10 Rapacious Viking Facts

10 Rapacious Viking Facts 1. Viking chieftains were sometimes buried with an actual longship, in which they could sail into the afterlife. 2. Viking warriors referred to the defeat of an enemy as “feeding the raven.“ 3. Five hundred years before Christopher Columbus, the Vikings sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to North America, making them the first Europeans to discover the New World. 4. Part of the reason for Vikings’ great wealth stems from their paganism. They had no qualms about attacking Christian monasteries and churches, something other European armies normally didn’t do. 5. Because of their belief in a relationship between violence and supernatural power, Viking religious practices could include ritual rape and human sacrifice. 6. Due to the great success of Viking raiders, archaeologists have found more Anglo-Saxon pennies at Viking sites than they have in England, where the pennies were minted. 7. Vikings used the labor of female servants and slaves to make woolen sails for their ships. It took thousands of hours to weave the woolen sail for a single Viking ship. 8. The English names for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday come from references to three Viking gods: “Odin’s Day,“ “Thor’s Day,“ and “Frigga’s Day.“ typical Viking beverage was mead. They enjoyed wine as well, when they could plunder it from other Europeans. 10. Viking myths prophesied that time would end in an apocalyptic battle known as Ragnarök, when not only the entire world but even the gods would cease to exist. For more interesting Viking facts, check out our article here: Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more amazing facts about everything!