What did the Vikings look like in the Viking age?

[@stevebrown6623]

To all the folks saying ‘Vikings’ can only refer to a ‘profession’ or apply only to those who went raiding in boats, but not to a people, and while that may have been true in the distant past, modern Scandinavians use the term Viking to refer to their ancestors generally. Modern linguistics says a word is defined by actual (typically widespread) use. So relax, you can call them Vikings if you live in the 21st century.

[@tonyoliver2167]

I agree with you one hundred percent - no problem with calling them vikings. But it becomes frustrating, perhaps just for me, when the whole culture be it Norse or Danish is washed over with fantasy. It's like assuming everyone in England in the 14th century was a longbowman. I think it is important to make these people human again rather than enveloping them in myth. What I find more interesting than a lot of the fantasy pushed by games and, media and TV on the vikings is how the people farmed differently, kept more sheep or had a vastly different diet. Not a dig at your comment but had to place mine somewhere relevant.

[@stevebrown6623]

@@tonyoliver2167 Yes there is a tendency to equate all old Norse and Scandinavian culture with violent and stereotyped 'Vikings.' They were diverse and complex: farmers and traders, fishermen, practitioners of animal husbandry, crafts-persons, and much more.

[@jayman1897]

@@stevebrown6623 exactly you cannot just pull everyone in as a "viking" so no it's not alright to just call them vikings and we do not just call them vikings only a few went on a viking most were farmers. So unless your lineage is traced back to a actual viking in your bloodline(like mine) then no you cannot just associate everyone with being a "viking" like it's a race of people.

[@josephsenones9073]

✌

[@Ashton__]

Steve Brown I’m Scandinavian and born and raised Norse pagan and we don’t call our ancestors Víkingr unless we’re talking about a specific ancestor who actually was a Víkingr. It is also important to know the difference between Viking and Víkingr. Viking is an action word i.e to go Viking. Víkingr is The occupation e.g one of my ancestors was a Víkingr. This language is still commonly used today. It is only the westerners who use Viking as an umbrella term. These distinctions are important when talking about history. You have to be very specific when talking about history. Carelessness of language leads to misinterpretation and thus misinformation which could collapse entire historic cultures and reshape them completely into something it never was. It is called the Chinese whispers affect

[@m.b.5198]

“Nords armor has lots of fur. This sometimes makes M’aiq nervous”

[@tonyelk1126]

M. B. Khajiit has wares if you have coin

[@jameshall9864]

No lollygagging

[@devlinxiro]

This one finds the Nord make good trade partner. Cold steel sells well in warm sands.

[@1.1797]

M'aiq, you're a liar....

[@xenoscoot]

🤣🤣🤣

[@iwantlee9510]

Scandinavia has a hard climate, compared to the rest of the world, and we've always been farmers up here. It's not surprising that the vikings were big and strong, considering where they were from.

[@DullyDust]

@Josh Traffanstedt naturally all humans lived a tough life and yes a lot of other people than the Vikings farmed the land where they lived, not all of them were tending the land as well as some vikings didn't do so either. It's not been questioned by the original poster as far as I can tell. On the other hand they do mention that the Scandinavian land area is mostly consisting of a rather harsh climate, at the time of the Vikings it was even colder and undoubtedly a lot more hostile than we see it today. Not to put words in their mouth of course, that's just how I read it

[@Tombombadillo999]

Actually by size scandinavians are quite more nimble and shorter than other germanic tribes. Just look at the dutch people.

[@veronicajensen7690]

there are not that big a difference between how tall Dutch, Scandinavians and Baltic people are@@Tombombadillo999

[@B4mza]

The "vikings" are honestly my favorite people.. their beliefs and loyalty to each other and their clan is the way i'd like to live...

[@rygaros6669]

cause it was all new back then...

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

"Vikings" are not a people. Being a Viking is a profession. No one is born a Viking any more than an Englishman is born a smith. Not all Norse people were Vikings. Any person who has never been in a longboat cannot call themselves a Viking.

[@tellthetruthna8523]

@Crzr-97 Vikings are a thing right now because of trending nationalism, extreme tribalism, and an attraction to violence. I doubt the mongrels who idolize them would want to give up things like the Internet, fast-food, and indoor plumbing. They imagine it would be like a cool video game or how it is portrayed on tv -- with hot actresses.

[@Athalfuns]

@Crzr-97 Your idea of hygiene in that period, specially with norsemen is expected from someone that never searched a thing about historical accuracy of the information received by video games and tv...

[@repolarrepolar9833]

Loyalty? The society in Scandinavia was permeated by the glorification of violence, threats and harassment. Loyalty was mostly to leaders who could give some material benefits and honor to those who followed them.

[@lhkraut]

So happy to have found this channel! Thanks for the great work!

[@Skjalden]

Thank you David Koch, and I am happy that you are here :)

[@anunusualironiccircumstanc2246]

I’m on a Viking binge, thanks to AC Valhalla.

