Rank Descriptions for North Middle School Bands

Overview of Viking Society and Military Structure and

Description of the Ranks for North Middle School Bands

Your school mascot has a deep and extensive history in the world. The Vikings have been stereotyped as marauders and killers. While they did live a rather brutal existence and were feared throughout Europe and the near east, they had a very well organized social structure with equitable law for their citizens. I have created the rank system for achievement based on some of the titles, classes of people and mythological groups of the Vikings. The beginning is a brief description of the Vikings taken from Regia Anglorum, an organization in England to create a virtual Viking world online. It is quite interesting. Follow the links listed in the sources at the end of this document. What follows is a description of the ranks as found on each individual rank sheet. If you are beginning on a rank other than 1, you should refer to this to gain background information on the rank you are working on.

Who were the Vikings?

Whilst the term 'Vikings' is used throughout these pages, it is a generic term used to mean anyone of Scandinavian descent. The word Viking has several meanings. The most usual being a 'pirate', and as such it could be equally well applied to any sea-going raider, even a Saxon, Frankish or Frisian one! Not that it was how the Vikings regarded themselves if you ever had the gall to ask. From the Norse, the term was used in the form of 'to go a-viking', making it sound more like a family day out. I suppose it depends on your point of view. The other common translation is 'a man of the bays or inlets' which comes from the name for the fjords in the area called 'Viks', and in this sense it is generally applied to the Scandinavians.

The term Viking covers the Norse (Norwegians), Danes, Svear (Swedes), Rus (Russian Vikings), Anglo-Danes, Anglo-Norse, Hiberno-Norse, Icelanders, and Greenlanders

As there are such a wide variety of Vikings, many of the following articles only deal with them in very broad terms. To confuse matters further, most Vikings would adopt many of the local customs, fashions and social structures of the areas they settled in, so for example, an Anglo-Dane would not look the same as, or act identically to a native Dane. With the naturalization of Danes and Norwegians in Britain, came divided loyalties and aspirations.

The main question should be as to why they bothered to risk a potentially dangerous crossing to get to Britain. Usually, it was put down to the large population expansion in Scandinavia at the end of a period called the Migration Period. As a result of a small amount of good farming land being available and the practice of sub-dividing land up amongst sons, the pressure was on to find new ways of earning a crust. This may or may not be the story behind the Viking forays overseas. But the simple fact was that after the Viking trading missions had visited your port, there was potential threat of a more violent visit as they now knew where you lived, what was on offer and how well your port was defended. There is no reason why the Anglo-Saxons couldn't have gone raiding for themselves to Scandinavia, other than perhaps they were too busy making a good living over in Britain. Even the people who lived on the fringes of Scotland found little time or energy to bother returning to Norway, to give as good as they got.

So perhaps that is the real reason, the chances of huge gains and slices of the cake far outweighed the risk. Farming seemed to be a very tiresome way to earn a living. To young men there was glamour in raiding, and they may not have been that strapped for cash either to begin with, as it has always cost a great deal to arm yourself, cover yourself in mail and put a helmet on your head. Their ships meant that they could pick and choose where and to a certain extent when to visit a settlement, with the advantage of surprise almost all on their side. There was no point in returning home from a long voyage with your equipment rusty, and little to show for your efforts, so that in turn meant that you had to be that little bit more persuasive when your raiding party asked for things of value. No wonder they got a reputation for being ruthless. (1)

Women in Viking Society

Women in Viking society played a very important role as maintainers of the estate. Their importance in Viking society is revealed by the offering of a bride-price which was paid to the bride's family when she was married. Although women tended to only marry others of the same level of society, these marriages were often for the mutual benefit of both families. Vikings did not marry for love, but their feelings concerning potential marriage partners were important.

The Viking woman had a special role in the family, and that was the maintenance of the household and the estate. No one, including her husband, would dare to contradict her in these matters. If her husband died, she was given the estate. If the wife died, the estate was given to the eldest son, and if there was no son it would be given to the daughter.

