Social Life
Life wasn't all about fighting and pillaging: the Vikings liked to eat, drink, hunt and play games as well.
Social life revolved around the hall, where people feasted by firelight, sang songs and told stories.
What a person ate, and how they got hold of it, was one way of showing how wealthy and important you were (for example, ale was made at home and drunk by everybody, but wine was imported and only for the rich).
Examples of Viking Food
Viking soapstone bowl
Chopping board?
How did falcons help the Vikings?
Telling Tales
Vikings loved poetry and story-telling, and their myths and legends are preserved in the sagas and poems that were written down in later times.
They also had their own alphabet – the runes – which they used to write messages on small objects and great standing stones.
The Viking Alphabet
Penrith Brooch with Runic Inscription