[@philipopruesse4259]

Question: Vikings were shorter than people today, but considered tall for their time. So how tall were the other Europeans in the dark ages? One comment: smaller people need more nutrition to stay warm than larger people due to a higher surface to weight ratio. That could explain why Norsemen were slightly larger.

[@natty17]

Good question. . The European was shorter due to there food. They mainly eat different kind of bread. ( carbs) . The northmenn eat meat and fish. As they had no bread. There was little soil to grow much of anything . If u go to edinburgh castle u see the suit of armor is 1.60 m tall. that was the average height in 1600. So it is fair to say the vikings where taller then the european in general .

[@Chubbstain]

Philipo Pruesse This doesn't make sense, a larger person simply has more machinery to 'fuel'. Shorter people have less surface area to lose heat and require less of it to keep alive, probably another selective pressure(s).

[@GnarledStaff]

Chubbstain Its (probably) more a heat-loss thing rather than nutrient uptake. Thats why there are many large mammals in the arctic. Skin to body mass ratio affects the relationship between heat lost from skin exposure to air and the amount of energy created by metabolism. However, Small creatures need to eat more often- often more percent of their body weight. Some Birds may eat 3 times their weight for example.

[@domjranck]

I imagine medieval people to be the height of Guatemalans or Nkorea. Havent been to NK but im 5 7 and felt like a giant in Guatemala. Looking over top of everybody was nice for a change.

[@francissquire9910]

Yes. His conversions to feet were a little out. Mean height on most rich countries is about 1.75 for men and 1.62 for women so they were closer to modern people's height and way above the average height for europeans of the period. Vikings were tough.

[@danymalsound]

Jag hittade den här kanal i morse och gillar det mycket! Tack så mycket från NY, USA!

[@trevargo4086]

Yeah that's actually real Swedish .

[@prepperinireland2240]

Two of my ancestors were buried in Iceland: one Icelandic viking and one Norse-Gael. Judging by studies and recreations they wouldn't have looked out of place today imo. Which makes me feel good...I'm a woman only five foot tall. Incidentally, even older women had generally more muscle and physical strenth than their counterparts today. A burial of a Viking Age woman in her late fifties showed her bone density would have given her quite an impressive muscular structure, possibly because she was a thrall judging by her gravegoods, which meant she would be walking and carrying long distances. I was born in Scotland...it's still well known that Celtic women often went happily back to Scandinavia with Viking Age men. Can't say I blame them :)

[@Qwayeasn]

0:55 "The average hight for a viking during the viking age was about 8-10 centimeters ...SHORTER than we are today." lol I was very confused for a moment by that long pause

[@wkdmrtease8141]

We need The Vikings back now to rid us of all the unwanted elements in our lands today.

[@youthinasia4103]

Wkd Mrtease81 and these elements would be what exactly?

[@luka2298]

@@youthinasia4103 Muslim Invasion??? Anti white propaganda??? Shariah law in Britain???

[@johnathenaskew2148]

We are here.

[@عُمَرآلمُحَمَّد-ع6ذ]

Islam is making you crazy, people ... it's a big deal after all

[@andrewmcneil6668]

Actually even Bjorn from the Viking series did not quite look like the descriptions of the so-called 'reverse mullet' that Vikings were described as wearing. His hair was still short in front while the descriptions of this style included longer hair in front hanging down over the eyes. Interesting side-note, there are also descriptions of Lombards having a similar hairstyle shaved in back, long in front.

[@davidcarson7855]

one of my grandfathers came from the Aland islands and the other was Prussian--and I was a white blond with a red blond beard--and at 5'7" and a very strong 200 pounds was one of the smaller men in my family since several cousins played American football as linemen

[@wfqsfg]

Being Scandinavian in 800AD didn't make a man a viking. Vikings were raiders, traders and explorers. Not all Scandinavians got in a long boat and did that.

[@RideMyBMW]

JAT002

[@pinkfluffyunicorn2582]

I did

[@danymalsound]

@@RideMyBMW that's a wee bit of a harsh generalisation...lol

[@BeyondSllver]

Yeah they did tf are you talking about, all northerners are vikings, pewdiepie is a Viking

[@jainamaden156]

@@RideMyBMW @RideMyTruck Vikings weren't worse than any other invader. This is just malificent propaganda. Greeks, Romans, english did the same. See the clip of Wolf Tones about the Black and Tans.

[@MizzouRah78]

The accent makes this feel so much more authentic. Love it!

[@tommydeamon7657]

Just wanted say thank you and iam looking forward to catching up on more videos from before I subscribed and each and every futer video you upload infact my solemn promis as a fan if you keep uploading ill keep watching until the end fan for life you rock brother keep on keeping on

[@johanjohansson9065]

Love your videos, Skjalden! Skål, from Sweden!

[@danscalone8110]

Thank you. They are always informative and entertaining. Dan "The RED" Head...and Beard!

[@einarvolsung2202]

my family is from Norway and yes I'm tall ...over 6 feet and green eyes with blonder hair on my head and redish beard.

