Lesson video

Hello everyone, and welcome to your fourth lesson on Vikings and Anglo-Saxons, my name is Mrs. Tipping.

And in this lesson we're going to tackle the question, what was life like in Viking Britain? In this lesson, we will learn about Viking settlements, the roles of men and women, and the Viking laws.

Now for this lesson, it's a good idea to be sat somewhere comfortable without any distractions so you can capture all the knowledge from this lesson.

All you're going to need a three things, an exercise book or paper, a pencil or pen, and your fantastic brains to capture all of the knowledge from today.

So, if you haven't got those things, go and quickly get them now.

Good work, okay.

So, first of all, I'm going to start with some key words, and then we are going to think about what Viking settlements were like.

The next question looks at the roles of Viking women and Viking men in Viking society.

And then we'll finally take a look at whether Vikings followed any laws and what those laws were.

And we will finish with our end of lesson quiz like we will at the end of every lesson.

So, let's have a look at the key words.

The first key word is outlaw.

My turn, your turn, outlaw.

An outlaw is a person who has broken the law.

The second word is holmgang.

My turn, your turn, holmgang.

Holmgang was a Viking duel used to settle arguments.

The next word is duel.

My turn, your turn, duel.

A duel is a fight between two people usually to settle a point of honour.

So as you can see, holmgang involved duel.

So holmgang was a fight to settle arguments.

And our final word is Thing.

My turn, your turn, Thing.

A Thing was a Viking community gathering where problems would be solved and decisions made.

Okay, so let's look at what a Viking settlement was like.

Viking home life was simple but comfortable.

They often had long houses made of woven branches and clay with roofs of turf and tiles made from wood or stone.

All the materials they used included logs, planks, stone and earth.

Unless the family was very wealthy, a Viking longhouse just had one single room, but it was usually large enough for more than one generation of a family to live in.

So it was a really big room.

Animals would also live inside the longhouse, people and slept on raised platforms lining the walls which had cushions.

And those cushions were stuffed with bird feathers.

So that kept them really warm and also more comfortable.

There was no bathroom inside the longhouse but the Viking's kept clean by washing in a wooden bucket or beside a stream.

Instead of toilets, people used something called a cesspit which was basically a whole outside dug for toilet waste.

And you see a picture here what a longhouse would have looked like.

This is a reconstructed version of a longhouse, so quite a big house for one room.

So, here's a quick question for us to pause through now.

How many rooms were in a Viking longhouse? Just an ordinary Viking longhouse.

Was it A, one.

B, four, C, five or D, three? Have a thing, point to the screen, say your answer out loud or write it down.

What do you think is the correct answer? It is in fact A, one, Viking longhouses just had one room that was shared by big generations of family and animals as well.

The Viking family ate, drank and socialised around a stone fireplace on the stamped earth floor.

Vikings ate two meals a day, one at mid morning and one in the evening.

Meat was stewed in huge pops called cauldrons, which were made of iron or soapstone.

There's a picture of one, what one would have looked like here.

They were hung over the fire from a chain attached to the roof or supported by a tripod, which would have been those metal parts that would have hung the cauldrons in the middle.

The fire was central to the family life and was used for warmth, cooking and light.

The Vikings kept an open fire in the houses to provide heat and a place to cook.

They hung meats and fish above the fire to preserve them with the smoke.

They also preserved meat by curing it which meant they would dry it out with salt.

So I'd like you to pause your video in a moment to have a go at this task.

I'd like you to draw a table, I'd like you to think about how each were of these natural resources were important to Viking life.

So how was fire important? How were branches important, bird feathers and iron? What did they use all four of those things for? And when you're finished, restart the video.

Okay, so here's what they would have been used for.

So fire, the fire provided heat and the Vikings cooked their meals over it.

Branches, the longhouse was made of woven branches.

Bird feathers, cushions in the longhouse were made of bird feathers, that kept them warm and comfortable.

And iron, the pot, the cauldron the Vikings cooked with was made of iron.

