· Viking Social Structure   · Material Culture   · Gods, Goddesses, and Legends   · Viking Age Women   · Trade   · Vikings Head West   · Leif Eriksson's Voyage   · Links to Viking Sites		Social Structure Click on the images below to view enlargements During the Viking Age, people living in the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden wouldn't have thought of themselves as belonging to different nationalities. For one thing, they all spoke the same language, which they called "the Danish tongue." Second, while each kingdom had its royal house and reigning king, it was the local community that held a Viking's first allegiance. The Thing's the thing Community affairs were governed by the Thing, an outdoor assembly where local freemen and nobles met to discuss the issues of the day. (Something like an open-air version of the New England town meeting.) At the Thing, disputes were settled and crimes adjudicated. Neighbor steal your cow? Take it up with the Thing. Site in Iceland where the local Thing assembled Photo credit: York Archaeological Trust - York, England   The Vikings did not share our concept of "equal protection under the law." For example, the penalty for murder was calculated on a sliding scale - the more influential the victim, the stiffer the fine. On the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, the Thingstead - the meetingplace of the Thing - exists to this day. Once a year, the present-day inhabitants still gather to hear the laws read publicly. Viking society - a three-layer cake On top was a small group of nobles, or jarls. From skeletal remains, we know that the jarls were taller and sturdier than their less-high-born compatriots. Most likely, this vigorous development was owed to the good fortune of having been born into a class that was spared the hard labor and malnutrition that were the lot of the majority. In time of war, the occupation of the jarls was raising and commanding armies and outfitting overseas raiding parties. In peacetime, they looked around for ways to start new wars.   Fighting was the main occupation of the jarls In the middle were the karls, or freemen. This was the largest group and was made up of landholding farmers and skilled specialist craftsmen such as metalsmiths and carpenters. Merchants and traders also belonged to this broad middle class. Karls had the right to own and carry weapons and to speak their piece when the Thing assembled. On the bottom were slaves called "Thralls." Thralls performed unskilled labor and did most of the heavy lifting. They had no legal rights and were not allowed to bear arms. Many were prisoners taken captive during raids. These slaves were also one of the "trade goods" sold by Viking merchants on their expeditions abroad. Rambling royalty Viking kings did not maintain administrative capitals. Instead, they practiced what is called "ambulatory" or "itinerant" kingship. The king and his retinue journeyed from place to place around the kingdom, staying as guests of the local jarls. The most prominent jarls maintained banquet halls for feasting the royal company. As was common in the Middle Ages, the local nobility often had more wealth - and greater influence - than the kings who "ruled" over them. Kings earned the support of these jarls by handing out treasure in exchange for promises of loyalty. Many kings minted their own coins - perhaps to help the jarls remember whose silver they had accepted. Although kings were chosen from the same royal family, successions were not smooth. An unsuccessful claimant might use the prestige of his royal name to raise a group of followers and go on raiding expeditions. The booty from these raids would then be used to finance another run at the throne. Sometimes, joint kingships were the solution to these rivalries. Given these unstable conditions, centralized power was slow to evolve. Bluetooth, Bloodaxe, et al Just how the national kingdoms came about, we still don't know. By the time the Vikings had kings whose doings were considered worth recording, full-blown kingdoms were already in place. But with kings who enjoyed sobriquets such as "Bloodaxe" and "Bluetooth," it is probably safe to assume that "force" played a prominent role. Christianity played a role, also. A runestone in Jelling, Denmark, listed Harald Bluetooth's accomplishments as the conquest of Denmark and Norway and the conversion of the Danes. Another king, Olaf Haraldsson, both united Norway and converted the Norwegians to Christianity. He was later recognized as St. Olaf. Runestone raised by Harald Bluetooth Photo credit: York Archaeological Trust - York, England Top of Page
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