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Cradle To Grave
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| In Vikings families old age was not celebrated.
When hard work is needed to grow crops or feed the animals old people were
a burden. The Vikings did not regard them as a blessing. Births were always
welcomed. Women who survived the danger of childbirth lived to about forty.
Men were not expected to live as long. To die in a battle was called straw
death. Those who did joined Odin the god of warriors in his hall called
Valhalla. Bodies were either burned or buried according to the person’s
religion. Men who died usually brought spears and stone knifes with them
for the other life. When women died they joined Frigg in her hall. If you
were a slave of a rich master or mistress you would be chosen to die with
them. Women brought house things with them.
By Tara Henry
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Viking Health
The Vikings weren't very
clean. When a man washed his hair he blew his nose in the bowl and then
passed it on to the other men and they did the same. They also made steam
baths by pouring water onto hot stones. Then to open their pores they whipped
themselves with twigs. And to cool down they went outside and rolled in
the snow. Battle wounds were very common so a wounded man was given porridge
or onions to eat and if the smell came out of the wound that meant he would
die. Diseases were also common so a diseased Viking was put in a tent with
a bowl of bread and a jug of water. If they recovered they went back to
the village, but if they died they were burnt and slaves were left to be
eaten by animals. In Dyflin (or Viking Dublin) people expected to live
about forty years. One in every three babies died at birth because of a
lack of hygiene. Diarrhoea was very common because of polluted water. Many
people of Dyflin suffered from rheumatism, which caused stiffness in the
joints. Mice and rats caused other very harmful diseases like present-day
Weils disease. The Arab leader Ibn Fadlan once said when he met the Vikings
“they are as dirty as stray donkeys” and I agree!
By Siobhán
Campbell.
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This shows the Vikings of Dyflin polluting the
river Liffey.
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