Fun Fact 2: Viking Homes measured up to 30 m long (100ft) long; Viking homes were larger in the farming areas and additional buildings, such as a store houses for wood and food were often attached to the main building
Fun Fact 3: Viking Homes had a central fireplace and a smoke hole in the ceiling, there may have been one or two windows but they had no glass in them and they were tiny. It was common for families and animals, including cows, goats and sheep to live in the Viking home together. Can you imagine what it must have been like? It would be very dark, very smoky and smelly
Fun Fact 4: Most Viking homes were made of wood, the homes of poorer families were made with wattle and daub (a framework of sticks held together with a mixture of wet soil, clay, animal dung and straw
Fun Fact 5: The roof of a Viking home were either thatched with straw, covered with turf, reeds or wooden tiles
Fun Fact 6: In colder regions Viking houses were built with stone and turf. Archaeologists have discovered Viking homes that were built with cavity walls for insulation; they were stuffed with wool, moss and straw
Fun Fact 7: There was little furniture in a Viking home, people would sit and sleep on wooden benches that edged the walls of a Viking Home. Cushions and pillows were made and stuffed with chicken or duck feathers to add comfort. Chests were used to store personal belongings and to provide additional seating
Fun Fact 8: The central fire was used for heating and to cook food. A cauldron would be filled with vegetables, meat and fish to make a stew which provided the main meal of the day
Fun Fact 9: The daily menu in a Viking Home usually consisted of porridge and stew. Ingredients and additional foods included; vegetables, grain, unleavened bread, homemade cheese, honey and meat (fish, hare, birds, small mammals, deer, and boar, the northern regions would eat seal, and polar bear), meat would be preserved by smoke or salt
Fun Fact 10: Most Viking homes had a loom which was used to create clothes and textiles. Tufts of wool would be spun onto a spindle then weaved onto a loom which was usually stored on a wall
Fun Fact 11: Viking homes were lit by oil lamps, candle and by the light of the fire; it was quite dark inside a Viking home
Fun Fact 12: The home of a wealthy Viking would have a separate room for servants, ornate carvings, bespoke furniture and walls covered with wool tapestries
Fun Fact 13: Work around the Viking Homes included; housework, maintenance, tending to crops, collecting and chopping wood, fetching water, tending to animals, spinning, weaving, making clothes and tanning animal skins and furs
Fun Fact 14: The Vikings took great pride in their appearance, and were considered ‘clean-freaks’ by the English Anglo-Saxons. The Viking word for Saturday (lördag, "lørdag," or laurdag) means ‘Washing Day’ - Saturday is the day that Vikings took their bath an Anglo-Saxons at that time would bathe once or twice a year!
Fun Fact 15: Vikings used a strong soap to bathe with, wash clothes with and to bleach their hair with. They also ironed their clothes; they heated large smooth stones or glass on the fire and flattened fabrics. People thought Vikings as dirty people but actually they took great pride in their appearance |