Show pageOld revisionsBacklinksBack to top This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong. ====== Longhouses ====== During the Viking Age, many people lived and worked in longhouses: long, rectangular buildings that could shelter families, workers, animals, storage, craft work, cooking, and social life under one roof. ===== Construction ===== Local materials shaped the building. Wood was common where timber was available. Turf, stone, and packed earth became more important where good timber was scarce. Roofs could be thatched, wooden, or turf-covered. ===== Interior Life ===== Most longhouses were smoky, busy, practical spaces rather than private modern homes. * A central hearth or long fire gave heat, light, and cooking space. * Benches along the walls served for sitting, sleeping, and work. * Storage, tools, looms, weapons, food, and bedding competed for space. * Animals might be kept in part of the building during hard weather. * Guests, kin, workers, and dependents all made the household feel public. ===== Campaign Use ===== Longhouses are excellent scenes for feasts, accusations, hospitality tests, winter storytelling, ambushes, funerals, oath-making, and tense negotiations. A hall is never just architecture; it is the visible center of a household's wealth, labor, status, and reputation. ===== Sources ===== * Hurstwic on longhouses: http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/longhouse.htm culture/longhouse.txt Last modified: 2026/07/04 00:38by Seraphina