The Viking Age Farm in Myth and Reality

This worldview is easy to understand in light of Scandinavian settlement patterns. There were many small farming districts (Midgard), separated by large uninhabited tracts, often deep forests. That the farming district – and above all the farm itself – stood at the centre of life is hardly surprising, for it was there that life was lived.

Life on a Viking Age Farm

To live on a farm was to follow the annual cycle of animals and fields: ploughing, sowing, harvest. Livestock had to be taken to and from pasture. Food and fodder had to be stored for the winter. Most of Viking Age life was lived on the farm. The farm and its land stood at the centre, both in reality and in people’s worldview.

At the hearth in the dwelling-house there was warmth, safety and companionship. In the open farmland round about lay fields, other farms and villages. But beyond stretched vast forests or the sea – and for most people, that was where the world ended.

Farms could stand alone or be grouped in villages. In large, densely settled farming districts, villages seem to have been the norm, while isolated farms were probably more typical of sparsely populated areas. The appearance of farms, their building styles and the types of structures they comprised varied between regions. Most often there seems to have been a somewhat larger dwelling-house, surrounded by a few smaller outbuildings.

A Viking Age Farm in Skåne

In the 9th century, in a small village at Bjärred in western Skåne, there stood a house. It was 21 metres long and 6.5 metres wide. A floor area of 136.5 square metres was not bad for a large family of perhaps 7–10 people. But the house probably had to accommodate some animals as well. Even with a proper partition for the byre, there was no escaping the smells and sounds of livestock.

The framework of the house consisted of two rows of widely spaced large wooden posts, which bore the weight of the roof. Around these, numerous wall-posts had been driven in. Between the posts, branches were woven and then coated with clay – and perhaps dung.

In some regions walls were built entirely of timber, or of stone and earth. The roof was a framework of branches covered with straw or reeds. In the middle of the house lay the hearth – its most important feature. From here came light and warmth, and here the food was prepared.

Furniture in a Viking Age house was sparse. Along the walls there were probably low benches. On the floor stood rough stools, tables and benches. Chests and baskets were used for storage. Naturally there were many small items too: tools, ceramic pots for cooking and storage, various textiles, wooden dishes to eat from. Spinning and weaving equipment shows that crafts such as spinning wool and weaving were done indoors.

Outside the house at Bjärred lay a yard. Here there was a smaller building, probably a stable. There was also a very small house whose floor had been dug down into the ground. Such houses, or rather huts, are called pit-houses (grophus) and are often round, with a diameter of two to three metres. They seem mainly to have been used for craftwork. In many cases textile tools have been found. Some pit-houses served as smithies.

Even though it was a pit, it still lay within the farm’s enclosure – within Midgard.