In June 793, an Anglo-Saxon priest wrote mournfully that “heathen men came and miserably destroyed God’s church on Lindisfarne, with plunder and slaughter.” The Viking raids had begun. But while many of the wild Scandinavian raiders remain well known, some of the most feared and powerful figures of the age have been all but forgotten.

10Hastein

The Viking chief Hastein had a long and bloody career raiding England and France. But in his day, he was most notorious for his expedition to the Mediterranean in AD 859. After raiding Algeria, the Vikings found an island to wait out the winter. To their astonishment, the Mediterranean remained warm all through the winter months.

Hastein was also surprised to learn he was near Rome. The headquarters of the Church would surely be a glittering prize, and Hastein resolved to plunder it. Sailing down the west coast of Italy, the Vikings came across the greatest town they had ever seen. It was surely Rome.

Hastein knew the walls were too mighty for him to take the city by force. Instead, he pulled ashore and had his men explain that their dying leader wanted a Christian burial. The Italians were touched and agreed to allow Hastein carried through the gates. Of course, the chieftain soon sprang from his coffin and sacked the city.

He sailed away loaded with loot. and it was apparently some time before he learned that he had mistaken a town called Luna for the great city of Rome.

9Sigurd The Stout

Sigurd the Stout was the Norse ruler of Orkney, a large island on the north coast of Scotland. He extended the power of Orkney over the Hebrides islands and large areas of mainland Scotland.

He was well known for his use of a raven banner, a mysterious pagan totem flown by several Viking raiders. The sagas say that Sigurd’s raven banner was made by his mother (a powerful shaman) and made him invincible in battle.

However, Sigurd was overwhelmed by the Norse king Olaf Tryggvason, who forced him to convert to Christianity and took his son back to Norway as a hostage. The son died, and Sigurd was able to renounce his conversion. He took his raven banner with him to the Battle of Clontarf, where he was killed by the forces of the Irish king Brian Boru.

8The Donkey-Rider

The Persian philosopher Abu Miskawayh and the Kurdish chronicler Ali ibn al-Athir both recorded a raid on the distant Caspian Sea in AD 943. According to Miskawayh, a powerful Viking Rus fleet ported overland to the Caspian and then rowed up the Kura River to attack the rich city of Barda’a. The leader of the expedition rode a donkey, but the Muslim writers apparently didn’t know his name.

After crushing a force of 5,000, the Vikings looted Barda’a and slaughtered many of the citizens after being pelted with stones. The Persian governor of the region brought up reinforcements and placed the city under siege, but his men were intimidated by the invaders and the Vikings were only forced to retreat after an epidemic of dysentery thinned their ranks.

The donkey-riding chief died in a breakout attempt, but his surviving men were able to slip away at night and made it to the safety of their ships. The locals at once dug up the graves they left behind to retrieve the valuable swords buried with the dead warriors.

7Ingvar The Far-Traveled

The Vikings returned to the Caspian in the 1040s, when the warrior Ingvar the Far-Traveled led an expedition south from Sweden. After spending a few years with the Rus, Ingvar headed off again in search of plunder.

Georgian chroniclers mention a group of Vikings who helped King Bagrat IV of Georgia in a war against some rebels. These are generally assumed to be Ingvar’s men, especially since the landscape in a saga about him matches up well with the Georgian terrain.

After that, Ingvar is believed to have headed further east, into Muslim lands around the Caspian sea. The sagas and various runestones agree that his entire expedition died of disease there, a rather underwhelming end for such a powerful warrior.

6Brodir Of Man

After Brian Boru became High king of Ireland in AD 1002, Viking power in the Emerald Island was seriously under threat. The Norse king of Dublin, Sigtrygg Silkbeard, decided to back a rebellion against Brian. He was encouraged by his mother Gormflaith, who was Brian’s estranged wife.