So good job if you remembered what those natural resources were important for.

So let's take a look at what Viking society was like by first looking at what the different jobs were that the Vikings did.

Many Vikings worked as farmers.

Everything had to be done by hand on a Viking farm.

So life was tough.

Farmers grew oats, barley, and wheat.

Then they ground the grain to make flour, porridge, and ale.

They also planted vegetables and kept animals like cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens.

All the Vikings were craft workers.

Viking craftsmen made beautiful objects out of wood, metal, and bone.

They also made things that people needed.

Woodworkers and leather workers made plates, cups, belts and shoes.

Jewellers made rings and brooches from precious metals.

They also engraved abstract animal shapes and patterns of interlace, which is a type of crisscrossing like the picture on the screen onto the brooches and other items such as the handles of swords.

So that to make beautiful swords and the handles would all be beautifully decorated.

Bone and antler were commonly used by skilled craftsmen to make objects such as combs and handles for knives.

Blacksmiths hammered and twisted iron into tools and knives and swords.

Potters baked clay pots in the oven and over oven heated fire pits.

People took these goods to market to sell.

Here, a family could buy anything from amber beads and apples to walrus tusks and wolf skins.

Viking traders sold their goods even further away.

They sailed the seas to go and buy silver, silk spices and furs, and to bring them back home.

So I'd like you to pause your video now to have a go at answering these questions.

Give two examples of jobs the Vikings did, two examples.

What did jewellers create? Why did the Viking sail with their goods to other places? And do you think one job would have been more important than another? Mmmh, it's an interesting question.

So, when your finished, restart the video.

Okay, so here's some answers that you could have had.

So remember you just had to give two examples of the jobs they did.

So you could had jeweller or leather worker or woodworker, blacksmith or potter any of those two.

What did jewellers create? Well, they created brooches and sword handles.

Why did the Viking sail with their goods to other places? Well, they did that to sell them and buy other things like silver, silk and spices.

Now it's up to you which job you think could have been more important than another.

You may have said a farmer for example because he would have grown crops for people to eat.

And food is really important.

Or maybe it would have been the woodworker because he created lots of different things that people would use on a daily basis.

Good job if you've got those correct.

At the top of Viking society was the king.

He was the most powerful person in all the land and everyone looked up to him.

Being a king cost a lot of money because they had to make sure their kingdom was safe and that their followers were loyal to them.

Below the king where the nobles, or wealthy Vikings known as jarls.

They were rich land owners or traders and they employed men to work for them.

So they had quite a nice life.

Then there were the karls.

They were the everyday people and did jobs like farming and craftwork.

Karls were not as rich or important as the jarls, but they weren't poor either.

At the bottom of society were the thralls or slaves.

They did the hardest, filthiest jobs.

And if they tried to run away, they could be killed.

However, if thralls could earn enough money, they could buy their freedom.

So, I'd like the to pause the video in a moment to have a go at this task.

I'd like you to draw a pyramid, like the one on the screen.

I'd like you to complete the pyramid, to show Viking society, who was at the top of society and what were the groups below that top group, okay.

And then restart when you're finished.

Okay, so here's an example of what you could have drawn.

This is what I've drawn.

So the king was at the top, then the jarl's, then the karls and then the thralls, and you could have drawn so much more exciting pictures than what I've done, and you could have added some colour if you wanted.

But that shows what Viking society was like.

Viking women were independent.

While men were way exploring new lands, women looked after the farms and the households.

They could become wealthy landowners and while there had no public say in politics, they had a lot of influence at home.

While a woman's parents would usually choose her husband, she could divorce him if he was unfaithful or violent.

Viking women took a lot of pride in their work.

And praise was given to them for their skills in housekeeping and handiwork such as embroidery.

Viking women were skillful weavers and they produced fine warm textiles like clothing and rooks.

They did most of the cooking and they were responsible for making clothes for their family.

Women's respected status is shown by the lavish ship burials for female Vikings that have been discovered by archaeologists.