The Viking woman, unlike woman in other parts of Europe, was not a piece of property that could be bartered for gaining political foothold. She had a role in society, and in the household. In May, when her husband left her to go raiding or trading, she remained to maintain the estate and make things such as cloth and embroidery. In Iceland, Viking females could take up other duties. She was even able to preside as the speaker in court, something which was not possible on the continent.

Viking women served as an important member of society. In some extreme cases, women are noted as even having gone into battle. She was not an object of political positioning between families, but instead a rather valuable member of society and a source of children. (2)

What is a Leysingi or Freedman?

Lowest in the social order were the thralls (male-thrall; female-ambatt) or slaves. Whilst the main sources for slaves were war, piracy and trade, their numbers also included those born into slavery and various criminals. A man who failed to discharge his debts could become the slave of his creditor until he redeemed his debt. Although unable to hold land a thrall could have possessions, money and time to do work for himself. Slaves were permitted to do business at public markets and to make private transactions if the value involved was less than one ortug (1/3 ounce of silver, 20 pence). In favorable circumstances he might hope to purchase, earn or be rewarded with his freedom. Marriage was permitted but the children would also be slaves. Ill treatment of thralls was regarded as an undesirable quality and most masters appear to have treated their slaves quite well. A slave was not allowed to bear arms except in the case of fighting off invaders; and the slave who killed such an enemy was to be rewarded with his freedom.

As the Viking Age wore on, and the influence of Christianity grew stronger, slavery became less common, especially with slaves of the same nationality or religion. Once released the leysingi (freedman) was still not entirely free; he was still dependant on his former owner and family for a number of generations and could not institute legal proceedings against him. He needed a patron to protect his new found freedom and often looked to his former master to champion him. He could however gain full freedom by buying it with a larger payment than would otherwise be required. (3)

What is an Odalbondi?

Above the freedman were the bondi the truly free land holding farmers. This class was made up of impoverished peasants to men of wealth and local authority. Whilst they could be sailors, hunters, traders or raiders they were still fundamentally farmers, even if absence and large holdings meant they required the labor of other men - both free and thrall. Although in theory a bondi had a farm of his own, in practice most young men had to live with their parents, or farm the lands of a large landholder. Such men still retained their status. One stage above the bondi were those landowners with hereditary rights to their land. In Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles these were known as odalsbondi, in Norway as hauldr, and in England as holdas. Odal rights were fiercely maintained as they distinguished a family claim, and could not be usurped by jarls or even the crown (in Scotland odal rights survived into the eighteenth century!). (3)

What is a Dreng?

Chances are if you were a landowner (bondi or Odalbondi) in Viking times you were the men who tilled land and raised stock, bore witness and produced verdicts, said aye or no on matters of public concern at the public meeting or Thing pronounced “tin” (including matters as important as the election of a king or a change of religion), attended religious and lay ceremonies, made and bore weapons, manned ships, served in levies, were conscious of their dues and worth, and so impressed these upon others that as a free peasantry you stood in a class of their own in Europe. You might find yourself on a Viking ship as a warrior and sailor, one of the facets of Viking history most well known. There was very little formal structure by way of military rank in Viking armies. (3) As a rule the term Dreng is applied to a young warrior.

What is an Oegn?

Quite simply, an Oegn is a mature warrior. Viking society, during the time that they had occupied and settled what is now most of England and Scotland between 800 and 1100 A.D., had a surprisingly organized and equitable set of laws. For a people who were so careless of the rights of the folk they fought against, the Vikings were surprisingly organized and careful of their rights at home. There was a strict system of law, enforced by the people that lived under it. Regular meetings - called Things or Althings - were held at which the Law was read aloud. At these meetings, cases were judged and punishments imposed by a council of important men who were changed from time to time. Every free man or woman had the right to speak at an Althing, and women were generally held to be the equal of men under the law. Women retained their rights to manage their own money and property after marriage and could obtain a divorce with the same ease - or difficulty - as a man. Women only became second-class citizens after the imposition of Norman Law that was to follow after the Vikings were pushed out of England! (5)

What is a Merkismathr?