At Gornflaith’s urging, Sigtrygg recruited warriors from all over the Viking world, including Sigurd the Stout. He also sent word to the Isle of Man, which was ruled by two brothers named Brodir and Ospak, who were reputedly powerful sorcerers. Brodir agreed to fight, but Ospak thought that they would lose and he ducked out under cover of darkness to join Brian.

At the Battle of Clontarf, Brodir was said to have cut down dozens of Irishmen. But Clontarf was a bloodbath and Brodir sensibly ran away into the woods when the opportunity presented itself. According to Njal’s Saga, he accidentally ran into the elderly King Brian, who was waiting to hear the outcome of the battle. Overwhelming Brian’s guards, Brodir personally killed the king.

The Saga later relates that Brian’s brother Wulf the Quarrelsome later tracked Brodir down, nailed his intestines to a tree, and forced him to walk around it until they were all pulled out.

5Raud The Strong

According to the 12th-century Icelandic poet-historian Snorri Sturluson, Raud ran afoul of King Olaf Tryggvason, who was trying to convert Norway to Christianity. Raud refused to convert and openly mocked the Christians.

This infuriated Olaf, who had Raud seized. When the stubborn pagan still refused to be baptized, Olaf had him tied down and rammed a drinking horn down his throat. Then he pushed a snake into the horn and poked it with a hot iron until it crawled down Raud’s throat and into his stomach.

According to Snorri, Raud died when the snake chewed its way out through his side. Since snakes can’t really chew, the story may be worth taking with a grain of salt.

4Ivar The Boneless

According to Ragnar’s Saga, Ivar the Boneless was the son of the legendary warrior Ragnar Lodbrok, pictured above. That may or may not be true (the same saga has Ivar fighting a magical cow), but we do know that Ivar and his brothers commanded the Great Heathen Army, a mighty force that invaded England in 865.

They overran the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia and did serious damage to the kingdom of Mercia. King Aelle of Northumbria was tortured to death, while Edmund of East Anglia was shot full of arrows in a church. After that, Ivar returned to York and disappears from the record, leaving command of the army to his brothers.

Ivar’s nickname has been the subject of much speculation. The sagas agree that he had to be carried around on a shield, and Ragnar’s Saga claims that he had “only the like of gristle where his bones should have been.” This has led some historians to suggest that he suffered from osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition that leaves bones fragile and easily broken.

3Imar

Before Ivar the Boneless appeared in English records, a Viking leader called Imar was active in Ireland, where he took control of Dublin and fought in numerous raids and small wars. After Ivar left England, Imar reappeared in Scotland, where he besieged the great stronghold at Dumbarton Rock.

The siege lasted four months, but the Vikings were eventually able to cut off the water supply, and the fortress surrendered. The king of Strathclyde was taken prisoner and, it took 200 ships to carry away the loot. Imar then returned to Ireland, where he died of a “hideous disease” in 873.

Most historians speculate that Imar and Ivar are the same person, although the Scotch-Irish records never make reference to the “boneless” nickname.

2Gunderedo

The earliest Viking raid on Spain sacked the Muslim city of Seville in 844. Subsequent attacks on Muslim Spain went poorly, and the largest Viking campaign in Spain focused on the Christian north.

The raid started when Richard of Normandy called in Danish assistance for a campaign in northern France. Once that wrapped up, the Danes raided Galicia, in the northwest corner of Spain. They were led by a “sea-king” the Spanish called Gunderedo.

Gunderedo’s men pillaged the great shrine of Santiago de Compostela and killed the bishop in battle. After that, no Galician was willing to challenge the Danes and they ran riot across the countryside for three years. Its not clear why they eventually left, but probably Galicia was too poor to hold their attention for longer.

1Thorstein The Red

Thorstein the Red was the son of King Olaf of Dublin and his famous queen, Aud the Deep-Minded. Aud’s family ruled the Hebrides, and Olaf had married her in the hope of gaining an alliance. But the islanders continued to raid around Dublin, and Olaf eventually sent Aud and the infant Thorstein home in fury.

