Whether you admit it or not, a lot of your knowledge of the world has a lot to do with movies. Especially those films that are related to history. When you watch some movies involving historical figures, you may easily believe everything that is right in them. For example, for the Vikings, there is a lot of widely accepted information. For example they wear helmets with horns, they are all quite savage and so on. This time, the editor sorted out the legend of the 7 mistakes of the Vikings.
1, the man is tall and very manly
Tall, strong and mighty, this is probably the most common image of the Vikings. However, considering that the dietary situation at that time was not very good, it has been discovered by archaeologists. The Vikings were not very tall at the time, with an average height of 171 cm for men and 158 cm for women. They often perform manual labor, but they are not so strong. Men, on the other hand, don't look so masculine, and they also paint eyeliner for themselves. It is said that the facial features of men and women are so similar that archaeologists sometimes have difficulty identifying the gender of Viking skeletons.
2) They never stay in one place
In movies, what the Vikings often do is plunder everywhere, travel all over the world, and never stay in one place. But archaeologists have found items such as houses, clothing and jewelry of the vikings of the past. This shows that people's perception that they don't stay in one place is wrong.
3) They wear helmets with horns
There is a very widespread rumor about the Vikings that they all liked to wear helmets with the shape of bull horns. It is said that this rumor has been around since the 19th century. Because there were already legends about this Viking image in 1825, in 1876, it was even shown in concerts in popular culture. But in fact, the Vikings did not wear such helmets, and very few would. Instead, they are more common with a separate horn.
4. They specialize in raids and robberies
The Vikings were often introduced by popular culture as barbarians, and they did carry out aggressive attacks against other peoples, but most of the Viking explorers were commercial, traveling not only to Europe but also to the rest of the world, including Russia, Central Asia, and some parts of Africa. Archaeologists have even discovered that a Viking named Lef Eriksen reached the American continent earlier than Columbus.
5) They are very sloppy
In many popular cultures, such as movies, the Vikings are portrayed as a very scruffy image, who doesn't seem to know how to take care of themselves and always allows dirt to accumulate on their bodies. But instead, archaeologists have found many hygiene items on the Vikings, such as combs, tweezers, toothpicks, and ear cleaning tools. According to the British chronicler John Wallingford, the Vikings, though bearded, were well maintained, combing their hair every day and bathing every Saturday. They like to wear clothes with prints, like blue and red.
6, their bow is the dragon head
It is widely believed in popular culture that the bow of the boats driven by the Vikings was in the shape of a dragon head. But this may not be true for archaeologists, as only a Scandinavian painting on the walls of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul indicates this image, which cannot be found in other archaeological finds.
7, men will braid
In many movies, Viking men are also portrayed as not only like to grow long hair, but also braid themselves. But all this was not true, they followed the Nordic fashion of the time, and short blonde hair was more popular at that time.