[@iwantlee9510]

I'm Swedish. I'm 185 cm tall, with green and blue eyes, and blond/redish beard :)

[@eternaldarkness4586]

@@iwantlee9510 Red is celtic

[@johnnyvoodoo666]

Me too

[@redpilledkrug7425]

@@eternaldarkness4586 it isn't so thor is Celtic? You dumb af

[@ohmane7204]

Cool story bro needs more vikings n shit

[@Bmoney902]

I'm a celtic/scandinavian mix. My grandfather is very Scandinavian blood-wise (born and raised in England) and he was very dark with black hair in his youth. We traced his family back to iceland, you'd never guess! Epicanthic folds like Björk haha. I share a lot of dna with the bodies of icelandic settlers they tested.

[@dontatmebitches]

the world can always use more icelanders

[@bobhead6243]

A very Interesting Talk my Friend , Strength , Honour and Respect to you !

[@joelbackman8330]

6'1, blue-green eyes, blond hair (sadly I get less blond as I grow), and I realized last week that I got a lot of red in my beard. I'm proud of that.

[@marypetrie930]

Who the F##k cares!

[@shearosamamacita]

@@marypetrie930 don't be so rude

[@jesse8737]

@Sasuke Uchiha You're an idiot. Blue eyes and blonde hair DO come from cold climates. The reason eyes are blue is that there is not a need for natural eye protection from the sun. Brown eyes, which are common in warmer climates, act as natural eye protection or sunglasses. People from areas without much sun, don't need protection, therefore it's because of this that the blue-eyed mutation occurred. You literally have no idea what you're talking about. There is a reason blue eyes and blonde hair are found in northern Europe and really nowhere else.

[@johndoe-cc9cw]

I have 2 daughters. One has brown hair and brown eyes. My other daughter has blonde hair and blue eyes. I hate how people claim blonde hair blue eyes is racially superior to white people with brown hair and brown eyes. My daughters are the same blood and parents yet share different features and I'm sure a lot of the vikings were similar

[@olafharoldsonnii4713]

@@jesse8737 Bullshit, blue eyes is not native to north Europe

[@thomasmills3934]

According to the sagas. And Snorri Sturlesson. It was considered unmanly to not have a good beard. Njal from njals saga was constantly peppered for his lack of beard.

[@Jamesrasmussen1996]

Good beard or just beard.

[@ravenspire0240]

Hey Skjalden, great video man. I watched the part where you were talking about how tall they were and hair color. I would be a weird looking viking, 5'9 1/2, dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. Though I do think I'm getting shorter lol. Anyway have a great morning and even better week. Peace bro ^_^

[@Skjalden]

Thanks, devokgming124, I am glad that you liked the video. With that height, you would have had an advance in any battle, because of your reach! I wish you a great week as well :)

[@martialkintu2035]

Like modern Scandinavian but probably fitter, stronger and more rugged.

[@alfatejpblind6498]

Yep, shorter too probably.

[@FrontrunnerDK]

And less prone to cry when their café runs out of their favorite cinnamon decaf soy latte...

[@olafharoldsonnii4713]

Nope

[@patrickfitzgerald2052]

@@olafharoldsonnii4713 Why do you hate people with Caucasoid skulls?

[@ndie8075]

I am from old saxon tribe...🇩🇪...Westfalia north west Germany.......our Saxon King Alfred defeaded the vikings....✌

[@tobiasandersen2761]

Du har sgu lige fået en ny subscriber, min gode ven. Jeg har også en utrolig stor interesse for vikingetiden og dermed vores Danske kulturarv og historie.

[@5udaf10prsentation8]

Tobias Andersen 👏🏼

[@watchoutforyourself7710]

I have written an article about the Vikings and you have confirmed it. Thank you very much for your great work.

[@Skjalden]

B.A. Howard Your welcome, and good luck on your article

[@daemonthorn5888]

His work is not "great". He made several errors in this "great work". One of them is so wrong, and downright ridiculous that I can't believe no one else has called him out on it.

[@motordude67]

Not a comment about the video! It is said that swords were only for the rich and wealthy, and it would cost a small fortune to buy one. Consider this: It is estimated that the population in Norway in the viking age was about 100-200000 people, lets just say 100k. Half were women, leaving 50k men of which perhaps 50% would be "fighting age"? So we now have 25000 men (in a generation) in Norway able to fight, but the majority of these were not warriors, but farmers. In Norway there has been found 3500 vikings sword in graves. Imagine how many swords were lost in battle, at sea, and still lie in undiscovered graves. 3500 found swords is a very large number compared to the population at the time, so my point is that swords probably were a very common weapon, used by most of the warriors.

[@waynebrown1609]

Another great video. I'm actually 46.5% Scandinavian I'm 5'6" my hair has turned white and can grow a great Beard.

