Part of the evidence for the high degree of organization and efficiency in Viking society can be seen in the excavated remains of towns. Before the advent of the Viking Age, Scandinavia had only small villages, but around the year 800 a few towns—each having between one and two thousand inhabitants—began to appear. One of the earliest, Hedeby, on the southern edge of the Jutland peninsula, was laid out with considerable forethought and orderliness, with streets forming a grid pattern and land plots of more or less standardized size. As Graham-Campbell points out, this suggests the existence of both a strong central authority and a citizenry used to—and willing to follow—set social rules and expectations:
The fact that the streets were laid out at right angles and parallel to the [nearby] stream, and that the building plots seem to have been regulated in size, indicates a strong urban control. . . from the beginning of Hedeby's existence. . . .
Houses in Hedeby's central settlement were built a little back from, but facing, the streets. They were rectangular, measuring on average about 20 feet by 50 feet (6m by 15m).48
The high level of town planning and cooperation among the residents is also shown by various examples of community infrastructure and frequent upkeep. The dirt streets were covered by wooden planks laid out in long, neat rows. And somewhat narrower planked walkways ran at right angles from the streets to the houses' front doors. These wooden pathways not only made walking and pulling carts easier but also largely eliminated the problem of muddy feet in rainy weather. Other examples of communal facilities included shipyards and docks, barns for food storage, local blacksmith forges, and tall mounds of earth and wooden fences to keep the town's outer perimeter safe from attack.
The physical orderliness of the towns and their layout was paralleled to a certain degree by a strict pecking order within Norse society. At the top of the social hierarchy, or ladder of social classes, was the king. Each of the many small Viking kingdoms that rose and fell both inside and outside of Scandinavia in the ninth and tenth centuries had a local strongman with the title of king. Over time, the richest of these
Modern archaeologists excavate a section of the Norse settlement at Hedeby, one of the chief trading centers of the Viking lands.
A reconstruction accurately depicts what a large Norse trading center looked like circa A. D. 800 to 1000.
Rulers had royal courts with considerable finery, pomp, and rules of protocol. Although written shortly after the close of the Viking Age, the Norwegian document known as The King's Mirror captures some of the royal codes of behavior:
[When arriving at court] you [should] come fully dressed in good apparel, the smartest that you have, and wearing fine trousers and shoes. You must not come without your coat; and also wear a mantle, the best that you have. For trousers always select cloth of a brown dye.... Your shirt should be short, and all your linen rather light. Your shirt should be cut somewhat shorter than your coat. .. . Before you enter the royal presence be sure to have your hair and beard carefully trimmed according to the fashions of the court when you join the same. . . . Now when you seem to be in proper state to appear before the king both as to dress and other matters, and if you come at a suitable time and have permission from the doorkeeper to enter, you must have your coming planned in such a way that some capable servant can accompany you. [But] do not let him follow you farther than inside the door.... Leave your mantle behind when you go before the king and be careful to have your hair brushed smooth, and your beard combed with care. You must have neither hat nor cap nor other covering on your head; for one must appear before lords with uncovered head and ungloved hands, [with] limbs and body thoroughly bathed.49
Directly beneath the king on the social ladder were his nobles, the jarls (Old Norse for "earls"). Usually they were local chieftains and/or men who came from well-to-do, highly respected families and served in high positions in local government. Below the jarls, and making up the bulk of Viking society, were the freemen, or bondi. They were mostly farmers, merchants, and craftsmen of average or lower-than-average means. They could bear arms and speak in local assemblies (groups of citizens that met on a regular basis to discuss community matters). Those freemen who became successful traders or raiders achieved higher social status and had a better chance of obtaining good land than did ordinary bondi; thus, at least some chance for upward mobility did exist in Norse society.
The lowest rung on the social ladder was occupied by slaves, or thralls. They became slaves either by being captured in raids or battles or by going bankrupt and offering to serve a master in order to survive. The latter route to slavery was both the least common and most shameful and embarrassing one. One could also be born into slavery because a slave's offspring was also seen as a slave. Slaves could earn their freedom through hard work and loyalty or a variety of other ways. But a freed slave, or freedman, still owed certain services (such as running errands and doing Various other favors) to the family of his or her former master.
World History