Olaf’s power grew, and he took control of the Hebrides, forcing Aud to flee to Scotland with her son. Thorstein grew up into a fierce warrior, who raided across Scotland and “was ever victorious.” The desperate Scots even granted him an independent kingdom in the northern tip of Scotland.

But Thorstein wanted more, and the Scots conspired to have him murdered in AD 900. Heartbroken, Aud took her followers to Iceland, where she became the ruler of a powerful clan. She was buried on the beach, so that the tide would always wash over her grave.

Recent archaeological finds reveal that the Vikings were not only fierce, bloodthirsty warriors but also farmers, skilled craftsmen, impressive mariners, and expert traders as well. As more discoveries are made, our knowledge of the Vikings will widen even more—dispelling many myths surrounding this fascinating group of people.

10Tomb Of Viking Power Couple

In 2012, engineers building a highway in Harup, Denmark, discovered a wooden building. Later on, the discovery was identified as a Viking tomb. Also known as dodehus or death house, the tomb contained the remains of a couple archaeologists believed held a high social status in Viking society.

Experts discovered two interesting items buried alongside the couple: a large battle axe and two keys. The axe, which was found together with the man, was considered to be the “machine gun” of the Viking era. Europeans back then trembled at the sight of this battle axe. The keys, on the other hand, were “a symbol of [the woman’s] power and status as a great lady.”

The researchers also discovered a third body buried alongside the couple. They surmised that the man was added at a later date, and he might have been the couple’s successor.

9Viking Women Colonized New Lands Too

A new study involving ancient Viking DNA suggested that Viking women played a significant role in the colonization of overseas lands. Experts arrived at this conclusion after discovering that the maternal DNA of the Vikings “closely matches that of modern-day people in the North Atlantic isles,” especially that of Shetland and Orkney Islands in the United Kingdom.

This discovery also debunked the widely held assumption that the Vikings were merely pillagers and raiders. They were family-oriented people as well who “established settlements and grew crops” and even engaged in trade. In addition, this recent finding challenged a study published in 2001 that suggested that Viking men would travel alone and then bring local female captives when they colonized new territories.

8Viking Fortress

In 2014, a team of archaeologists discovered a Viking fortress in the Danish island of Zealand. They believed that the structure dated back to the 10th century. Before the discovery of this specific fortress, three others were unearthed in Denmark: Aggersborg, Trelleborg, and Fyrkat. These structures are collectively known as the “Trelleborg” fortresses.

The newly discovered fortress, which is located south of Copenhagen, is quite huge, spanning 165 meters (476 ft) across.

This discovery showed that the Vikings were not only a “fierce band of warriors with cool headgear” but were also decent architects, capable of building magnificent fortresses. In addition, this discovery gave archaeologists the opportunity to better understand Viking conflicts and wars.

7North America’s Second Viking Site

Known for using satellite technology in her excavations, “space archaeologist” Sarah Parcak, together with her team, discovered a second possible Viking settlement in North America. They arrived at this conclusion after finding the remains of turf walls and an iron-working hearth in Point Rosee in Newfoundland, Canada.

The presence of an iron-working hearth at the site is a strong evidence of a Viking settlement since they used iron nails to build their ships. It also eliminated the possibility of the site belonging to Native Americans or Basque fisherman. In addition, after doing radiocarbon testing, Parcak and her team were able to date the site back to 800 and 1300 AD—the same time the Vikings were at their peak.

This discovery is monumental since it can potentially dethrone Christopher Columbus as the discoverer of the New World.

6Viking Treasure Trove

In September 2014, metal-detecting enthusiast Derek McLennan discovered one of the biggest Viking treasure troves in Scotland. The trove, which consisted of more than 100 precious artifacts including solid gold jewelry, was unearthed on church land.

