The Vikings Exhibit, the Canadian Museum of History

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I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Vikings exhibition, a most informative and complete presentation sponsored by the Scandinavian embassies at Canada's largest museum, the Museum of History in Gatineau QC. Like many people, I had a limited and quite distorted image of the Vikings, as nothing but bloodthirsty barbarians, who murdered, pillages and enslaved more advanced societies across Europe. There was some truth in that stereotype, especially when they first became a force to be reckoned with, but this exhibition was designed to show more of their daily life and evolution, for early Viking men were only part of the overall Norse culture. For a broad overview see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings.

The barbaric kill-and-rob period of Viking men lasted from the late 8th through the late 11th centuries. They marauded and pillages coastal settlements all around Europe and the British Isles, carrying off captives to become their slaves. As their society slowly evolved and became more civilized, they created villages with a three-tiered social structure, consisting of Thralls, Karls, and Jarls, with some movement possible among the Thralls and Karls. Basically, the Thralls were captive slaves who tended farms and did mostly menial labour; Karls were freed slaves who were craftsmen and small farmers; Jarls were the wealthy landowners, traders and explorers, for whom the other classes worked.

They became merchants: using their longboats they traded glass, silk, spices, gold and gems by sea throughout northern Europe as far east as Russia, and as far west as Greenland and northern Newfoundland. They told of their adventures in oral 'sagas', but they did have a limited form of written language inscribed on stone. Although their original gods were rather vengeful entities, they gradually adopted Christianity, which may have been the main catalyst for their becoming peaceful. Eventually the Norse regions became the Scandinavian countries we all admire today.

I hope that this article will give you a better understanding of these much-misunderstood people. As usual, to view any of the photos in full size, just click on the thumbnail.

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Photos

themes
The purpose of this exhibition was to show the many aspects of their lives and to dispel the common belief that all Norse were just bloodthirsty
Viking barbarians.

It was rough and tough
Medicine and dentistry as we know them were unknown, and most lives were short and filled with pain and toil. Skeletons unearthed indicate that few lived beyond age 45; many died much younger.

mockup of a battle helmet, with chain mail
This is roughly what an iron Viking helmet looked like. It was hot and heavy, BUT there were none of the mythical 'horns'.

archaeological evidence
What we know about Norse culture and life-styles has been pieced together by teams of archeologists, most notably in the Scandinavian countries

weapons
They were mostly made of iron, and thus they have rusted badly over the centuries

the usefulness of skeletons
Bones are able to give us indications of their wounds, infirmities, and causes of death.

Norse culture
Not all were dreaded warriors, living to kill or be killed and go to 'Valhalla'.

village lfe
Most Norse lived in small villages along the coasts of modern-day Scandinavia. The village were supported by small farms, with farm work done mostly by thralls and karls.

a simple dwelling
Of course there were large meeting halls and farm buildings too, some of which have been unearthed or replicated in modern Scandinavia.

everyday homespun articles
These would be worn by Norse doing village chores, or under their armour by Viking warriors.

remains of a cooking pot
It would have been hung over a fire, probably permanently, with ingredients simply added to the pot as they became available.

Appearances mattered
The Jarls above all were particular about their clothing, as befitted the Norse 'ruling class'.

more '' formal'' attire
In this depiction we see how a woman of the Karl or Jarl class might have dressed, probably preparing to receive guests

formal table setting
My brother Ed is looking over a table as it might have been set in preparation for a large banquet in one of their great meeting halls.

jewellery
Some would have been made by Karl craftsmen, but the more intricate ones were likely stolen during raids.