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.