History Television