THE VIKING AGE

runes

Runes are the marks or letters of the Viking writing system. They are angular and easy to carve or scratch into stones, bones or wood.

The Viking alphabet was known as futhark, after the sounds of the first six runes.

Vikings believed that runes were a gift from Odin. Believing that the runes were a gift from the gods contributed to the idea that runes possessed magical powers.

Runes were sometimes used for religious or magic inscriptions such as prayers and curses. Inscriptions on swords asked the gods either to protect the sword’s owner or bring pain and misery to his enemy.

Runes were mainly used for inscriptions, and not for manuscripts or to record stories or events.

how we know

Runic inscriptions have been found on grave stones, weapons, crafts and possessions.

Runes tell us a lot about the Viking age. They are our only written sources from the Vikings themselves.

The inscription on this stone reads:

“Guðbjôrn [and] Oddi, they raised this stone in memory of Guðmarr, their father. He who died stood valiantly in the staff of the ship; [now] lies inhumed in the west.”

how to use this activity

Type your runestone message. Maximum 35 letters or spaces.

Click carve to see your translated message displayed on the runestone.

You can use reset to clear the runestone and start again.

Hover over the rune chart to find out their names and meanings.

raiding, trading and Viking navigation

Vikings travelled for trading, raiding and exploring.

There is evidence that they travelled extensively around and outside of Europe, to Africa, Canada, America, the Middle East and even Asia.

Typical Viking sea voyages were made along the coast at a safe distance, and sailing at night was avoided.

Viking navigators probably used the relationship between a ship’s latitude and the sun’s height at noon to determine their course through open waters.

Known landmarks and signs such as whale feeding grounds, groups of nautical birds and cloud formations, were also used to confirm a ship’s position.

how we know

These artefacts provide evidence of how far the Vikings travelled from home.

We also know about where the Vikings travelled from non-Viking sources. For example, Ibn Fadlan, a 10th Century Arab traveller, wrote about meeting Vikings on the banks of the river Volga and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes an A.D. 793 Viking raid on the island of Lindisfarne.

how to use this activity

The yellow markers show the original location of artefacts that were found in a burial site near Uppland in Sweden. Click to find out more.

See some of the routes the Vikings used on rivers, land and sea.

Click and drag or use the arrows to pan the map, and zoom in and out using the + and - controls

Click reset to move the map back to its original position.

longships

Viking longships were used for raiding and war.

Longships were long, slender war-ships that were light enough to row or even carry when necessary. The ships were designed to sail up shallow rivers and to be landed easily on beaches.

Longships were usually made of oak. They were about 18 metres long and 4.5 metres wide.

Longships had square sails and could also be rowed. Oars were between 5 and 6 metres long. They were made of pine and had slender blades. The number of oars varied from 26 to 70.

At the stern of the ship on the right hand side was a large oar that was used for steering. The English word, starboard, comes from the Norse word, styra, which means to steer.

how we know

Important Viking chieftains were sometimes buried in their ships and well-preserved ships have been found in burial mounds at Oseberg and Gokstad.

And in 1962 two longships were recovered from where they had been sunk at Skuldelev in Denmark.

Images of longships have been found on jewellery, memorial stones and coins.

how to use this activity

Select your combination of sail and prow ornament.

Hover over the colours to find out what they were made from. Paint the longship by selecting colours and clicking sections.

If you want to you can name your ship.

Click export when you finish your longship so you can save it to your computer or print it.

Click reset to clean all dyes from the picture and start over.