History of Sweden
Part 2 :
The Viking Era: (800AD to 1050AD)
What was a Viking? The picture of a crazy and ruthless barbarian with a horned helmet and a huge battle-axe easily comes to mind. That picture doesn't really match very well with reality. Horned helmets were rare and not used in battles, only in religious ceremonies. The only real crazy Vikings were the Berserkers who ate fly agar before battles to become fearless.
The Vikings lived in small villages in south and central Sweden and contrary to the view that all Vikings were the same - they were not. Swedish Vikings were mostly farmers and tradersThey raised cattle, harvested, hunted and fished in order to survive just like all the other regular people of these times did. And they used almost everything that the nature had to offer them like: edible plants, berries, nuts, eggs etc.
During war time however, the Vikings were not such nice people. Their society was ruled strictly and they practised slavery. When they attacked villages they often killed everyone including women and children or took them back home to be thralls. However, for an ancient society and race they were particularly modern in thinking. Often, when their menfolk went to sea on trading missions for example, the womenfolk would be left in charge of the village or settlement (esp. the wife of the head of the community, who would take responsibility for the crops, livestock and people until her husband returned, or until any surviving children were able to take over.
One of the Viking's biggest advantages was their ships. The ships were not very big but they were flat-bottomed and were usually submerged about a meter. With these ships the Vikings could easily sail along the coasts and shallow canals. Their tactic was often to surprise attack. They attacked, plundered, burned and then disappeared as quickly as they had come, leaving the enemy wondering what had struck them. This worked well with their shallow boats since they could sail almost all the way up to the beach. The battles were over in a few minutes because the enemies did not have time to defend themselves. They did not win their battles because they were good fighters, they won because they were outstanding sailors. The weapon of choice was the double-edged sword. The finest swords at the time came from Rhineland. Other weapons used were battle-axes, bows, spears and daggers. They used round shields for protection of the body. They also started using chain mail at the end of the Viking Age I. A battle often started by an attack with bows and ended with tough hand-to-hand combats where swords and axes where used.
However, due to their expertise in sailing, they sailed all around the world and established important relations everywhere. Soon they found a large number of trading places both in Europe and in Asia. They traded their goods through barters for rare goods such as salt, amber, textiles, weapons etc, that were not common in Scandinavia.
The Vikings were war-like when it came to defending themselves and during raiding parties, but for a Viking to die alone in bed, old or diseased was shameful to them. Vikings believed that if you died in combat, as a hero, he would join the gods in Valhalla. This is probably the main reason they were attributed to being so fierce and unconquerable.
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