Harald Fairhair was the first king of all Norway his father was Halfdan the Black ( svarti), and two of his sons were likewise called Halfdan, one nicknamed the White ( hviti), the other, reminiscently, the Black. 68).Įlsewhere, Jones gives examples of people with brown skin in ancient Scandinavian literature. While white skin tones were celebrated in certain writings, Jones argues that racial tensions were not necessarily severe, writing “there is no evidence of prejudice or dissension between the two types” (Jones, p. Blonde was his hair, and bright his cheeks, grim as a snake’s were his glowing eyes. Her brows were bright, her breast was shining, whiter her neck than new-fallen snow. Descriptions of white people appear in literature, like poems, in the Viking age.įor example, in a work of Icelandic origin, the features of a white mother and son are praised: Poetic references to people’s skin color are not unusual in ancient Scandinavian literature. Modern depiction of a black male Viking warrior Skin color in ancient Scandinavian literature See What Weapons Did the Vikings Use? The Top 5 to learn more. The Vikings are known as fierce warriors. Though light-skinned people were certainly the majority at the time, there were minority races who had brown skin tones as well. Jones argues that the myth of a completely white race of people-perpetuated by 20th-century propaganda-and perhaps partly encouraged by depictions of Vikings in modern popular culture, is factually false. The viking peoples who lived between the neck of Jutland and the Lofotens, Sogn, and Uppsala, were not all alike, and emphatically not of one ‘pure’ nordic race.īut two main types of Scandinavian have always been recognizable: the one tall of stature, fair or ruddy complexioned, light-haired, blue-eyed, long of face and skull the other shorter, dark-complexioned, brown- or dark-haired, brown-eyed, broad-face and round of skull.” (Jones, p. In the book, Jones offers evidence that there were people with different racial profiles among Scandinavian people, including during the Viking age. One of the best books that helps people separate Viking fact from fiction on this issue is A History of the Vikings by historian Gwyn Jones. (Also see What Hairstyles Did the Vikings Have?) See Did Vikings Wear Dreadlocks? to learn more.Īre browned-skinned people mentioned in ancient Scandinavian literature? See below What is the evidence for black Vikings?įor people interested in the real story of the Vikings, as opposed to the entertainment-infused versions, historical accuracy is important. īrown-skinned Vikings didn’t have Scandinavian ancestry, at least the first generation didn’t, but through cultural assimilation, it’s accurate to call them Vikings.Įver wonder what the Vikings looked like? Besides their skin color, people wonder about how they wore their hair, too. The historical evidence shows that black people were a part of Viking culture. Just like it’s a stereotype that Vikings had horns on their helmets, it’s similarly inaccurate that they all had white, or peach-colored, skin.Īncient Scandinavia was permeated with myth, but that black people weren’t among the Viking s isn’t one of them. Vikings are known for being masterful sailors and ruthless fighters, and while most of them were white, not all of them were. Some images are true to the Middle Ages, but others imagine the ancient Scandinavians as superhero-like, especially because present-day, comic-themed stories borrow names, personalities, and abilities from well-known Norse myths. Is the evidence for brown-skinned Vikings strong? See below There were brown-skinned people among the Vikingsĭepictions of Vikings in twenty-first-century popular culture are more about entertainment than historical accuracy.
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