[@NPC-vv1hf]

im swedish

[@CKing-388]

I’m mostly all Swedish and Norwegian. And I have dark hair. My mom has blonde hair. And, I have a daughter she has blonde hair. I guess the blonde just skipped me. Lol 😂 I like being the black sheep of the family. Lol

[@trevargo4086]

@@NPC-vv1hf same

[@CKing-388]

Crzr-97 Green eyes are so cool. Don’t see many people with natural green eyes anymore. Everyone in my immediate family has blue eyes. Even my daughter. I have light brown eyes hazel I think they are called. I did 23&me DNA. I have the gene for both brown and blue eyes. (Which is why my daughter has blue). It said I had a 50/50 chance of having dark brown or blonde hair. I got the dark brown. But, my brother is blonde and has blue eyes. My mom is blonde hair blue eyes. I’m just the “dark one.” When I was young people would ask my mom if I was adopted. Lol 😂

[@whitestains1656]

5' 7" blond hair and blue eyes

[@Master_of_Critique]

This was a great video. Very informative

[@aikidragonpiper71]

Have you heard of the numerous rune stones found in North America. I’m only 30 miles from the Heavener Rune Stone in Heavener Oklahoma. It’s huge stone,and at the time it was discovered no one of Scandinavian ancestry lived in the area to fake such a stone. The locals called it Indian rock for probably a hundred years till a scholar said that it’s Runic not Native American writing. I think it’s real ,looks very weathered and ancient,you can tell it’s not carved in modern times.

[@LouieLuciano]

Great video man

[@abeldasilva9368]

Love your videos.

[@historynoble8945]

actually (and factually), Scandinavia was more of a warmer climate during the Viking age. It was never a frozen wasteland

[@izzy9132]

Thank you producing this series. I look forward to learning more from you about the Vikings.

[@lameesahmad9166]

I come from the Norman Viking stock. When I was young my hair was platinum blonde but after puberty my hair became a reddish blonde colour. I am very tall at 175 cm and I have a solid structure. But both of my parents were shorter than all of their children. According to new studies it is found that because of the amount of growth hormones injected into chickens and beef that the young people in Western areas are experiencing unnatural growth spurts which are caused by this. This greedy practice has also caused a variety of health problems such as obesity, heart disease and even bone malformations. Just another downside to modern food producing practices.

[@5udaf10prsentation8]

You have Ahmad in ur name, im sorry but that is disgraceful to Call yourself a viking

[@tinkerbelldog6321]

Lamees Ahmad 😂😂😂175cm is NOT tall. I’m female and I’m 183cm.

[@5udaf10prsentation8]

Tinkerbell Dog Thats bloody disgusting, Cant blame u doe

[@lameesahmad9166]

@@5udaf10prsentation8 Dear critic, The original Vikings had no surname. Prior to moving with Lord Rollo to Normandy my traceable ancestors did not have a surname either. In Normandy aristocratic Norman families went by the name of the area in which they were predominantly in charge. There my ancestors carried the title de Balliol et Orne. My ancestor Reginald de Balliol et Orne was a squire of Lord Montagu and he accompanied the Lord to Hastings in 1066. After that he was endowed with a mot and bailee at Weston Under Lizard he was thereafter known as Lord Reginald de Weston. The Weston family served the Plantagenet Monarchy until the Tudor Monarchy took over. They continued to serve the monarchy at a personal level until Henry the eighth but suffered because of Anne Boleyn. One of the family who was the Kings personal messenger was tortured until death to prove that he had been unfaithful and treasonous by courting and having an affair with the ill fated queen. After that they kept away from the Royal court and lived in an estate owned by the de Grey family in Leicestershire. Queen Elizabeth I forced all of the citizens to carry surnames. Lord Hugo De Weston acquiesced to Her Majesty by simply stating his surname should be Weston. That way he carried a surname but did not lose his dignity. And from that date we have carried that surname. Yes I married a fine man with the name of Ahmad and I will shout it out to the whole world. But this matter has no bearing on my original comment and if your prejudice is so strong you will have a field day with all the Norman descendants who now carry surnames you do not approve of. For your own peace of mind be realistic. Please with all due respect try to stick to the topic. Best Wishes Mrs. Ahmad

[@5udaf10prsentation8]

Lamees Ahmad oh i thought that was ur original last name and i was Like nah its a muslim which means theres no viking relation

[@TheRedQueeenn]

What is the song at the end of the video 10 minute mark??

[@oferbechor1579]

THANK YOU

[@anthonyfox585]

oh darn, I wanted to know what vikings really looked like outside of the viking age

[@jacoblee1199]

Thx for doing these videos... pan EUROPEAN's in America don't know anything about who we were.

[@waldowaggins1330]

Did they wear war paint, ive been looking for like hours now and no one has a definitive answer

[@mathewmaheo4806]

Just one thing, 172 cms is more like 5'8 rather than 5'6. Good info overall

[@mannyfreeesh5256]

172 cm is 5.64 feet, as opposed to 5'6".

