My Sources

Sources

Search Engine:

www.google.com

Websites: 

http://wikipedia.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rune_stones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saga
http://www.crosswordpuzzlegames.com

Books: 

The Vikings                    By: Alaric Birkett   Publisher: Hulton 
Who Were The Vikings?  By:  Jane Chisholm & Struan Reid  Publisher: Usborne 

Crossword Puzzle

  I created a crossword puzzle with some of the words that were relevant to my topic of Viking Communication. I created a crossword puzzle as another activity along with my blog. All of the  words used have come from my paragraphs about different types of communication in the Viking Age. 

Viking Saga Storytellers

The storytellers told the sagas to the Viking community. The storytellers told the sagas in parts which meant that they did not finish the story all at one time. The storytellers told the stories about the Viking gods and goddesses. The storytellers had to be worthy of the job, the family members of the storytellers would become the storyteller when the past storyteller died.  The sagas that were told were written and then told,  they were not made up by the storyteller himself.  Most sagas were written about the gods and goddesses, the sagas were not always happy and often they were about death. 

Viking Sagas

The Vikings wrote sagas that were told by storytellers. The Vikings wrote sagas about their beliefs and myths. Sagas were a source of communication for the Vikings. Not all Vikings could read and write so the storytellers told sagas to the Viking community. The Sagas were an important part in the Vikings daily life. The Sagas weren't like the stories that are in our world today. There are many differences between the two types of stories. Some of the differences are that they didn't start with Once Upon A Time and they did not end with The End. The storytellers would not always finish the Saga in one day so the Saga could be continued. 

Answers To My Open Ended Questions

1. The Vikings used the Alphabets to communicate because they needed a form of communication that everyone could learn and would be able to communicate with the others.
2. The Rune Stones were death memorials for the Viking warriors that died in raids or battles. Craftsmen often carved the Rune Stones to fit the personality of the Viking that died. The Rune Stones were brightly colored but the remains of the Rune Stones that we have found as artifacts are not colorful like they used to be. 
3. The Vikings Futhark alphabet originated from different languages that the Vikings heard when they went on their voyages. The first letters of the Viking Futhark alphabet are the letters that named the Futhark alphabet it self.  The time that the Futhark alphabet originated in the mid Viking age which was about 800's it was used until the end of the Viking age which was about the year 1100. Some of the words that we use in english today have come from the Viking language, some of these words are eggs and bread. 
4. In Viking communities they used the language because it was one of the most efficient way for the communicate with each other, it was also the fastest way they could get a message across if the message urgent. The Old Norse language was also the easiest way to communicate for the Viking community.

My Inquiry Questions Are...

My Central Idea Is 

Communication was an important part of the Viking life. 

1. Why did the Vikings use the alphabets to communicate? 
2. What was the reason for Rune Stones?
3. Where did the Futark alphabet originate? 
4. What was the Viking alphabet used for in communities? 

Communicating In Their Area

The Vikings needed to communicate every day, but how did they communicate if the people they needed to communicate with were traveling far away?

The Vikings placed their villages close to each other in case the needed to tell one an other something. The Vikings tried to make sure that their travel time was no longer than it needed to be. The map on the picture to the left shows the routes that the Vikings traveled. 

Did The Vikings Have Books?

The Vikings didn't have books but they did have picture stones. These stones were usually carved with images of heroes and the adventures were written in the Futark or Runic Alphabet. The picture on the left shows what the picture stones looked like.

Viking Civilization

Viking civilization was a community developed to a place that fit everybody's needs. Most Viking communities had every thing that they needed to survive, but others didn't. Some communities had to travel far by longship or foot and trade to get the things that they needed to survive. Often they would have to trade animals because they had nothing else to trade. The Viking's didn't trade often because they needed to keep some of the things that they already had to be able to survive and have something to trade the next time they needed to.  

What Materials Did They Use To Communicate?

The Vikings used iron chisels and wooden mallets to carve graffiti on stones or walls. In the Viking age there wasn't any paper or pens so instead they carved on stone or wood and sometimes on metal. To carve letters on weapons was a lot harder that carving on stone or wood and also took a lot more time so only troop leaders or well known warriors had carvings on their weapons. Only a few Vikings could read and write, but most could talk and tell stories. Stories were a big part of the entertainment in the Viking age. People would tell stories about the gods and the great things that they had done to make the Vikings life better.

Central Idea & Inquiry Points

Central Idea 

People leave their home land for a variety of  reasons.     

Inquiry Points   

• What is a civilization?
• Who were the Vikings?
• How do we know about the Vikings?
• What are some effects that the Vikings had on life today? 
• What are the different perspectives on the Vikings 
• What was the Viking life like? 

An Inquiry Into 

• How the Vikings lived?
• Why the Vikings left their homeland?

Travel Communication

The Vikings moved around a lot in long ships, but how did they communicate?

Vikings could only communicate an urgent messages  to one an other if they lived in the same village. When the Vikings went out to sail the only way that they could get a message was to blow a horn. The horns were very loud so that the nearest part of land could hear their call.

Reading And Writing In The Viking Age

 The Vikings wrote on their treasures, weapons and carved of large stones in memory of the dead.  They also wrote legends about the gods and goddesses but that was only one of the many things they wrote about. To write these legends they used the Futark or Runic Alphabet. In the Viking Age there were two different alphabets. The written and spoken language were the main source of communication at the time. The Vikings were able to read and write, that is part of why we know about them. We know about them because the of the legends and stories they wrote, it also told us about their gods and goddesses.