The Daily Life of Viking Pets: Cats, Dogs, and Polar Bears DOCUMENTARY

viking longships cut through the freezing waters of the north sea over the deck are visible rows of fierce warriors with shields spears axes and hold on is that a cat wait and there's a dog too what's going on here while the scene might catch the modern viewer by surprise it certainly would not have drawn second looks from our ancestors after all pets have long shared in our adventures even if they never make it into the history books this is an unfortunate consequence of the way we learn about the past which strips it of everyday aspects which make it real of course the vikings had real lives like you and i why shouldn't bjorn bring his best friends along with him to england today let's dive into daily life in the past and get to know the viking pets of history this video was sponsored by magellan tv they're an awesome documentary streaming service run by filmmakers with a selection of over 2000 videos to choose from amongst the categories of history science nature space and more when it comes to history documentaries magellan tv has the richest and most varied content anywhere ancient modern current war biography and even related genres like science and crime which are historical in nature if you like our content i can highly recommend that you check out the documentary series warriors way which traces the lives of famous warriors from childhood training to bloody battle magellan tv is compatible with roku amazon fire tv apple tv google play and ios which means you can watch it anytime anywhere on your television laptop or mobile device sign up today to get a one month free membership trial additionally by visiting the link in the description below or going to magellandv.com invicta you can actually pick up a buy one get one free gift card which can be shared with friends and family or used towards your own account enjoy there has been a long relationship between the ancient people of scandinavia and their animals this started some 10 000 years ago as the ice age glaciers were treated from the north and human tribes followed in their melting footsteps these early scandinavians lived simply by hunting foraging and gathering around 4000 bc agriculture began springing up from the south and people gradually settled into a more sedentary lifestyle though of course many continued to practice nomadic or seminomatic ways in these endeavors they would be accompanied by many domesticated animals which served to provide food and labor in a harsh environment where everyone had to contribute in order to ensure the survival of the group by the viking age of the 8th century a.d scandinavia had certainly continued to evolve on a macro level but from the ground's eye view there was a rather large degree of continuity although the vikings are best known for their exploits at sea theirs was still a society predominantly based around agriculture and animal husbandry most of the time families went about their daily work in small farm communities tilling the soil and tending livestock as their ancestors had done for thousands of years before them animals has always played their part and now perhaps more than ever became intertwined in medieval scandinavian life for proof of this one must look no further than the typical viking home and by viking i want to make it clear that we're using this term in the colloquial sense which identifies a much broader societal group rather than the more narrow historical sense that specifically refers to those who partook in seaboard activities of raiding and trading in any case these viking homes often came in the form of longhouses they were framed by two parallel rows of interior posts connected by beams against which were built slanted or boeing walls the interior space was then divided into several rooms typically an entire section was reserved as a stable which might hold anywhere from just a handful to several dozen animals this was a very practical decision which provided easy access to animal-based sources of food and supplies while also capturing their body heat to further warm the longhouse archaeology indicates that viking farms featured a wide range of species cattle were quite common for the production of milk or consumption as beef sheep and goats might similarly be milked to produce butter and cheese or slaughtered to make mutton pigs too were present and seemed to have been a high status food as is shown by the presence of pork among the daily dishes served in valhalla within a barn one might also find horses they were sometimes eaten but more often than not were so highly prized that they would instead be used as draft animals or for riding scuttling around the feet of these larger animals would be many birds such as chicken and geese their eggs could be collected for consumption or the animals themselves killed for a meal as one might imagine all of these creatures also had to be fed and tended to vikings certainly had their hands full but were lucky enough to be aided by two more trusty types of farm companions cats and dogs let's now look at both of these in more detail when it comes to the first domesticated cats these appear to have arisen in the ancient near east from here they spread across the world often accompanying humans in their migrations it's not exactly clear to us when the first cats reach scandinavia some have speculated that they must have begun to trickle in during the prehistoric times but analysis reveals that the only slim evidence we have actually points to a quite late arrival during the scandinavian iron age around the 2nd century a.d in any case they must have slowly started to move into the northern regions as scandinavians increasingly traded with their neighbors over the following centuries by the viking age cats seem to have mostly popped up in more urban areas which suggests that these animals were either brought by visitors or imported by traders another case they quickly dispersed to the surrounding countryside and became a new element of the scandinavian ecology over time these northern breeds would adapt to their new home with longer thicker hair for survival in the cold the best example of this is the norwegian forest cat which boasts an impressive coat and is huge the arrival of the cat also worked its way into ancient north's mythology they seem to have been associated with the goddess freya and are even said to have pulled her around in a wagon this seems quite laughable at first until you consider the sheer size of the norwegian forest cat elsewhere in mythology we see them appear as spirit animals or divine guides who were tied to ideas of chance and fortune treating cats with reverence and kindness was less