[@klausd.6285]

Um.... 172cm is not 5’8. It is 5’64304 which if you round and round correctly, it is 5’6. 5’8 is 177 or 176.784. A simple google search or basic math would have told you that what they said in the video is in fact correct and you are wrong.

[@Calistarius79]

@@klausd.6285 No... that is not how conversion between the metric and the imperial systems work. What you have done with the 5'64304 is to combine the metric result with the imperial system into a strange mix which is completely wrong. A person who is 172 cm tall, is in the imperial system roughly "5 feet, and 7 and 3/4th of an inch" tall (5'7'' and 3/4th of an inch)... which when rounded to the closes full inch would be 5 foot 8 inches (5'8''). Someone who is 5'7'' (67 inches) tall would be 170.18cm... and someone at 5'8'' (68 inches) tall is 172.72cm (which I rounded to 172.75cm in the first example, hence the _"and 3/4th of an inch"_ that I used). The 5'64304 that you have used is actually 5.64304 feet... since that is what you get when using the metric system dividing 172cm with 2.54cm (the length of an inch), and then dividing the result from that with 12 to get the rough amount in feet (but in a metric system way of a result). The . or ' symbol makes all the difference here (the . is metric, and the ' is imperial, usually at least). How people who use, or know, the imperial system would read your 5'64304 is: _"5 feet and 64304 inches"_... i.e. 64364 inches, or roughly ~1.635 kilometers, or just over 1 Imperial/US mile. ;) It is pretty easy to check... just google search something like "how many cm is 68 inches". When converting between metric and imperial try and always use inches as the base for the imperial side of the conversions (no matter if you are converting from, or to, the imperial system), at least when it comes to "smaller" imperial measurements like feet for the height of people etc (yard is the biggest imperial measurement I would convert to inches though). It makes it a lot easier to figure things out when you use inches instead of feet (or occationaly yards) in those conversions.

[@OK-qv7mb]

You are correct.

[@daemonthorn5888]

2:31 It says that their swords were, "broad and grooved". Not, "broad and ground", as you said.

[@Megnanus]

A man found in Sweden (Gotland).A blacksmith, was 199 cm tall.

[@Skjalden]

it is only the average height that I talk about, and there were of course taller people in Scandinavia :)

[@sammyraymondnajemabu-jaoud4143]

Thank u for the enlightenment. The people of the Middle East have particular admiration & respect for the Scandinavian Race above all *foreign* races. Pls continue your series on the Scandinavians & their association with the Arabs across history. But, particularly with the Phoenicians of Lebanon, who were both the greatest navigators in history!

[@TheRedQueeenn]

Do a video on Harald Hardrada please

[@tiochelayo]

Gracias por mostrarnos más de esa interesante cultura, un saludo.

[@kylerenneberg3069]

Okay I can't listen to this anymore LOL first off Viking is not a race it is a job so measuring skeletons from Denmark of the average people does not mean that the average height of a Viking was 5 foot 6 inches tall! If you want to know the average height of a Viking find a viking burial in England or France and measure the average height of them! Anyone who studies Norwegian people knows that Vikings ate better and we're hardior people then their Scandinavian counterparts! When I got from this video is that the average Danish person in the medieval times was bigger and body then its competitors! Just so we are clear Viking was a job not a culture of people

[@davidsiegel9847]

Danes had much better grazing and farmland. May be the people were bigger. Danish jarls were sometimes described as having a soft life compared to Norwegian jarls.

[@martialkintu2035]

The average human was way shorter back then. If someone was 5'11 they were considered very tall. And Danes are among the tallest Europeans. I don't know if you're trying to imply that they were 5'6 or whether they are cheating by not measuring the average heights of Vikings buried in England or France. But it's not likely that they would appear tall for our standard.

[@Debonair.Aristocrat]

We can infer that he is refering to Norsemen and using the generic identifier "Viking". But being a Vik Ing (River King) was a culture in that they lived on ships and dwelled in the rivers and fjords, usually as pirates and Kings outlaws. The Norsemen on the other hand certainly had elements of an extremely noble, sophisticated and civilised culture. Although, most people in this demographic engaged in a serious amount of looting and plunder themselves.

[@martialkintu2035]

@@Debonair.Aristocrat That is true although I wonder where you heard the "River king" from. That translation does not sit well.

[@expiringcritic7175]

Technically viking was a verb, not even a job. It's what those people did and were later called "vikings" because they were out "viking".

