The causes that could originate the Viking Age are open to debate, and although some think that it was due to a scarcity of land, others relate it to a scarcity of women. What reason could there be for thinking this way? Let’s see it!
Who were the Vikings
Before explaining why one thinks or theorizes about the beginning of the Viking Age associated with a shortage of womenlet’s take a look at Who were the Vikings and how was their social structure shaped?. It is essential to give a few brushstrokes of its history at least so that we can put ourselves in a situation and understand a little better the basis of these theories.
The Vikings were Scandinavian explorers. Scandinavia is the area of northern Europe occupied by present-day Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. settle down the origins of the Vikings around the 7th century and it was at this time that they carved out a niche for themselves in world history.
Among their ways of life, the Vikings had looting, trade and wars (mainly internal and at a reduced level).
The success of its expansion lay in its originality when it came to designing “military” or attack strategies. They arrived, looted and returned to their place, in this way, assaulting towns or nearby areas, stealing valuables and then trading with them. Thus, with this guerrilla war they obtained what they needed.
For its part, Viking society was very religious and traditional, Nordic paganism was a polytheistic religion, where the gods were not feared, but respected. These were not supernatural beings of great power, that is, there was a certain degree of “reality”, pragmatism or rationalism within their own beliefs.
If at first we thought that the Vikings were a crude and disorganized society, the reality was quite different. Yes, within its qualities and definitions was that of a bellicose people, but in truth they were very well organized and their hierarchical structure was very clear. His society was divided into three castes: chieftains and warriors, free men and slaves.
warlords and warriors
Among the leaders and warriors was the King of the Vikings, who was appointed by an Assembly of free men. He was in charge of directing the war and the conquests, and if they did not reach their war goals, they could be dismissed and replaced by the next chosen one. Now, if a king died, the first in line could be the son himself, but if the Assembly decided that they preferred a new king, the agreement was carried out.
ANDn this circle we also find the nobles (called holds Y jarlds)who were in the service of the King, and those who were assigned to this in the service of the nobles were the warriors and chieftains.
Freemen
Free men made up the middle class and were peasants and artisans. As their title indicates, they were men who enjoyed rights and freedom. Such rights consisted of the use of arms and being able to form part of the local Assembly, as long as they owned some land.
Slaves
Unlike the previous ones, slaves were deprived of rights and freedom. they were called thralls and they came from the looted areas or were people with debts, or descendants of these. The slaves were the ones who did the hardest work.the most intense physical activities.
The Viking Age could have been started by a shortage of women
In order to understand this theory that associates the beginning of the Viking Age with the lack of women within their civilization, we must first understand that the Vikings had a strong feeling of competitiveness. The honor and the fight were deeply rooted within the Viking thought, since they considered that it was necessary to stand out and show that one was stronger or more aggressive (or less fearful) than those around him.
The source from which he drank this feeling is found in a bellicose mentality, but which also added to a polygamous society. That is to say, each man could marry several women, and taking this into account, the available women were less and less, so it became imperative to fight to get them to notice them, to see them as deserving men.
These, in addition, had a different role from that of women in the rest of contemporary societies. She respected and valued them as independent members. In this sense, women could keep their land and property and they had full rights to dispose of them without the need for the intervention of the husband.
Infanticide in the Viking Age
Ancient Viking laws allowed children to be abandoned who had just been born, however, it was not common to do this, nor could it be done depending on the circumstances.
For example, when the father recognized the son or the son lived in the family for at least nine dayswas already considered to be part of this and, therefore, the abandonment or murder was considered a punishable crime. Another reason why this abandonment or murder could be considered a crime was the fact that the newcomer had already been given a name.
In the case of children born with malformationsthey were considered to be part of the “not accepted” directly by Viking society and they were sentenced to death. Which was one more reason to increase the number of abandoned babies, although as I say, it was about these very specific situations.
Whatever the reason these children were abandoned, was considered a bad omen for parents or familyas the compromise of misfortunes.