'Vikings Art and Culture\r'

'The Vikings graphics and Culture At first thought of the Vikings, the idiotic strip â€Å"Hagar the Horrible” comes to mind. As this is in all likelihood non a good basis for reference, it still potbelly give slight glimpse, if non a deformed one, of the Viking culture. As for Viking dodge, a more in judiciousness search must be done, for â€Å"Hagar” was unfortunately non actu solely toldy made by the Vikings. The Viking culture was a primitive one of agriculture, hunting, and fishing. Families lived on heightens together and were a tight knit labor force.\r\nDuring sowing time, the men would all work together from before dawn until laterwards dark to tend to the field, and the women would work on providing the day-by-day necessities, such as food, clothes, and cleaning. The wife would also now and then help in the fields, and the children would st cunningwork helping pop from a very young age doing their single duties. There were less than five mon ths of growing bit in their northern climate, so the Viking husband of the fartherm would plant the crops and then look toward the sea.\r\nHe would lead bulge out with his neighbors for a pleasant summer of swag in the south. Then, he would return in the get down in time for the harvest. His wife would control all affairs of the household until he returned. If he should not return due to an unfortunate accident, his wife would get the land, business, and any early(a) wealth. The eldest son of the family would engineer over the family farm, and the younger sons would go out to reclaim their own careers as they became of age, possibly Vikings.\r\nFamily was very grand to the Viking people; it was a powerful unit of protection. oft like today, families provided support and assistance, and it was to their family that a person owed their obligation. A close family bond is evident as husbands, wives, and children would upgrade runes in honor of each other; husbands to their wives, wives to their husbands, and children to their parents. Runes were decorated monuments with inscriptions and verses for their deceased family, much as a tombstone would be now, and were often placed in reality places so that they would be seen.\r\nThey also normally lived as a nucleic family, much like today, with the mother, father, and the children in the household. It was yethandedly un coarse to strike extended family such as grandparents to live with them; most likely, because it was rare to live prehistoric the age of forty and most people did not enter the role of grandparent. As much as the Vikings were known as looters and pillagers, they were also formidable merchants. umpteen an(prenominal) of their journeys were commercial and put them in contact with the last reaches of the world. Trade became a very important articulation of their culture.\r\nWhile thither are more separates of the Viking people, such as dirty, smelly, illiterate, drunkard savages most are probably misconceptions. While they probably were dirty and smelly after sailing across the sea and whitethornbe did not bathe that often because of the stone-cold weather, one set up assume that it was for a purpose rather than besides being ignorant. The notion that they were illiterate is wrong; they apparently had their own writing system with an alphabet called runic. The letter were mostly made up of vertical and aslope lines, which made them suitable for carving into wood.\r\nAs far as the drunkard man, that is most likely the truest stereotype of them all. It is believed that the Vikings were very heavy drinkers. They would drink ale and mead, which is also called sweeten wine and made from fermented honey. Wine was something that was part of their occupation voyages, as grapes did not grow in the cold Scandinavian climate. It is true that the Vikings pillaged many towns and killed many innocent people who came in their path, and while it was terrible, this des cription is coming from the people who were attacked and showing them in their conquer light.\r\nIn reality, a Viking was only a Viking while at sea, once he returned home there was no more pillaging. It was back to the farm, the family, and normal usual life. So, were they savages? Yes, to certain people they were, solely to others, no. The art of the Vikings was not really art in the wiz of the word. There was no art for art pastime; it was mostly applied art. Their skills were used to decorate items of daily use. Weapons and ships were intricately decorated, as were drinking vessels, runes, and jewelry.\r\nThis proved their chemical attraction for showing off their wealth and rank with whatsoever their possessions were. Most of the art that has survived is made of metal even though most commonly leather, wood, and bone were used. Their art was not naturalistic, however instead abstract. A common theme art was distorted and disfigured animals. Animals were a dominant subject , as they seemed to have an endless homage to them as a source of inspiration. The clutch barbarian is one motif that started in the Broa Style; it is a strong, muscular animal that is shown full face with its paws gripping either itself or another nimal. The gripping skirt chaser is shown on the Oseberg ship along with two other animal motifs, S-shaped animals with ribbon-like bodies, and semi-naturalistic animals and birds. Being confronted with these images, one could not but be in awe of the energy of the decoration. some(prenominal) different styles of Viking art have been identified, but no new style can be verbalize to mark the beginning of the Viking age in Scandinavia, they grew out of the art styles of earlier centuries, the first being the Broa style, followed by the Borre, then the Jellinge, Mammen, Ringerike, and finally the Urnes.\r\nThe styles all vary slightly, but still keep with the distorted animal theme. The art of the Viking age influenced many different c ultures because of their worldly travels, and they have influenced our culture in a way that we may never comprehend. They have intertwined themselves into the fabric of so many different cultures, that many of us could be part Viking.\r\n'