[@donkim4594]

Interesting fact! Height can change a lot in just a few years, where I live, in Spain, the change of height has been one of the biggest in the planet, the people who nowadays are 70 years old or more, are around 165cm or 5'5", and the people around 20, 177cm or 5'9" 1/2, so 12 cm more! It's not rare to see young guys 180cm or more. I thing nutrition and maybe natural selection made a change, peace✊🏿

[@Calistarius79]

Keep in mind that as people age they become shorter as well. By the age of about 70 men are going to be about 2-3 cm shorter, and women 4-6 cm shorter, compared to the height they were at in their 20's.... and apparently by the age of 80 most are going to have lost another 2-3 cm in height on top of that. I think they say that most people will start to become shorter in their 30-40's. Does not change the fact that the older generations were almost always shorter of course, but you got to compare the height data at the same age for each generation to know the true difference between the generations. :)

[@donkim4594]

@@Calistarius79 yes sure, that's true👍

[@bellethesecretvolva5739]

Just because they wouldn’t have been considered tall today doesn’t make them short, people... Scandinavians are tall today compared to many other ethnicities. (Idk what that feels like though I’m only 5,4 lol)

[@IIGhost807II]

What is the song at the very end? Idk why but I like it.

[@gigachad8245]

172 isnt 5'6 but 5'8

[@goblondie]

great ,very informative

[@luciejandova6325]

@Skjalden, the adds are like 1min 30 sec long... this is crazy, check with youtube if this is correct, also you cant skip it at all you have watch it all

[@Skjalden]

I am sorry to hear that they are so long, I will try and look into it.

[@jerbear9283]

I understand that you don't primarily use the imperial system, which I mean metric is a much simpler system, but when you talk about height in Imperial you don't use a decimal, the more proper way would be to say it is Five foot Six inches, as a foot isn't divisible by ten unlike the metric system so saying 5.6 Feet is saying basically Five Foot Six and a half inches and 5.1 is less than Five foot One inch. 12 inches equals a single foot. I don't mean to be pedantic and I don't expect anyone who is raised metric to learn imperial but this is something that if taken one way gives a different height then taking it the other way. (Edit:) All that being said this video is super interesting and I have Swedish ancestry so I love learning about the culture I could have been born into if my great great great grandfather hadn't come to Ellis island.

[@ryankeeling2406]

Thank God you mentioned red hair originally is from Scandinavian routes fed up people saying it's Scottish and Irish the fact is they raided and settled in these parts .....

[@johndoe-cc9cw]

Red hair comes from long before the Scandinavians reached Scandinavia. Red hair comes from the so called " caucasian" race in general or you can say the germanic race. The ancient Celts, gauls, goths, franks, vandals ECT ECT ECT. The white race is responsible for red hair not the Irish.. not the Scandinavians.. not the Scottish.. goes back way before them

[@ryankeeling2406]

@@johndoe-cc9cw but Germanic Scandinavia Britain are all cousins so I am rite also they are a Germanic race that's why are languages are similar

[@jockjammer3443]

The largest ever to date DNA analysis of Viking burials across most of Europe taking 6 years to complete and involving over 400 burial sites concluded that during the Viking era many people had brown hair, not red or blonde. The results have shown a large amount of southern European and Asian DNA pre-dating the Viking period showing that a large portion of Vikings were of darker hair and brown eyes than previously thought. Just thought I should throw that out here to keep things scientifically up to date. When I say "Vikings" I mean Norse peoples in general not only those who were Vikinger. these are results from the 2020 test and after the release of this video. No disrespect to Skalden or his work intended. Just an update.

[@EarthChronicles2]

So than how did today's norse become so blonde I'm curious?

[@jockjammer3443]

@@EarthChronicles2 They aren't- I was in Denmark 3 years ago and was astounded how many people had brown hair and blue eyes,how many were shorter than me and I'm only 168cm I did not see many red haired people, but quite a few blondes. If the red haired gene were so prevelent we would see more of it .

[@akatosh2795]

Do you take video ideas? Where could we send them if you do?

[@Skjalden]

you can send them in a message on the Skjalden facebook page

[@Budismo7917]

Interesting, great video

[@Card-Rush]

What did you say the author's name was at 2:01

[@patrickerickson4948]

Great Video

[@sergiopizzo7286]

There is a region in Italy called Lombardy, because a tribe of Christianized Scandinavians called longobards, established a kingdom that lasted around 300 years in the North of Italy. They also expanded in the south. I’m proudly Lombard myself, from Brescia. Cheers.

[@Skjalden]

Interesting :)

[@sergiopizzo7286]

@@Skjalden I forgot to mention that they were called longbards because the roots of the compound name means long beards, which is actually related with the content of the video. In fact longbards carried long beards and took meticulous care of them.

[@anders9646]

@@sergiopizzo7286 that's interesting I've never heard of it but will definitely search it up

[@sergiopizzo7286]

@@anders9646 We are the Winnili, the wolves of Italy. And I come from Brixia, a Roman outpost that later in the Middle Ages became a Lombard ducat en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombards europeupclose.com/article/brescia-the-lion-queen-of-italy/

[@sayyadina8966]

Very nice!

[@Samsam-bb7vw]

I’m like 45% Scandinavian according to ancestry dna and my whole family is so small out of the women I’m the tallest 5ft1 wonder this is where the short genes comes from lol

[@Buzzcook]

Vikings were probably larger and stronger than the average Scandinavian. Just as professional athletes are stronger and larger today. After all Viking was a profession and not a racial feature. Even just rowing a longship would require above average strength let alone fighting with sword spear and axe.

