The myth of the Vikings has long been associated with the image of large, belligerent warriors, ready to fight and plunder everything in their path, brutal pirates.
However, the warlike Viking warriors also made their mark in human history with their own Scandinavian civilization.
And there is no denying that Viking culture still plays an important role in the lives of people in many territories today.
Here are little-known facts about the ancient Viking "pirates", the most talented, fierce and belligerent warriors in human history.
Vikings never wore horned hats
One of the biggest misconceptions about the Vikings is that custom baseball jersey they wore horned hats. The image of a Viking warrior wearing a helmet with horns often appears in movies but this has been proven to be completely inaccurate.
In battles, warriors will wear protective helmets but certainly no horns. No artifacts have been found of horned hats. The idea behind the horned hats came from the Victorian era to romanticize the image of the Vikings. The horned hats add to the brave, scary part.
The Vikings named the days of the week after the god
The Vikings worshiped Norse gods and were part of their daily lives. The days of the week are named after the gods.
The great god Odin, also known as Woden, is named after the fourth day and literally means Woden's Day. Similarly, Tuesdays and Fridays are named after the god of war Tyr and the goddess of marriage Frigg. The most famous is the god Thor, god of thunder and strength, set for the fifth day.
Vikings are often depicted as large, muscular men with the ability to kill enemies with a swing of an ax, however, that is an overstatement, increasing fear, like the depiction. they wear horned hats.
The Viking was about 1.7 meters tall and thin. Their physique is explained because the summer time was short, the food source was little, they often had to invade other lands to plunder food and resources.
After life
The Vikings had a completely different view of the afterlife. They believe that how you live in the present moment determines where you will go after you die.
For the Vikings, the best destination after death was Valhalla. This is a place for brave warriors who fought bravely as well as bravely sacrificed in battle. Next up is Helgafjell, another place for those who have lived an admirable life.
In contrast, Hellheim is an undesirable place for the Vikings. It's a place for "bad people".
The Vikings arrived in America before the explorer Columbus
Nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus set foot in the Americas, a group of Vikings led by Leif Eriksson arrived here.
Vikings liked to have blond hair. Even those born without this hair will find a way to change. They use a strong soap with a high alkaline concentration to bleach the hair color.
Vikings don't tattoo
Tattoos on people are proven to have existed since before the Vikings. Many movies depict Viking warriors with many tattoos on their bodies, but in reality there is no physical evidence that they are actually tattooed.
Moreover, the Vikings prided themselves on their cleanliness, even baseball jersey obsessing about it, so it was unlikely that they would cover their skin with a tattoo that could not be removed.
The Vikings had a unique justice system
In fact, they already have an established justice system to settle any dispute or deal with any crime that comes up. Norse culture knows this system as Al Althing, which translates to "The Thing" in English.
As a rule, they will resolve disputes by peaceful means, with the help of an objective third party, like our court system today. However, in some cases, justice is resolved through violence.