Stuart Campbell of Scotland’s treasure trove unit considered this discovery historically significant since it could potentially alter the way Scots view “their historic relationship with the Vikings.” Contrary to popular belief, the Vikings didn’t only carry out raids in Scotland. They also settled and traded in some parts of the country, including the area where the treasure trove was discovered.

5Climate Change Didn’t Kill The Greenland Viking Settlement

For years, it has been widely believed within the scientific community that climate change killed the Viking settlement in Greenland. Specifically, it was assumed that the Greenland Vikings died within a 200-year period of worsening climate known as the Little Ice Age. However, a new study suggested that this might not have been the case.

It’s true, the Vikings experienced “years of harsh and cold winters and summers,” they were cut off from their homelands in Europe due to lack of timber for building ships, and they were left entirely on their own when Scandinavian traders stopped passing by Greenland, but these challenges “didn’t knock them out.” They were good at adapting and were able to outlive climate change and its devastating effects for centuries.

So why did they disappear? Experts still do not know, but one thing’s for sure. Climate change has been eliminated from the list.

4Viking Parliament

For years, the exact location of a Viking Parliament in Dingwall, Scotland, have eluded archaeologists and historians alike. It was only in 2013 when it was finally located. After excavating for more than a year, archaeologists hit the jackpot—they unearthed the remains of the lost Viking parliament at a parking lot known as the Cromartie Memorial car park.

More popularly known as a “Thing,” the Viking parliament was built on the instructions of a powerful Viking earl named Thorfinn the Mighty. Aside from the Thing, Thorfinn also commissioned the construction of a ditch, an aqueduct, and a road.

This discovery has elicited excitement among historians in the United Kingdom since it could “help them learn more about the Norse Vikings, who battled for control of land across the north of Scotland.”

3Denmark’s Oldest Viking Crucifix

In 2016, a metal enthusiast named Dennis Fabricius Holm discovered what experts dubbed as “Denmark’s oldest Viking crucifix.” The pendant, which was found on the Danish island of Fune, measures 4.06 centimeters (1.6 in) in height and weighs 12.76 grams (0.45 oz).

Archaeologists estimated that the rare Viking crucifix dated back to the half of the 900s, making it much older than “Harald Bluetooth’s runic stone in Jelling.” Up until the discovery of the crucifix, Harald’s massive runestones were considered to be the earliest representation of Jesus Christ on a cross in Denmark. This discovery suggested that the Vikings converted to Christianity much earlier than previously thought.

2Hammer Of Thor

Since the first millennium, more than 1,000 hammer-shaped pendants have been unearthed across Northern Europe. For years, experts have debated over the true significance of these amulets. It was only recently when the mystery was finally solved—the pendants represented the Mjolnir, Thor’s powerful hammer.

This breakthrough was made when a team of Danish researchers unearthed a 10th-century Viking amulet on the island of Lolland in Denmark. This particular amulet was the only one with a runic inscription. The words “Hmar x is” was inscribed on the pendant, and when translated to modern English, it meant “This is a hammer.”

Basing on this discovery, the researchers concluded that the hammer-shaped pendants found across Northern Europe were Thor’s mini-hammers, and Vikings wore them for protection.

1‘For Allah’ Inscription

In the late 1800s, a team of archaeologists unearthed a ring with a pink-violet colored stone at Birka, Sweden. During the Viking era, Birka was an important trading center. The mysterious object was discovered inside a rectangular wooden coffin containing the remains of a female Viking. Intriguingly, the ring contained an Arabic inscription.

Being the only ring with an Arabic inscription ever discovered in Scandinavia, the object caught the interest of an international team of researchers. They analyzed the ring, and in 2015 they announced that the inscription meant “For Allah” or “To Allah.”

The researchers suggested that the woman who wore the ring could have been from the Islamic world or that “a Swedish Viking got [it], by trade or robbery, while visiting the Islamic Caliphate.” Regardless of how the ring ended up in Birka, this monumental discovery proved that the Scandinavian Vikings did come in contact with Islamic kingdoms.