One of the only two specifically military posts referred to at the time was the Merkismathr or Standard Bearer. The Standard being the flag of the king. This was an honored position since many Viking standards were said to have magical properties. Some also were thought to have mystical powers and that they brought the favor of Odin (the master of all the Norse Gods) and to any army carrying them. A famous example is the Reafan (Raven) Standard.

If your were to be the Merkismathr, you most likely were amoung a class of individuals known also as karls or wealthy noblemen. In our society you would be quite wealthy and a member of the upper class.

What is a Stallari?

A Stallari was the King’s deputy in the field, a commander. If you were not a Bondi or Karl and were not in the levy (army) as a duty to your village, you most likely were member of the Huscarl or a paid professional soldier also known as the lithsmen. In Old Norse, the term Huscarl is just a word meaning a household servant - house-karl - and could be applied to anyone who served a lord in his household. As the Vikings settled England it took on a meaning nearer to the later medieval idea of 'Household Troops', the highly trained soldier who served a particular lord and his family or household. Huscarls were paid troops with their own rules of justice and discipline, answerable directly to the King (or later some of the more powerful Earls who had their own Huscarls). Most of the Huscarls lived at the King's court and served him directly. (6)

What is a Landsmenn?

The upper levels of Viking society were comprised of the various forms of aristocracy and the kings. The lowest rank of rulers were the landsmenn (roughly equivalent to the later medieval 'baron'), known as styraesmen in Denmark. Originally the individual ship commanders, the later qualification for this rank was the ability to field and maintain forty armed men in the levy. The position was not hereditary and was gained through an oath of loyalty to the king, on whose behalf they held their authority. (4)

These were the days before the castle, and upper or lower class did not have the stark differences we see today. The Vikings ate a wide range of foodstuffs, but there are no real surprises. Beef, mutton, pork and venison were common meats, and communities close to the coast could expect to widen their diets with fish and shellfish. A heavy bread made from barley flour was common, but there is evidence that at least some people had wheaten bread available to them. It was often the custom to eat gruel - a porridge augmented by scraps of meat as a morning meal. Boiled meat was much more common than roasted, something which was normally only eaten during ceremonies. Boiled sausages known as 'cauldron snakes', were a special delicacy. Other sought after foodstuffs were sun-dried cod, ling and pork that had been preserved in whey, then boiled to rags in its juice. Yuk! It is reasonable to assume that rich folk ate better than poor, but their range of foodstuffs would not have been very different. (5)

What is a Gestir/Hiromann?

In the eleventh century the Norse kings probably had an immediate retinue of about ninety men, excluding menial servants and hangers on. These were divided into the hirðmenn (household men or hearthmen, i.e.; men who were privileged to be sharing his hearth or quarters) and a lower class called gestir literally guests, whose pay was half that of the hirðmenn. The gestir had their own leader, assembly and quarters. They acted as a kind of police force, doing errands for the king, executing his justice and collecting his taxes. They were not a popular group, and a later explanation of their name is that they were 'unwelcome guests' in many a house! (4)

What is a Hiromenn?

The hirðmenn were hand-picked and well rewarded. To be chosen was a great honor and meant acceptance not only by the other members, but by the king. A hirðman paid homage to the king and swore loyalty to him and the other hirðmenn. In Norway the hirðmenn maintained a hospice for their old and infirm members (a sort of early 'benevolent fund'!). These men were knit together by the personal bond they each had with their king or chieftain. (4)

What is a RigsJarl?

Quite simply put, you have reached the top of the aristocracy. The RigsJarl or Kon was the King in Viking times. One of the greatest and last of the Viking King was Cnut (Kahnoot), a viking warrior who became king of England, Denmark and Norway. For the English people, King Cnut's reign from 1017 to 1035 was much like the month of March, "in like a lion and out like a lamb". Crowned in the turmoil of war and conquest, Cnut quickly established an era of peace and prosperity. England became so secure that Cnut could frequently leave the country to settle affairs elsewhere in his empire. It was especially important to a people weary from thirty years of war that all of the fighting during his reign was on foreign soil. By the time of his death in 1035, Cnut was recognized as an equal by the Holy Roman Emperor and had negotiated with the Pope as a Christian monarch. Cnut was still young when he became king of England, but he had either been well trained in statesmanship, or more likely, he listened to the advice of his more experienced counselors. Cnut was a Christian when he became king, but he retained the mentality of a Viking. He openly acknowledged Elgifu of Northhampton as his consort and treated her as his northern queen. In other areas, Cnut cooperated fully with the English church which in turn granted him a legitimacy that would otherwise have been hard to win. This enabled him to gain the support of the Pope and the Emperor when he went on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1027 where he also attended the Emperor Conrad's coronation. While in Rome Cnut sent a letter back to England reporting that he had negotiated a reduction in the fee paid by the English Archbishops to receive their pallium from the Pope and also arranged a reduction in the fees and tolls paid by English pilgrims and merchants on the road to Rome. (7)

