Religion, Law and Society
Viking Religion
Vikings had to decide if they wanted to be Christians. Vikings worshiped many Gods. Christians only  had one God but he was very powerful. Some other Vikings might have heard of him from Vikings that went a - viking to other Countries. Merchants found that it was useful to be a Christian because Christians liked to trade with other Christians. Maybe Pagans could trade with them if they let them make the sign of the cross over them. This was not a proper baptism so they could still worship your own Gods but it made them Christian enough to trade with. Animal sacrifices played a big part in Pagan worship. Believers put their offerings on poles outside their homes. 
Thor was the god of thunder. He was considered friendly to humans. In emergencies you could call on his help. 
Odin gave the gift of poetry and runes to the world.Odin lost an eye in his search for wisdom. Freig was Odins wife. She had her own private palace where she sat spinning thread to weave in the clouds.

Story and Illustration by; Therese Hickey.
 

Animal sacrifices
Viking Law
Viking did have laws. The word law is a Viking word. The “ting” was the Viking word for a legislative assembly court. A person who disobeyed the law was brought here to stand trial.  A jury of twelve could be double or even tripled depending on how important the case was. Ull’s ring was very important at cases.
The Vikings had no law against piracy as long as it was against the enemy, so raids out- side their own law area were not illegal! 
Holmgang was the name of a Viking duel. It was a common way of solving disputes and there were detailed rules for duels. Swords and shields were favourite weapons and were mostly used during the duels.
The sagas state that a dueller had lost as soon as his blood touched the ground. To win a duel was regarded as proof that you were right, because the gods always helped the right man to win.
Walking twelve paces on red-hot iron was a test of innocence. If after three days, the feet were inspected and the wounds found clean then you were innocent. Harold Gille, king of Norway from 1130-1136 proved his right to the throne by walking on hot iron. The Christian Church introduced fire walking and also banned it. In Norway it was banned in 1247. 
Fire walking is still done but not as punishment. It is done as ceremony. 
                                                                                 BY: IMOGENE RICE. 

 
Viking  Society
The king was the most important person in the region. He had jarls . Jarl is the Norman name for earls. These jarls were both farmers and warriors. All freemen knew how to use weapons. They fought for there their chiefs and went into battle with him. They made raids with him and shared the money. Life for slaves was very hard. They could not own land. The owner might give freedom to the slave or allow him to buy freedom with extra work. 
Story by Darlene Lynch
Click here to go to Viking Index