On the viking trail

Adventures in chasing viking history in northern England

Greetings from Jórvík! As someone who has researched and taught about the vikings for many years, it’s kind of amazing it’s taken me this long to get to York, England, or Jórvík (‘yor-veek’) as the vikings knew it. I was close a couple years ago when we went to Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, up near the border with Scotland. It is famous for being sacked by vikings in 793 and — at least from the English point of view — kicking off the thing we historians call the ‘Viking Age’. But now I can check York off the viking bucket list too.

The AI overlords created this map

York is very old and has so many historical layers to it. The Romans were here. The famous Emperor Constantine I, ‘The Great’, was actually proclaimed emperor here. And then once the Romans skipped town in the 5th century it became the Anglo-Saxon town Eoforwic. But when the viking ‘Great Army’, made up mostly of Danes, with some Norwegians and Swedes (and probably even others like the Irish) thrown into the mix, showed up in November 866 they took over and controlled the place until their King Erik Bloodaxe was killed in 954.

The Norse influence has waned but is still visible in things such as place names, and there are loads of leftovers in the form of artifacts that still remind us they were here. In particular, they can be found at the Jórvík Viking Centre and the Yorkshire Museum. The objects provide a good cross-section of the types of things that give ever so tiny a glimpse into life in a viking settlement — or rather, an Anglo-Norse town — in the 9th and 10th century. They humanize them in ways that nothing else can. Important to note: Jórvík was NOT just a warrior encampment. It was a community that included men, women, and children.

Probably needs no explanation….

Combs made from walrus ivory, antler, and bone are among the most common Scandinavian burial goods to be found. Vikings were a clean people who were fastidious with their hair.

A silver Thor’s hammer with gold hammer inlay.

Now you’ve seen it. An actual viking sword.

Scandinavians did not really have a strictly coin-based economy until later. They traded precious metals such as silver and gold as bullion, with value calculated by purity and weight.

Wooden plates and bowls, and part of a quern stone for grinding grain at the bottom with the hole in the middle.

The coup de grâce — or should I say ‘poo de grâce’? This is a viking turd. It is the largest fossilized human feces ever discovered. It is 8 inches long and 2 inches wide. And now you can’t unsee it. You’re welcome 😊

If you have any questions about what I’m doing, where I’m headed, or what you see in the post, put them in the comments!

And stay tuned for more on the viking trail to come. Skál!