Culture

Obviously, this site cannot detail everything about the Norse culture, nor should it. Instead, I will try to point out useful bits of it that would be helpful when playing TTRPGs like Dungeons and Dragons. If you would like to learn more, then I would suggest reading the sagas and other books about it, watching videos that Jackson Crawford has put on his Youtube channel, and checking out other websites such as Hurstwic.

Jarl, Freeman, and Thrall

þing

Religion

Longhouses

Most Norse would have believed in Fate to some extent. Most importantly, there was a general belief that the day you will die has already been determined - nothing, not even the gods, can change that. However, you do have the choice to determine how you die.

If you die honorably in battle, you might get picked by Óðin to join him in Valhalla. A Valkyrie will get you from the battlefield and bring you there. This tends to increase an individual's willingness to fight and has other effects on society. For example, if someone insults you, you are more likely to respond with violence.

Reputation was highly important to most people, as well. It can have a great effect on how well your life goes. People with a good reputation are more likely to get help from others when they need it

If someone has earned a good reputation and embodies the ideals of Norse society, they are called a drengr. If they are the opposite, but not so despised as to be an outlaw, they might be called a níðingr.

In between these two is the term vikingr. It isn't necessarily bad, but often it was. It was used to describe those who went raiding or adventuring.

In the early part of the Viking age, there were no large powerful kingdoms. Towns or villages had local leaders, called Jarls, who didn't have as much power as we associate with governments today. There were few laws, and they were mostly kept orally. There were also Goði, who started out as mostly part-time ceremonial religious leaders in their communities, but over time some of them gained status similar to jarls as leaders.

Every so often there would be a þing. At these events, all the jarls, goði, and freemen would gather to hear complaints, discuss ways to resolve issues, and create laws. They might start out with a recitation of existing laws. It was very democratic.

In the absence of agents of government, people were expected to enforce the laws themselves. In some cases that meant that the victims had to enforce punishments. Sometimes a person would be judged an outlaw. An outlaw was essentially banned from all contact with society, which was expected to be enforced by all the people in it.

Sometimes when two people have a dispute, they settle it with a hólmganga.

The Norse typically didn't read or write extensively until they were Christianized and switched to the Roman alphabet. Until then, most writing was short and utilitarian.

Runes were likely commonly known. These were a simple form of writing that was used for marking objects such as weapons, labels, and stone markers. They used a version of runes called the Younger Futhark, which only had 16 symbols. Each symbol could represent more than one sound, which would be determined by context. The mostly straight lines of the runes made them easier to cut into stone or wood.

Small pieces of wood were often written on for short messages. Some usage of wax-covered wooden tablets is known to have existed as well.

On this site, and commonly throughout other sources, a few characters are used that might not be familiar.

The first is Thorn (þ), which when spoken should sound like the “th” in words like thick or thin.

The other one of note is Eth (ð), which when spoken should sound like the “th” in words like then or there.

Of particular interest should be names like Þorr (in modern English usually spelled Thor) and Óðin (in modern English usually spelled Odin). Þorr would be pronounced the way you'd expect it when reading the English spelling, but Óðin would be pronounced with a “th” sound instead of a “d” sound.

Some vowel sounds have differing symbols and pronunciations, as well as some other consonants, but using the two above and guessing for the rest should cover a lot of ground.

For ease of use I am including the following information.