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Viking Lodging List of Categories
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What were the Viking homes and settlements like?
Below is a quote from a book called "What life was like when longships sailed", by the editors of Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia that should give you a better idea.
"Each farm served as its own tiny hamlet for an extended family and perhaps a few slaves. At its center stood the communal residence-a longhouse constructed more for warmth than for beauty, with walls made of wood, or sometimes sod or wattle and daub(wickerwork plastered with clay) Grouped around the longhouse, and sometimes attached to it, were various outbuildings-stables for livestock, storage sheds for food, workshops for forging iron and other crafts, boathouses for sheltering vessels in winter, and huts for storing other precious equipment like plows, fishing tackle, carts, sleighs, and skis. Some Viking farms had freestanding privies
(Outhouses) and sauna like bathhouses. Many homesteads were dotted with burial mounds; for Vikings felt that the dead should rest near their descendants."
"Life in the longhouse was close and sometimes stifling. People moved about in a shadowy haze, for the building was usually windowless and the smoke hole in the roof failed to disperse all the fumes from the hearth fire or from the lamps with their acrid fish or whale oil. The interior was essentially one long hall, affording little in the way of privacy. At one end the master and his wife might have a sleeping area set off by a wooden partition, or they might be lucky enough to have a snug bed-closet, with a door that could be closed and locked. But the rest of the household bunked down on the floor or on the long benches that lined the walls. During the day that dingy common space served as their kitchen, dining hall, and work area."
For the most part, however, the Vikings were noted as being very happy and not quick to complain. They had strong family ties and were very devoted to each other.
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How long would it take to build lodging?
Houses could probably be built in a fairly short time, as they worked with extended families aiding in the building process. For a permanent building it might have taken a week to gather the material and another week to build the house. When they were traveling they used tents which could be set up in minutes. These could also be set up on their ships for protection from sun & weather.
As to how many men it took to build a Viking age house, like today's homes, it could be built by one man, but would take a long time. The more men (or women) able to help build, the faster the house would go up.
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What materials did Vikings use for their homes?
Vikings, as others of their time, had to be resourceful in using materials at hand, so they built their homes of whatever they could find in the area that they wanted to settle. That meant learning how to build with stone, sticks (wood), or turf (dirt). Most always, they had a turf roof, as it was good insulation from the cold area that they inhabited. Grass would grow on the roof and sometimes goats would climb up and eat the grass.
The walls were made of wood posts all around to carry roof beams and rafters. Between the posts the spaces were filled in with what is called "wattle and daub" construction. That is woven from small flexible branches and plastered on both sides with mud which dried something like stucco or plaster. Some longhouses would have livestock pens to keep their cattle, sheep and horses in.
There was usually only one low door, where you had to bend over to enter and only one could enter at a time. This made the house easier to defend against intruders.
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What did the Vikings have in windows?
When a family was rich enough to have window in their house they were usually covered by either shutters or by thinly scraped animal hides so as to let the light in. In fact, the word window comes from the Old Norse language, "Vind Oga", or "eye of the wind".
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How big were Viking houses?
The size of the house depended on the size of the family. Each home owner built his own house; he made it large enough to suit his needs (and the needs of the family).
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Who lived in the longhouse?
The house would be big enough for the whole family plus sometimes grandparents, servants, and slaves. In the coldest weather sometimes cows or sheep would be brought inside to add warmth to the house.
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How were the longhouses kept warm/cool?
In the center of the longhouse was a fire pit ringed with stones and covered with sand for a fire and for cooking. Over the fire hung a cooking pot suspended by either a tripod or hung form the ceiling beams. Above the fire pit was a hole in the roof to let the smoke out. (The chimney had not yet been invented). Down each side of the house were a row of benches for sitting and for sleeping at night. The Vikings slept usually two to a bed under fur skins for warmth. The most important persons usually claimed the area closest to the fires, with less important being farther away in the colder areas. Small windows with leather covers were made to let in light, and could be closed at night and in cold weather.
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What furniture did Vikings have?
There are many different kinds of furniture that the Vikings used, which depended on how rich or poor they were and how much room they had in their homes. For the most part, they would have chairs and tables for eating and for doing home crafts. Most of the time a wealthy landowner would have several long benches and tables in their hall for feasting. These were usually decoratively carved like many other things made from wood during the time period. In rare cases the wealthy would have bed closets to sleep in, which was basically a bed with doors on it that you could close. In general, people during the Viking Age didn't spend much time indoors so furniture wasn't too important.
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