Vikings were a force to be reckoned with back in the day, and for a good reason. The name “Vikings” meant “pirates,” a name they were not fond of. Based on how fierce the Vikings were, it was probably a name mentioned in hushed tones.

Despite their aggressive nature, the Vikings were also tender and caring beings who cared much about their looks. They groomed themselves a lot; archaeological sites have taught us that they carried combs made of animal horns, especially deer antlers. They also used to bleach their hair and beards blonde and took frequent baths.

There is a popular misconception that the Vikings belonged to a particular race or tribe. This could not be further from the truth. Vikings were brought together by their way of living and went on missions together. It does not mean that Vikings were friendly to other Vikings or that they necessarily fought each other when they met. We could say they lived by a code and only fought if they had to.

Vikings had a lot of influence in their time, and their mark on the world continues to be felt. Here are ten interesting facts about the Vikings that show how fascinating the Vikings were.

10 Influences on Common Words

Vikings had a lot of influence on the English language. For instance, the day Thursday is named after their god of thunder, Thor. And Saturdays were dedicated to taking baths in the hot springs. In Scandinavian countries, Saturday roughly translates to washing day. Many people use Saturdays, typically a day off, to clean and complete other chores they may be too tired to complete during the work week.

The Vikings also influenced the use of jurors in the court system. They are believed to have used a jury of peers to help solve cases, a practice still carried out today. The commonly used Bluetooth was named after the Viking king Harald Bluetooth in the technology field. The name was chosen because the king united Danish tribes into a single kingdom in the same way the technology was intended to unite communication protocols.

9 Contact with Many Religions

The Vikings targeted religious establishments quite often in their expeditions, but not necessarily because they were against religion. They attacked churches mainly because they contained a lot of loot and were barely guarded. The Vikings had many gods and could have easily accepted Christianity. They came into contact with many different religions.

The Vikings also interacted with the Muslims, which is made evident by a ring found in a grave in Sweden with the inscription “il la la,” meaning “for Allah.” The ring was made of silver alloy and glass, a practice common in the Middle East.

8 All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

Despite their temperament, Vikings took time out to play and make merry. They would often celebrate achievements by throwing parties. These parties they threw depended on the rank and wealth of the person or people hosting. The parties created not only an opportunity to make merry but also a “pissing contest” to display wealth and stature.

The wealthier a Viking or a group of Vikings were, the bigger the party would be and the longer they could hold it down. As archeological evidence suggests, Vikings were robust men and women. Considering their body size and way of living, one can easily conclude they could eat and drink a lot. Hosting a Viking party, therefore, was a noteworthy achievement. An achievement that earned the host a distinguished position in the community.

Did you know that Vikings found skiing amusing as well? They did, in fact, find it fascinating. One would be forgiven for assuming they did not have what it took to ski back in the day, considering how advanced the equipment we use today is. Archeological evidence points to the fact that they had wooden boards that they used to ski. They used to ski for fun when hunting and as a way of general movement.

7 Gender Equality

The Vikings seem to have taken gender equality quite literary. In 2017, an archeological site on the west coast of Denmark discovered a jewelry workshop dating back to the 9th century that was used by the Valkyrie (female Vikings) to make amulets. It is believed but not yet confirmed that the female worriers wore the amulets as good luck charms.

From more archeological evidence around the world, Valkyries have been found buried in the same fashion as their male counterparts. Their bones have been excavated in a boat-like coffin, just as the ones honorable Vikings would be buried in. They would also be buried alongside their weapons and possessions, believed to help them in the afterlife.

It was thought that Vikings initially captured new territories and took women as enslaved people. While they practiced the habit, archeological remains also discovered that they sometimes took their women on missions and expeditions. Their women were vital in capturing new territories and making them home.