[@shanekonarson]

Buzzcook very true and not often mentioned, many alias of Viking tribes like the Gaels in Ireland and Saxons that had been Slaves under the Church would often go Raiding with them some even Reverted back to Heathery Iceland has many Examples of this happening, what I’ve always liked about Norse Culture of the day was it was more Democratic then it was given credit for by the Christians , even though they took Slaves which I am totally against in all forms a slave could be come free by good deeds and Hard work and loyalty and in time become a leader in his or her own right !

[@claragaffey9321]

I'm in year 4 and we are learning about Vikings

[@randelldarky3920]

I often wonder if My lineage goes back to the Vikings. I am part Norwegian, Danish and Swedish. I do like to Farm and Pillage

[@marivanommeren4095]

The Vikings,were the Dani and came from France,and were called Danes in UK. In France they were also called nortomanni because in that time the west was north on a map. that is why normandie is called after the nortomanni,now they would by called westmanni. Later they went to Denmark and Norway and brought there culture with them the same they did in Ireland,were they build there biggest ship and brought it to Denmark

[@toravnerflyr6911]

Hint: They didn't look like Vikings on the Viking TV Show.

[@andrewgood7586]

The only argument I would have here is regarding the beards. Im sure there of course were men who did not grow their beards, but considering the fact that it was viewed as a sign of masculinity, manhood, I would guess most men strived to.

[@Tombombadillo999]

For people associating tallness and strength with the “cold” environments they came from is quite incorrect from wht I know, and it just doesnt make sense considering the average temps. of those times was actually higher than today. Also, observing the most “typical” cold climate populations (inuits, sapmi, eskimos, siberian tribes..) which are all, on average shorter, darker, and with slanted eyes, the afore mentioned association doesnt make sense to me.

[@sospeciallyme9096]

Wow i would be a weird looking viking woman too .. 6'1" tall and solid with long dark hair and green eyes.

[@sarahgray430]

They'd be chasing you down the beach...the Norse admired tall women. In fact, there was an Icelandic woman known as Halgrid Long-legs who was known to be an exceptional beauty.

[@sospeciallyme9096]

And i would probably have run a little bit slower :).

[@dakotau2575]

I'm 6'-4" 280lbs. Marry me? Lol. Love tall women! 😉

[@herokillerinc]

So Specially Me: yummmmm...;)

[@MrMasterarms]

Yeah... you would be a freak or a goddess in those days. Crazy how our food today makes us that much taller/broad then those days, due to hormones we inject in our meat.

[@italiancapo7]

Nordic ppl are known to be tall. Today, in Norway the avg. male is 6’4 tall!

[@wraithkin2662]

Who were the rust hair Norsemen?

[@HrRezpatex]

When it comes to hair colour, we must also remember that slavery was common, and that most slaves had dark hair. And when that happen it never take long before it become pretty common. When it comes to why the Vikings started to attack England and Europe at one certain point in time, in stead of doing traditional trading with them as they used to, it was because the Christian countries was given a ban from doing trade with non Christians. (And it irritate me that i never have seen this explained in any books or documentary about Vikings, but that is how it is when Christians dominate the writing of history..) ;)

[@roderickclerk5904]

Politically, the Viking Age started as a response to the Charlamagne's economic and military wars with Gudfred which weren't just about chritians/pagans. In fact many times throughout the Viking Age Christians and pagans would fight on the same side if their interest aligned. Like when the pagan Jarls of Lade allied with Cnut against Olaf. Or when the pagan Norse Gaels allied with the Scots against Æþelstan. Or when the Witan of Northumbria elected Eric Bloodaxe as king despite he being a pagan. Those are only a few examples of many. Neo pagans today make me cringe with how they think there is some Christian conspiracy. The vast majority of your own ancestors decided to be Christian whether for political, economic, spiritual reasons, or they just saw which way the wind was blowing.

[@templarknight77]

@@roderickclerk5904 Exactly! Modern pagans are so cringe. I love that the Vikings became Christian. It really triggers modern pagan cringe lords.

[@jamesnorseman4863]

Yup it's more common slaves around that time who had dark haired however it was also common in vikings to have dark haired...it's like you can find Mongoloids with blue eyes and blonde yellowish hair...the same.

[@daemonthorn5888]

You don't see this explained because it isn't true. There was no ban on doing trade with non-Christians. Not at all. The Christians very often traded with people from India, China, and elsewhere. The trade in spices, silks, tea, ivory, etc., was very prolific. If there was a ban on doing trade with non-Christians, then Christian Europe would have had the poorest Kingdoms in the world.

[@cieransd6811]

Blonde hair was very dominate because they bleached their hair

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

That is true... To an extent. Many Norse people wanted to look blonde, as this was how many Asir had their hair. Although Thor was a redhead. But many important and supposedly beautiful figures like Freya, Baldr, and Sif had blonde hair. The Vikings washed their hair with wood-ash lye, which could brighten the hair a bit, but it wouldn't make hair platinum blonde.

