Disturbing Things That Were Completely Normal During The Viking Ages | History for Sleep

Hey guys! We're now on Spotify 🎧 Join us here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1iLKLmP... Fall asleep on one free farm in Viking Iceland, on the first day of winter in the year 990, a Saturday and the old bath-day. Iceland had 39 chieftains and no king, and its lawspeaker recited a third of the whole law aloud at the Law Rock every summer. A man sentenced to lesser outlawry paid a mark of silver and went abroad for 3 years, while a saga trader weighed out 3 marks for one silent woman when the others cost 1. In about 4 Icelandic graves in 10, a horse was buried with the dead. And every night, the long fire was banked under its ash so it would never go out. Subscribe to the channel: @oldhistorynights In this video, we talk about the strange and ordinary rules of a Viking household, including the first day of winter and a life counted in winters, a land with no king, the Althing and the Law Rock, lesser outlawry and the man who went into the forest, Grettir's long exile, silver paid for a life, the holmgang duel and how it was banned, what a mark of silver bought, the thralls at the quern, Melkorka and the twelve women behind the curtain, freedom worked by twilight, fosterage and foster-brothers under a strip of turf, the bride-price and the betrothal handshake, divorce at the bed and the door, the Winter Nights and the elf-blot, the great feast at Lade, King Hakon and the horse-flesh, the putting-out of infants and how it ended, horses buried in Icelandic graves, touchwood and the fire-steel, Saturday as bath-day, one basin passed around the room, the night meal, the latrine at Stöng, the shared sleeping benches, and the long fire banked for the night. 🔔 Subscribe for more long, slow nights inside the homes and laws of the past. 💬 Tell us where you're listening from tonight, and which Viking custom surprised you most. 📢 Share it with anyone who loves the sagas or history at bedtime, on Facebook, Reddit or in the group chat. You're the reason the long fire stays lit here. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 21:38 Three summers far away 40:51 A duel inside a square of hazel poles 1:00:35 Twelve women behind a curtain 1:20:40 Brothers beneath a strip of turf 1:39:32 A door shut for the Winter Nights 2:00:07 The hardest custom and how it ended 2:20:15 Saturday is bath day 2:39:18 A pole over the trench 2:57:40 The long dark of a winter night Sources: Hurstwic, Viking Age Laws and Legal Procedures: https://hurstwic.org/history/articles... National Museum of Denmark, Slaves and thralls: https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowl... Laxdaela Saga, ch. 12 (Muriel Press translation): https://sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/lax/... Íslendingabók and Kristni saga, tr. Siân Grønlie (Viking Society): https://vsnr.org/wp-content/uploads/2... Heimskringla, Saga of Hakon the Good (Samuel Laing translation): https://sacred-texts.com/neu/heim/05h... Hurstwic, Turf Houses (the farm at Stöng): https://hurstwic.org/history/articles... Þjóðveldisbærinn, the Commonwealth Farm: https://thjodveldisbaer.is/en/about-t... DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #OldHistoryNights #HistoryForSleep #SleepStory #Vikings #VikingAge #VikingHistory #Iceland #IcelandicSagas #Sagas #Althing #Thingvellir #NorseHistory #Norse #Laxdaela #Heimskringla #MedievalLife #SocialHistory #History #BedtimeStory #SleepHistory