Culture Topic From Norway Essay, Research Paper

Culture topic from Norway

Much of the culture from Norway during the period of the 10th to the

11th century came from the Vikings. They came from many villages and military camps from all over Scandinavia. They were excellent seamen and warriors. Because of their geography the people were forced to use the sea as their transportation. The traveled in long boats decorated with dragonheads on their prows and used for raiding, warfare, and exploration. According to many historians, the Vikings lived quiet lives as farmers or traders. Many were skilled craftsmen, who were experts in boat building, iron working and as goldsmiths. Women milked the cows and goats, made cheese, brewed ale and honey-sweetened meat, ground grain in hand mills made of soapstone, called querns, cooked up the porridge that often served as breakfast, and prepared fish or meat for dinner by spit roasting it, baked it amid glowing embers in a fire pit or boiled it in an iron pot filled with water. The housewife also used a loom where she made shirts, trousers that formed the first layer of clothing for the Vikings, woolen kirtles, cloaks and shawls. The mistress of the house knew about industry and authority. She carried needles, scissors, and a knife with her wherever she went. She also held the keys to trunks or chests that held household articles of special value. The class structure was based upon the fact that those who were clumsy, ill formed would be the slaves of the Vikings, or otherwise known as THRALLS. Those who were good looking and strong were the workers of farms and homes, otherwise known as FREEMEN. The Vikings lived in small villages that consisted of family owned farms. On these farms there was longhouse (sometimes made from wood, sod, wattle, or daub), stables for livestock, storage sheds for food, workshops for iron and other crafts, boathouses for sheltering vessels in winter and huts for storing other precious equipment like plows, fishing tackle, carts, sleighs and skis. During this time period the Vikings went to markets and traded furs, ivory, glass beads, pottery, jewelry, and swords. They also used coins that they weighed to tell how much they were getting. Some of these coins were made of silver, gold and sometimes bronze. The religion of the Vikings was Christianity. They originally the Vikings kept the Old Norse religion and incorporated its themes into the religion of Christianity. But then King Harold “Bluetooth”, renounced paganism and embraced Christianity. A very famous tradition and celebration that was celebrated during the old Pagan times was St. John’s Eve. This is a night of gatherings when people gathered around bonfires. There were many superstitions connected with the Eve of St. John. For instance, the bonfire was believed to give protection from evil spirits and to keep away witches. Herbs and plants had magic powers of the night. Also, if a girl on this day picked 7 different kinds of flowers and put them under her pillow, she would dream about her future husband that night. The date of this event is June 23.

Characterization and Character Analysis

The main character from the folktale “The Princess on the Glass Hill” is Boots. His father has three sons and Boots was the youngest. He was petite compared to the other brothers. He was also the bravest of the three. Boots never cared about what his other brothers said about him because he knew he was special. Boots attitude is meek, modest and gentle. Boots had control over the when the horses came. Each year a different horse came about and every year he would put them in a secret hiding place. He also had control over the time when he would pretend to be a knight in shining armor and get an apple from the princess. He never took all three at once. Boots got what he wanted in regards to the marriage of the princess and he also received half the kingdom. In addition he had proved to his brothers and father that he was a brave boy and was also a significant figure to the family. Showing that even though he was poor, the best man would win the prize. According to the story he and his family lived on a farm where they would take care of the field. This is textual evidence that Boots and his family were farmers characterized as Vikings. Due to the teasing and harassment by his brothers Boots proved that he was brave by staying the night in the barn event though there were earthquakes and storms. He also would become the heir to the throne when the current king would die. When Boots had gone to the throne to prove to the king that he indeed had the apples, the brothers were in shock that their own brother, the one they tormented and teased, would be their ruler. The author made Boots as a poor and helpless boy because they wanted to portray him as never being prosperous and fortunate.