In the Sagas, which provide a fund of information about life in those days (see SAGA) the affection of the Vikings for their ships is clearly shown, and they are often referred to by poetical names, such as Sea-skates, Elk of the Fjords, Horse of the Gull's Track, Raven of the Sea, etc.
Apart from warfare, farming was the chief occupation of the Vikings, and for this purpose slaves (thralls) were largely em ployed; but even kings took an active part in this pursuit. Ale drinking, story-telling and games occupied the winter, every house hold having its winter store of dried meat and fish and home brewed ale. Hospitality was practised on the grandest scale. The vivid description in the sagas of life in the halls of the northmen has been verified by excavation, "Fire-Halls" being found re sembling mediaeval tithe-barns.
Typical antiquities of the period are found wherever the Vikings settled. Since paganism prevailed until about A.D. I000 in Nor way and Iceland and even later in Sweden, tomb furniture was abundant in the earlier period. There was a great variety of burial customs ; both inhumation and cremation were practised and the latter was not confined to the less elaborate tombs; it gradu ally died out, however, before the spread of Christianity. Men were often buried with a complete outfit of weapons, horse, dogs, harness, etc. ; and not infrequently were buried in their boats; women had personal ornaments, household gear, etc. Boat burials were rare in Denmark, and in place of the big ship burials important persons were buried in wooden tomb chambers under mounds.
As might be expected, continual fighting led to the development of far more efficient weapons than had hitherto been known. Although the spear, used for both throwing and thrusting, still played an important part, the axe now reached an importance not seen since the Bronze Age; and the beautiful horned forms evolved (cf. Bayeux Tapestry) attest the skill of the Viking blacksmith. Splendid swords are found in the graves, frequently inlaid with gold and silver. Defensive weapons are represented by the shield, helmet and coat of ring-mail (byrnja). From the numerous de scriptions in the Sagas we gather that a Viking's weapons were his most esteemed possessions; like the ships they are frequently described in such terms as :—for the sword, the Ice of Battle, the Dog of the Helmet, the Viper of the Host, etc. ; for the spear, the Snake of the Attack, the Shooting Serpent, etc. ; for the axe, the Witch of the Shield, the Wolf of the Wound; for arrows, the Bird of the Sling, the Twigs of the Corpse, etc. ; for shields, the Burgh of the Swords, the Moon of Battle; for the byrnja, Gray clothes of Odin, the Woof of the Spear, etc. They also had personal names, as Magnus Barefoot's sword Legbiter, Skar phedin's axe, Ogress of War; and Harald Hardrada's byrnja, Emma.
Most objects are covered with decoration, the style of which at first derived from that of the end of the Migration Period (Ven del Style, conventionalized animal forms; but as a result of foreign intercourse, especially with Ireland and the Carolingian Empire, a new style of a hybrid character developed towards the close of the 8th century. Very good examples of this "Gripping
beast" style are to be seen in the Oseberg Find. In the 1 oth century the Gripping beast style was overshadowed by the Jellinge style, in which animal forms are treated more naturalistically. This style, which in some ways resembles the Vendel style, is usually regarded as the outcome of Irish, English and Carolingian influ ence. The Jellinge style gave place for a time during the early th century to that of Ringerike, characterized by pure inter lacing and conventionalized foliage, the animal motive being negligible ; but later the interlaced animal of the Jellinge style reappeared in the Urnes style, at the close of which native Scandi navian art was overwhelmed by the bastard Romanesque of the Christian era.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.—For the earlier period (Stone Age to end of Iron age) see Reallexikon der V orgeschichte (ed. by Max Ebert, Berlin 1927), vol. ix., article entitled "Nordischer Kreis," with exhaustive bibliographies. Many of the works mentioned there (e.g., Montelius, Kulturgeschichte Schwedens (Leipzig, 1906), Rygh, Norske Oldsager (Christiania, 1885), Gustafson, Norges Oldtid (Christiania, 1906), etc., deal also with the later period (Iron Age to end of Viking period). Consult besides 0. Almgren, Die dltere Eisenzeit Gotlands (Stockholm, 1923) ; C. Engelhardt, Denmark in the Early Iron Age (London, 1886) ; J. Mestorf, Urnenfriedhofe in Schleswig-Holstein (Hamburg, 1886) and V orgeschichtliche Alterthiimer aus Schleswig-Holstein (Hamburg, 1885) ; B. Salin, Die altgermanische Thierornamentik, trans. by Mestorf (Stockholm, 1904) ; Baldwin Brown, Arts in Early England, vols. iii., iv. and v. (London, 1915) ; P. B. du Chaillu, The Viking Age (London, 1889) ; H. Shetelig, Vestlandske Graver fra Jernalderen (Bergen, 1912) ; H. Shetelig, Hj. Falk and A. W. BrOgger, Osebergfundet (Oslo, 1920– 28) ; J. BrOndsted, Early English Ornament (Copenhagen, ; J. Petersen, Vikingetidens Smykker (Stavanger Museum, 1927)- See also Bergens Museums Aarbog (Bergen), Aarsberetninger fra Foreningen til norske Fortidsmindesmaerkers Bevaring (Oslo) , Aarboger for nordisk Oldhynkighed (Copenhagen), Antiqvarisk Tidskrift for Sverige (Stock holm), the Manadsblad of the Kgl. Vitterhets Historie och Antiqvitets Akademie (Stockholm), Fornviinnen, published since 1906 by the same society ; Svenska Fornminnesforeningens Tidskrift (Stockholm), Viden skapsselskapetskrifter (since 1925) ; Skrifter utgit av det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi i Oslo (Stockholm). The guides to Scandinavian museums, the British Museum guides and London and the Vikings by W. M. Wheeler (London Museum, 1926) should also be consulted.