So I'd like you to have a go now at creating a fact file outlining the role of Viking women.

So in a moment, I'd like you to pause the video and think about answering these questions.

It doesn't matter how you draw out your fact file as long as you answer these questions here.

What did women look after? What were women skilled at? And how do we know women were well-respected.

And when you're finished, restart the video.

Okay, so here's mine that I've drawn.

So I've put Viking women in the middle and then I've answered each of the questions.

So women looked after the farms and households.

Women were skilled weavers making fine warm textiles.

And women were well-respected and we know this because ship burials for women have been discovered.

So I've drawn a few pictures to go with mine.

You could have done the same.

So while done if yours look similar to mine.

For the final part of our lesson, let's explore whether the Vikings followed any laws.

The north people had their own laws and government.

The community would gather at a meeting called a Thing.

Here, they would settle problems and make decisions.

People could vote on what should happen.

For example, the Thing might decide who owned a piece of land or how to punish a criminal.

All this was overseen by chieftain or a judge known as a law-speaker.

Viking laws were not written down, so laws were passed from person to person by word of mouth.

People who broke the law were known as outlaws.

They were forced to live in the wilderness and anyone was allowed to hunt them down and kill them.

So let's do a quick pause.

What was the name of a person who broke the law? Was it A, a chieftain.

B, a jarl, C, a judge, or D, an outlaw.

Have a think, point to the screen, say your answer out loud or write it down.

What is the name of a person who broke the law? Good job if you said D, an outlaw.

Now, Vikings could also settle arguments with a fight.

They held a type of duel known as holmgang.

Whoever won the duel was seen as being favoured by the gods.

Now I'd like you to pause the video in a moment, and like you to match the sentence with the correct term.

So you could write the sentence out and write the terms and draw lines to show which one is the correct one.

So, a duel to settle arguments, which is that? Is it a Thing, a holmgang or chieftain? The law speaker who oversees the decisions and the community gathering where problems would be solved and decisions made.

So match up the sentence to the correct term, which one is which, and when you're finished, restart you're video.

So here are the answers.

Holmgang is a duel to settle arguments.

Chieftain is the law speaker who oversees the decisions.

And Thing is a community gathering where problems will be solved and decisions made.

So well done if you've matched those up correctly.

Any member of society, regardless of their standing could challenge another to holmgang if they wanted to.

A person could be challenged to holmgang because of money, property, or honour.

A holmgang was typically full within three to seven days after the challenge was given.

So it was quite soon after.

If one side didn't attend, the other would have their claim proved right, or they could be banished or killed.

Usually the two individuals involved in the challenge would fight.

However, on some rare occasions, particularly if there was a considerable age or physical disadvantage, someone else might be used in their place to ensure a fair contest.

Due to the nature of holmgang, the system was regularly mistreated as a form of legalised robbery.

The busy workers in particular recorded it as being used as a means to claim rights to land or property from less skilled warriors.

As a result of the misuse, the practise was outlawed.

So people were using it to get property because they were good fighters and they knew that they could defeat the other person.

So, I'd like you to pause the video in a moment for your final task of this lesson.

Do you think holmgang was a good way of solving arguments? So here's where a way you could start your answer.

I think holmgang and you got to choose, was or was not a good way of solving arguments because, and give your reason.

And when you're finished, restart the video.

It's up to you what you put as your answer to this question.

However, I think holmgang was not really a good way of solving arguments because it involved fighting and fighting is not a great way to solve arguments.

Now, not only this, it seemed as though lots of warriors challenged people to holmgang when they knew that the opposition was a weaker warrior, which meant that they were going to be able to take something from them for no reason.

And it was a bit of a cheat's way.

So well done for everyone answer you popped down.

Now, that's the end of our lesson today.

We covered a lot so well done for working so hard.

Thank you for joining me and I really hope to see you in the next lesson on Vikings and Anglo-Saxons.

Until then, goodbye everyone and take care.