Tag: Vikings

The Origins Of The Norse-Gaels In Ireland And Scotland

The Norse-Gaels (alternatively known under the terms ‘Hiberno-Norse’ or ‘foreign Gaels’) were a people who originated in the Norse settlements established during the Viking Age in Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, and the Hebrides who resulted from the intermarriage between the Norse colonists and the native Gaelic populations. In early medieval Ireland, the Norse-Gaels primarily…


Architecture In The Viking Age: Urban Planning, Emporia, And Strongholds

Background Much of Viking Age architecture that was initially rooted in central and southern Scandinavia and then subsequently applied in the Norsemen’s North Atlantic colonies can be traced back to the late Iron Age. Several types of structures built during the Viking era bear significant resemblances to the rural and urban settlements established by the…


Hierarchy In The Viking Age: The Social Classes Of The Norsemen

Below you can read a brief analysis of the Norse hierarchy during the Viking Age. Additionally, you can also get some insight with respect to the social classes that the Norse society consisted of. Society in the Viking Age was far more complex than most people assume, given the vast majority of the myths and…


The History Of The Turf Houses In The Faroe Islands And Iceland

The tradition of building houses with turf roofs in the Faroe Islands and Iceland dates back to the Viking Age. These architectural structures are the result of the climate on these islands, the requirements of the Norse society that settled them during the early Middle Ages, and last but not least of the local environmental…


Food In The Viking Age: An Overview On The Norse Cuisine

The development of the Norse cuisine was highly marked by three distinct elements: the lifestyle of the early medieval Scandinavian communities, the Nordic climate of most of Scandinavia, and the relative geographic isolation of this region from most of continental Europe (that is only relative by land and definitely not by sea, as sea trade…