Unfortunately for those who consider 2022’s The Northman an underrated gem, its blood-soaked portrayal of Viking life may not be entirely accurate, even without the supernatural elements. Relics examined by anthropologists reveal that, compared to their Norwegian counterparts, Vikings in modern-day Denmark were relatively peaceful, owning fewer weapons and using them less frequently than their southern neighbors.
The new study, published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, combined analysis of skeletal human remains and ancient weapons, as well as readings of old runestones, to examine how Viking societies differed in the two different locations. They found that the Danes were not only less prone to violence, but they also had a more centralized power structure, and the two characteristics could be related.
While Vikings are often seen as bloodthirsty pillagers who thrived on mayhem and murder, the truth about violence’s role in their society is more complex. Some historians have suggested that Vikings were no more violent than some of their contemporary societies. Even if that’s true, the study’s authors point out that violence was integral to Viking culture, with their origin story of the world centered around the murder and dismemberment of a giant. As anyone who’s seen the best Thor movie knows, the Viking view of the end of the world was equally grim, centered around a final battle called Ragnarök. Viking poetry and religious beliefs were similarly bloody.
Yet, Viking-era swords are relatively rare finds in Denmark, with just one late Iron Age sword found in the country for every 340 square miles (547 square kilometers). By comparison, in the region around the Norwegian city Stavanger, a sword has been found for every 20 square miles (32.7 square kilometers). Norwegian skeletons were also considerably more likely to show signs of pre-death injuries. Of the 30 Norwegian remains examined, 18 showed signs of injury. Six of the Danish skeletons showed signs of injury, but those clearly came at the time of death; four of the 82 skeletons examined had been decapitated, while another had been hanged. By contrast, none of the Norwegians had lost their heads (though the sample size, at 18 skeletons, was much smaller).
That discrepancy led Jacobson to conclude that violence wasn’t the only difference between Danes and Norwegians. The Norwegian Vikings may have had a might-makes-right approach to social organization, they wrote, while the Danes bowed to a centralized authority, making everyday life more “civilianized.”
“The findings of these patterns suggest that we are talking of distinct societies in the regions of Norway and Denmark,” Jacobson said in a statement. “This is quite striking, as the assumption has been that socially Viking Scandinavia was largely a singular space.”
The researchers said their work could potentially shed light on the relationship between centralization and authority in other historical civilizations. They pointed to tribes in the Andes, where evidence from the Archaic and Late Horizon periods shows that human bodies suffered more trauma in areas that had less political centralization. At the very least, the new research shows that societies, even those considered violent, are more complex and nuanced than we typically appreciate.