6 Urine Fire?

Vikings used urine to start fires. They would boil tinder fungus (hoof fungus or Fomes fomentarius) in human urine for a few days. The resulting product would then be used to light fires. The sodium nitrate in the urine played a significant role in the ability to smolder for days and, consequently, light fires easily. The process was ingenious, especially considering the Vikings’ time.

5 Drug Abuse

Viking warriors were said to enter a state of fury, one that can easily be referred to as “beast mode.” While in that state, the Viking warriors had little to no regard for life. They did not care for their life nor that of their enemies and were quite destructive. According to Norse literature, the state was called “berserkir.”

You may wonder, “how did they activate beast mode?” A theory has it that they ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms called Amanita muscaria. The theory is supported by evidence suggesting that the mushroom grew in the Scandinavian areas at the time. To further support the theory, the behavior portrayed by the Viking warriors is consistent with the consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The Vikings must have consumed the mushroom as a war ritual, only to feel the effects kick in during the fighting. They must have later figured it out and taken the mushrooms intentionally to activate their inner warrior.

4 Honey Wine

Wine always has been and still is believed to be beneficial to the body. From carrying antioxidants to being good for digestion, the benefits are numerous. The Vikings must have caught wind of these benefits long before we did.

The Vikings created a wine, of which the main ingredient was honey, that they called mead. Mead had a very high concentration of lactic acid bacteria, the main medicinal aspect of honey. By fermenting honey, the bacteria multiplied tenfold from 100 million per gram in concentration. The mead acted as an antibiotic, keeping the Vikings healthy and treating any bacterial infections they had.

Honey wine kept the Vikings healthy and strong for battle and tasted good, too!

3 Mercy Killings and Torture

Vikings were associated with strength and agility and did everything they could to remain strong. They were known to abandon or kill sick children and sometimes did the same to firstborn girls in the hopes of conceiving a son. In their defense, the Vikings regarded the practice as an act of mercy to save the child from all the hardships they would otherwise have had to endure.

Vikings did the same kind of acts to wounded soldiers. They would be fed with a very concentrated onion soup. The soup was made strong to produce a strong smell that any wounds in the stomach would easily expel. Once the onion smell was detected, the Vikings knew that the person had a mortal wound and stopped caring for the person. They would save the medicine they had for someone with treatable wounds and let the person die.

Another inhumane act the Vikings had was torture. They would cut a victim’s back and pull out ribs to form shapes. They would also pull out the lungs and intestines carefully enough not to kill the person so that they die slowly and painfully.

2 Mice

The Vikings are credited for the wide spread of rats and mice around the areas they visited during their expeditions. It is believed that as they moved around, they carried mice in their ships, and whenever they docked, some of the mice and rats would find their way out and build their colonies.

The large supply of food that the Vikings carried with them in their ships as they moved around must have made their ships conducive to breeding rats and mice. The thick timber they used to make the ships also gave the rats a vantage point as they would burrow into the wood and make themselves cozy nests to keep them warm and safe.

Researchers discovered that rats and mice populations increased incredibly when the Vikings toured Europe. The Vikings are also known to have loved cats, and if the number of mice was anything to go by, then theirs was a symbiotic relationship more than a liking for cats.

1 Romance, Religion, and Superstition

Warriors gave their brides a kitten or kittens when they were ready to marry them. Cats were considered to be a vital necessity in the family household. The Vikings also carried cats on ships to deal with rats and mice.

The goddess of love, Freya, was associated with cats and probably the reason why the Vikings gifted their brides with kittens. The gesture of the kittens, however, is quite romantic, considering the Vikings were ferocious fighters, and kittens are adorable little animals.

Vikings were religious and had many gods, including Thor, the god of thunder, and Freya, the goddess of love. They also had a god and goddess of recreation and were very cautious about annoying their gods. It was evident since they were said to remove the scary figureheads off their longships when sailing through friendly territories. The practice was done to keep the gods happy and give them favor in a war in enemy territory.