[@janduplessis5190]

Would be interesting to know how tall other groups were at that time. Probably much smaller.

[@daemonthorn5888]

2:48 You said, "the art of tattoos were known to the Vikings". Actually, we do not know this. There is no evidence of the Vikings having tattoos. The descriptions of them that mention them having markings on them could have been referring to war paints. There is no actual mention of tattooing among the Vikings. And no archaeological evidence of the sort of tools used for tattooing has ever been found in graves or elsewhere.

[@redpilledkrug7425]

I'm from norway and I have red hair and is 6,8 I'm considered tiny in my family there 7,1-7,3

[@jayman1897]

They were tall for that age fair haired and looked good with the rage of a bull and brains of a scholar.

[@vivalibertasergovivitelibe4111]

Thank you! Great video! Is the life expectancy calculated as an average? Because you mentioned the risk of giving child birth (or perhaps also to die as a child) was higher. I have sometimes heared that people also in the middle ages became relatively old but because many died as children or during child birth the average was way lower

[@GFSLombardo]

Yes, Average Life Expectancy (during the "Viking Age" of about from 40 to 50), is based on a statistical average, which considers many different factors; including the death of women in childbirth and the death of children. Its what demographers do for a living. Historians and other experts reckon that if a woman could survive her child bearing years, and a child could survive his/her childhood they had a good chance of living much longer, as many did.

[@vivalibertasergovivitelibe4111]

@@GFSLombardo Thanks for clearing that up :D

[@MichaelQing]

During the present day of Vikings, most leaders we know about them officially become brave and much stronger conquest in both Europe and North America continent. There are various popular cultures and scientific journals in North America was also established by people from Scandinavia.

[@daemonthorn5888]

Your comment makes no sense, whatsoever. I'm not trying to be mean, but it literally has no meaning.

[@arthurrobey4945]

Long hair? But what of Igil Skallagrimson?

[@zenofalex]

So is 5.6 feet 5 feet 6 inches or 5 feet and .6 feet, which is 5 feet 7.2 inches ? I know, crazy imperial system has 12 increments, not 10, just like a clock does.

[@HerbalMCFC]

Too many sources have stated the tattoos of the vikings for it not to be true.

[@asifiwholdeatav1p3r84]

Why is you're pfpf a ruin "O"?

[@ENZEEVIDS]

my roots are denmark..i'm endomorphic, blue eyes, stocky , very muscular, fairly high iq, smelly..

[@toxendon]

ok dude

[@Jayjo259]

The danish accent is lovely

[@tarzeesays1201]

Tarzee’s Words of Wisdom: Spraying Lysol on rugs prevents Beagles rubbing their assholes on carpets. Beagle Farts acts as an air “freshner” “Eating grass and vomiting cures stomach issues.” Milk-bones taste good and cleans your canines. Allowing Beagles to eat dog turds provides Beagles with Vitamin D. Vicks-44 cures Beagle’s Coughing. Beagle Fart Noises.

[@erfiamri9973]

I wonder if the Vikings have black hair? Because in most movies and photos their hair is red and blonde

[@jsheriff396]

Some did not many

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

They did. Most of them were light brown or dirty blonde.

[@nacholibre1962]

If you're going to use metric, use metric, but don't mix metric and imperial measurements. Who the hell says "five point six feet". That is actually 5 feet 7 1/5 inches.

[@Mairiain]

The Vikings may not be tall compared to us, but compared to other people groups of their time is another story. Were the excavations you used in this Viking burials? If not, your data is skewed.

[@Skjalden]

the skeletons are from the Viking age, and they were examined by the national museum of Denmark. You can find more information about is on natmus.dk

[@glbernini0]

Did the Vikings have enough extra food for so many to be overweight like seen in so many TV shows & movies?

[@lulleispinn8735]

I'm sorry but after I heard the phrase "reverse mullet" I just I couldn't concentrate... Also when people call me tiny from now on I can finally say I'm actually above average (inthevikingagebutstill).

[@jesse8737]

Everyone talking about how tall they are. Well, my dad is Dutch/Scandinavian, and I'm 5'8, haha. Both my brothers are over 6'1. It's just weird I was made fun of at school because of my light features now everyone wants to be descended from Vikings. I have sandy blonde hair and very light blue eyes, super fair in all features and I'm fucking beautiful! Thanks to my ancestors. I'm as close to a Viking descendant as you'll get, so sorry folks, don't gotta be tall and I was this before it was cool. Direct Northern blood ;)

[@charachoppel3116]

They can decide on the sex of the skeleton in more ways than to compare their faces. First of all they look at the pelvis.

[@braintennant69]

Fed video! Tak☺

[@Eclipse-mf6hc]

Damn... I’m taller than the average Viking (175cm and got another year left to grow, I’m also female)

[@sleepless9994]

How old r u

[@lottatroublemaker6130]

158 cm = 5’3’’ (not 5’1’’)