likely to see a viking looked upon favorably by the gods more practically speaking though cats were well cared for as a result of their valuable use as rodent control in an age where one's refrigerator was basically out in the open it was extremely important to have cats around to ensure food could be properly preserved this was especially true in cold winters when the rats would be even more daring cats proved so useful as anti-pest deterrents that they were also stationed inside boats thus it seems that no good viking raid would be ready without a feline companion in fact the practice grew so common that we have evidence of cats sailing the seas all the way out to greenland and the new world these popular pets were often exchanged within a community and it was fairly common to see them gifted to new brides presumably as a symbol of fortune and protection for their new family as one might imagine people grew quite close to their feline pets and gave them all sorts of names kisa was probably the most common as it means generally kitty and one could call on a baby by saying which means kitty kitty other more descriptive names include color meaning black as coal blade meaning cowardly stegger meaning mounter and gestapiot meaning guest spears probably in reference to their way of signaling when visitors were soon to arrive dogs also featured prominently in medieval scandinavia it should be noted that they appear far earlier in our record than cats and were likely brought in with some of the earliest human tribes as hunting companions here they would mix quite readily with the other evolving european breeds of the neolithic period as well as the native arctic fox of the northern regions as such these dogs made their way quite readily into norse mythology apparently a legendary canine was said to guard the gates of the afterlife and dogs might serve as guides for souls who made the journey there the great sagas even tell of how warriors arriving in valhalla would not just be awaited by a valkyrie with a horn of mead but also by their own faithful pup who had awaited them in the afterlife all these years this was quite the esteemed role for man's best friend in terms of daily life dogs could be found helping out vikings in all kinds of ways one of their primary roles was as a hunter's companion the norwegian elkhound is a prime example which could be used to tackle larger games such as elk moose and even bears on the smaller end would be the finnish spitz type dog which can track game and hunt birds another common role for a working dog would be as a herder the icelandic sheepdog often shows up in our records with even shakespeare making reference to it in his play henry v among the oldest surviving breeds from the viking age is the norwegian buhund which could once be found in many ancient homesteads as a herder of not only sheep but also a steward of draft horses one could also expect to see a dog serving as a guard they might be tasked with defending a family at home escorting a man on his travels or protecting animals in the fields but while these dogs were excellent at their jobs they also made great personal companions from what few records we have from the vikings it seems that they were dearly cherished by families across the socio-economic spectrum given the rather tight-knit nature of the longhouse it's sure that everyone played a part in helping to raise a new set of pups these might be given any number of names similar to the ones we discussed for newborn infants however from our records just a few confirmed dog names survive these include the following vigi meaning fighter vala meaning knuckle bone surter meaning black sour meaning mud rasta meaning brawler gary meaning ravener and garmer meaning rags pups would serve faithfully by their masters for life their bond strengthening with each passing here while older dogs would not have been able to perform as many tasks as their younger counterparts they were surely welcomed back in the long house with the elderly who would be more than happy to look after them from our records it seems that when these dogs passed away they would be buried honorably alongside their masters but cats dogs and farm animals weren't the only pets a viking might keep a few more wild animals were known to join the group hawks and falcons for instance were often kept by the wealthy as hunting birds or might be exported by merchants in greenland the native great white geir falcon was caught and sold for enormous sums as the bird of kings yet more exotic birds like peacocks are known to have been imported as well though these were quite rare indeed another notable viking animal was the brown bear apparently it was not uncommon for cubs to be trapped in the wild and brought back to civilization where they might be raised with a degree of domestication such pets were known as house bears it's not exactly clear why so many vikings had them but perhaps owning a bear may have been viewed as a status symbol given the animal's association with the god odin yet an even more prestigious bear existed in the viking world the polar bear these were incredibly rare and were apparently reserved as gifts for royalty for example we have records of a polar bear being given to the king of norway around 900 a.d and one being given to the german emperor around 1050 a.d while certainly impressive it seems clear that the practice of owning pet bears did have its dangers older creatures were prone to causing trouble and might injure property or people in such cases the owner would have to pay stiff fines in iceland the problem appears to have been so rampant that ownership of bears was actually forbidden altogether not to worry though as we've already discussed a viking had many potential animal companions to fall back on i hope you've enjoyed this look at the pets of medieval scandinavia i find it's always important for us to cover aspects of daily life as it allows us to share a common bond with the people who came before stay tuned for more how they did episodes and let us know what you would like to see covered next a big thanks to our supporters on patreon and to the many researchers writers and artists who made this video possible if you enjoyed 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Channel: Invicta

Views: 279,996

Keywords: viking pets, viking age, history of dogs, viking documentary, growing up viking, how they did it, viking history, viking history for kids, history of cats, roman pets, viking longhouse, longhouse, ancient vikings, polar bear, vikings, invicta, history documentary, viking music, assassins creed valhalla music

Id: jn_L5kLjzWs

Length: 12min 28sec (748 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 06 2020