What Vikings Actually Looked Like. The Photos Are Scary

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The Real Truth Behind The Viking Culture
Trending |
2/26/26
Ancient Norse seafarers who were inhumanly large, brutish, and killed everything in their path: these were the Vikings. At least, that's what popular culture wants us to believe. In reality, the Vikings weren't the barbarians that we have branded them. They were a group of greatly intelligent, civilized, and hard-working people. Their unique culture and belief system was misunderstood by other cultures, which helped contribute to a false reputation that is still upheld today. Read on to learn about the reality of the Viking way of life. You'll find out what is actually true and what is just legend.
Vikings Cared About Personal Hygiene
Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
If you picture Vikings as a long-haired and bearded group of warmongers, you wouldn't be wrong. However, you would be mistaken if you assumed that they were dirty, stinky, and careless people. In reality, the Vikings cared greatly about their personal hygiene. Although they may have lived in harsh conditions and were known to have bushy beards and long hair, they took care of themselves.
Many different Viking grooming tools and equipment have been discovered that were used by both men and women. These include things such as combs, razors, and even ear swabs. Although they couldn't avoid ever getting dirty, it is clear that they made more of an effort than is ever depicted in popular culture.
Viking mythology still plays a major role in our everyday lives.
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They Never Wore Horned Helmets
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Photo: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images
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One of the biggest misconceptions about the Vikings was that they wore horned helmets into battle. However, this has been proven to be completely false. If they wore helmets at all in combat, they certainly didn't have horns on them because there have been no artifact discovered to suggest this was something that Vikings wore.
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The idea behind the horned helmets came from the Victorian era to romanticize the image of the Vikings. They were described as wearing these scary-looking helmets in order to make them seem as savage and horrifying as possible.
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The Days Of The Week Are Named After Viking Gods
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Photo: DeAgostini/Getty Images
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Unknown to many people, the Norse gods worshipped by the Vikings are a part of our everyday lives. The days of the week are actually references to the names of specific gods. The great raven god Odin, also known as Woden, is now Wednesday, which literally means Woden's Day. Tuesday and Friday are named after Tyr and Frigg, the god and goddess of war and marriage.
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The most famous, is Thor, the god of thunder and strength, for Thursday. While much of Viking culture may be lost, it's interesting that something as fundamental as the days of our modern week can be directly traced back to their belief system.
Read on for the truth about Vikings and blonde hair
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Vikings Had A Unique Justice System
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History via MovieStillsDb
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Contrary to popular belief, Vikings didn't just go around settling things on their own. In reality, they had an established justice system in order to resolve any disputes or crimes that came up. Norse culture knew this system as "Althing," translated to mean "The Thing."
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Regularly, "The Thing" was held and a law speaker would hear people's disputes. They would then settle these disputes either through peaceful means, usually done with the help of an objective third party, much like our court system today. However, in some cases, justice was decided through violence and occasional execution.
Coming up: the Vikings had an unusual way of starting fires.
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Vikings Spent More Time Farming Than Raiding
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Photo: Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images
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The Vikings may be best remembered for their reputation for being fierce warriors and ruthless raiders, but that wasn't their full-time profession. They wouldn't be able to establish such a complex society if they were always sailing around looking for treasure and a fight. For the most part, Vikings spent much more time farming and maintaining their settlements than anything else.
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Some of the most famous Vikings in history such as Ragnar Lothbrok started out as full-time farmers until they came into a position of power. In Viking culture, being a farmer was a respected position in the community although many of the men also doubled as raiders when the time came.
See why the Vikings might dissuade you from ever eating onion soup again.
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Vikings Were Not A Unified Group
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History via MovieStillsDb
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Although Vikings settlements were communities of unified people, the Viking culture as a whole did not associate with one another. Chances are, many of the people that lived in the area didn't even consider themselves to be Vikings. The term Viking simply referred to all Scandinavians that were ever involved in overseas expeditions, essentially grouping them all into one category.
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However, during the height of the Viking culture, what is now Norway, Denmark, and Sweden was one land sprinkled with chieftain-led tribes that were far from united and were constantly warring with one another. However, seldom would they ever raid together since they weren't big on sharing with one another.
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Vikings Were Avid Skiers
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Philippe ROYER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
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In the Scandinavian Penninsula, the earliest evidence of skiing dates back almost 6,000 years ago. During the Viking Age, skiing was a means of transportation during the winter when the majority of the land was covered in snow and ice. However, it was later discovered that Vikings might not have used skiing strictly for transportation, but also for recreation.
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In Norse mythology, there is even a god for skiing named Ullr. It has also been assumed that skiing was also used in warfare as a means to scout through the wilderness and as a way to move vast armies across terrain that would otherwise be unpassable.
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They Abandoned Weak Children
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Photo: PHAS/UIG via Getty Images
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Much like the Spartans of Greece, strength and health were necessary qualities for Viking children. If a child was born sickly and weak, unable able to fight or contribute to society, they were considered to be a burden and useless. As a means of saving resources and their own time, these children were either abandoned in the forest or thrown into the ocean.
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This was seen as a better alternative or even a mercy. Viking life was hard, so there was no room to coddle a child. Only around 80% of Viking children lived to the age of five and at that time were expected to work, learn to fight, and contribute just like any other person.
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The Vikings Reached North America Before Columbus
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Photo: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images
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Nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus ever sailed the ocean blue, the first Europeans to ever step foot in North America was a group of Vikings led by Leif Eriksson. Lief Eriksson's own father, Erik the Red was a famous traveler before his son, establishing the first European settlement of Greenland. Supposedly, Erik the Red had also sailed from Iceland to Canada and encouraged his son Leif to explore new lands as well.
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This led to Leif eventually discovering North America although he made no moves to take over the land or attack the Native Americans. For the most pa…

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