They are credited with inventing the Western version of the hair comb, and they were the
first Westerners to use skis.
They were the Vikings, and these accomplishments are not what these Norse people are best known
for.
The Vikings captured the attention of the world when they decided to terrorize parts
of Europe and Russia with a series of raids that occurred between the 8th and 11th centuries.
This period of time came to be known as the Viking Age.
During these raids, they would loot communities, destroy property, kill people, and take others
as slaves.
In 860, one monk wrote, “Everywhere the Christians are the victims of massacres, burnings,
plundering.
The Vikings conquer all in their path and nothing resists them . . . ” Their reputation
in combat remains untarnished today even though Viking experts such as Else Roesdahl caution
“they did not win all of their battles – far from it – even though many people seem to
think so.”
Why did the Vikings have the edge over those they plundered?
1.
The Vikings were well-trained.
Males received weapons training at an early age.
In their youth, they engaged in “hunting, sports and raiding” according to a BBC article.
They learned how to fight not just for the raids but also for self-defense.
One sources describes how “it was a requirement that all male Vikings had completed weapons
training so they could defend their villages during attacks.”
In addition, Vikings had their own form of martial arts called Glima.
According to an ancient history website, this style of martial arts “includes throws,
blows, kicks, chokes, locks, pain techniques, and weapon techniques.”
There are two types of glima: combat glima and sport glima.
In the past, Viking warriors learned combat glima, while men, women, and children learned
sport glima.
People still practice both forms of Glima today.
2.
The Vikings were well-armed.
From a young age, Viking warriors were taught to always have their weapons within reach
and ready to use.
One Norse gnomic poem called the Hávamál offered this advice about being prepared to
fight at all times:
Let a man never stir on his road a step without his weapons of war;
for unsure is the knowing when need shall arise
of a spear on the way without.
The BBC notes that “laws of the late Viking period show that all free men were expected
to own weapons.”
However, this could be a problem for some Vikings because weapons were expensive.
History on the Net points out that “only the richest Vikings would own the complete
set of available weaponry: sword, sax (a short sword), axe, spear, bow and arrows, shield,
helmet and chainmail.”
Vikings who were poor often had to settle for carrying “an axe or a spear and a shield.”
Instead of fancy metal helmets and chainmail, experts speculate that they wore something
that many of us don’t think of as protective battle gear.
The BBC reports that “reindeer hide is said to have been used as armour,” and “caps
of hide may have been commonly worn.”
One way a poor Viking could get better weapons was to work under a wealthier Viking because
“magnates were expected to provide them for their men.”
Besides self-defense, weapons were important as “symbols of their owners’ status and
wealth” according to the BBC.
Weapons with fancy decorations indicated high social rank and great wealth.
“Inlays, twisted wire and other adornments in silver, copper and bronze” were just
some of the ways the Vikings displayed their wealth and power on their weapons.
Only a privileged few owned an “Ulfberht” sword, which had the reputation of being one
of the finest weapons made during their time.
According to an Epoch Times article, they were “made with metal so strong and pure
it’s baffling how any sword maker of that time could have accomplished it.”
Experts today are still trying to figure out how these swords were crafted.
One of them is modern blacksmith Richard Furrer, who “forged a sword of Ulfberht quality”
with technology of the Middle Ages.
His work was featured in a NOVA documentary called “Secrets of the Viking Sword.”
Despite his great skill, Furrer called it the “most complicated thing he’d ever
made.”
He also added that the ability “to make a weapon that could bend without breaking,
stay so sharp, and weigh so little would be regarded as supernatural.”
3.
The Vikings did not fear death.
The Vikings were not afraid of death as long as they lived and died with honor.
Honor was one of the Nine Noble Virtues, which were the foundation of a code of ethics that
played an important part in Norse Paganism.
According to one source, honor involved “one's reputation and moral compass,” and it “reminds
us that our deeds, words, and reputation will outlive our bodies.”
Participating in raids was a win-win situation for the Vikings.
Dying in combat would add to their honor as long as they fought with courage to the end.
“It was honourable to die valiantly on the battlefield – and honour was more important
than anything,” says Roesdahl.
The Vikings also believed an honorable death in battle would earn them a one-way trip to
a glorious afterlife with either the god Odin in Valhalla or the goddess Freyja in Fólkvangr.
If they lived, they could not only gain honor for themselves but also enjoy their share
of the loot from the raids.
4.
The Vikings were masters at surprise attacks.
One of the main reasons for the Vikings’ success in warfare was their ability to come
upon their targets quickly and unexpectedly, attack and plunder them, and then leave as
quickly as they arrived before their victims could get help or strike back.
Viking longships made these surprise attacks possible.
According to the BBC, these ships ranged in length “between about 17.5m (57.4 feet)
and 36m (118.1 feet).”
Equipped with sails and oars, they ran on both wind power and manpower.
Longships could reach an “average speed of 10 to 11 knots (11.5 to 12.7 mph)” and
commonly carried “crews of 25 to 60 men.”
One source notes that the “Vikings praised their boats for their lightness and flexibility.”
Longships could be used for sea voyages, but they could also handle inland waters.
The BBC describes how the “shallow draught of these ships meant that they were able to
reach far inland by river and stream, striking and moving on before local forces could muster.”
The Vikings also engaged in some psychological warfare to add to the terror caused by their
surprise attacks.
The BBC states that the Vikings placed “fearsome figureheads . . . at stem and stern as a sign
of warlike intent, underlined by rows of shields mounted along the sides for defence or show.”
They also placed fearsome looking troops called berserkers at the front of their troop formations
according to History Extra.
One source describes the berserkers as “members of an unruly warrior gang that worshipped
Odin, the supreme Norse deity, and were commissioned to royal and noble courts as bodyguards and
‘shock troops’, who would strike fear into all who encountered them.”
Berserkers were generally thought to wear bear and wolf pelts instead of armor, but
the National Museum of Denmark claims that they fought completely naked.
Their behavior was as shocking as their appearance, especially when they were in a trance state
known as berserkergang.
This state led to a “great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge
of their shields, and cut down everything they met without discriminating between friend
or foe” according to one source.
5.
The Vikings often planned their attacks carefully.
The Vikings were not afraid to use physical force during raids, but they preferred to
“work smarter and not harder” as the saying goes.
They looked for easy targets.
The National Museum of Denmark states that they liked to attack monasteries because they
“often contained large amounts of ecclesiastical silver and were not as well defended as the
trading towns.”
One military history website notes that the Vikings also “attacked selected targets
in coastal areas and near large rivers due to superior strategic mobility.”
In other words, they raided coastal and river communities because they could easily arrive
and escape from these locations on their longships.
Location was not the only strategic concern for the Vikings.
According to sciencenordic.com, they also relied on a “vast network” of spies who
provided them with information about the activities of their intended targets such as treasuries.
Roesdahl describes how the Vikings “surveilled the areas within their reach” and “then
waited for the right moment to strike.”
They also took advantage of areas with “political unrest.”
Sciencenordic.com states that areas with “internal struggles” were easy pickings because warring
factions were more focused on fighting each other than trying “to protect towns or monasteries
against raiding Vikings.”
This careful planning allowed the Vikings to transition from conducting what History
on the Net calls “small, disorganized raids” to amassing “thousands of men into a Great
Army” that allowed them to conquer and “colonize” several countries, including “England, Ireland,
northern France and parts of Russia around Novgorod and Kiev,” toward the end of the
Viking Age.
Who do you think are the best warriors of all time?
Also, be sure to check out our other video called What Was Life of a Viking Warrior Like?
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