What is a Jomsviking and a Valkyrie?

As your reputation in battle became more well known and you were a man between 18 – 5 years of age, you might have become a member of the Jomsvikings (1) (pronounced yamsvikings), the mythical and most famous of the warrior brotherhoods, or mercenary bands of Vikings. Danish accounts say the Jomsvikings were established in the 10^th century by Harald Blue Tooth of Denmark who was banished from his own kingdom by his son, Swein Forkbeard. He had built a fortress called Jomsborg at the mouth of the Ober river. It had an artificial harbor, with it’s entrance guarded by a great tower built upon an archway with iron gates. The harbor was said to hold over 300 ships. The Jomsvikings lived by extremely strict rules, and trained to fight as a unit. Membership in the brotherhood was limited to men of outstanding strength, courage, and fighting ability, between 18 and 50 years of age. They were never to show any fear no matter how hopeless matters were. Flight from battle was forbidden and carried a death penalty. To abandon a brother in combat was a death penalty. (8)

The Valkyries, were warrior maidens who attended Odin, ruler of the gods. The Valkyries ("Choosers of the Slain") are beautiful young women, mounted upon winged horses and armed with helmets and spears. Their leader was Brunhild. The Valkyries carry out the will of Odinn in determining the victors of the battle, and the course of the war. Their primary duty is to choose the bravest of those who have been slain, gathering the souls of dying heros or warriors found deserving of afterlife in Valhalla. They fly over the battle and scout the battle ground in search of mortals worthy of the grand hall of Valhalla, the great hall of slain warriors is located in Asguard, the realm of Odinn. The Valkyries are also Odin's messengers and when they ride forth on their errands, their armor causes the strange flickering light that is called "Aurora Borealis" (Northern Lights). (9)

Who is Odin?

During most of the period that the vikings occupied what is now England, they were pagan, worshipping Odin, Thor, and a host of other gods and goddesses. Odin was the God of Kings, Wisdom, and War. Odin was mostly worshipped by the Jarls and Nobles. Thor was the God of the Storm and Weather. He was worshipped by the average man, farmers, and seafarers who needed good weather. These were warlike gods and the people who worshipped them were a warrior people.

(8)

(1) “Who were the Vikings?” Regia Anglorum

http://www.regia.org/vik1.htm

[Accessed, August 9, 2004]

(2) “Women in Viking Society” Aisling Bronach House Shadowdrake

http://www.shadowdrake.com/vikings/women.html

[Accessed August 9, 2004]

(3) “Viking Social Organization” Regia Anglorum

http://www.regia.org/viking2.htm

[Accessed, August 4, 2004]

(4) “Viking Military Organization” Regia Anglorum

http://www.regia.org/viking3.htm

[Accessed August 5, 2004]

(5) “Vikings!” Regia Angloum

http://www.regia.org/vikings.htm

[Accessed. August 6, 2004]

(6) “Who were the Huscarls?” Regia Angloum

http://www.regia.org/huscarl.htm

[Accessed August 6, 2004]

(7) “King Cnut” WILLIAM BAKKEN

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/vikings/cnutaut.html

Accessed August 7, 2004

(8) “The Vikings” Tom Setzer

< http://www.inisfail.com/~ancients/the-vikings.html>

[Accessed August 8, 2004].

(9) "Valkyries." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online.
<http://www.pantheon.org/articles/v/valkyries.html>
[Accessed August 08, 2004].