10 viking wedding traditions

1.

Viking weddings were always held on a Friday which in Norse religion is a sacred day for Frigga the goddess of marriage. The wedding would probably start on the Friday and last about a week.

2.

Before the wedding the groom would have to enter a grave. He would have to dig up and enter the grave of one of his ancestors and retrieve his ancestor's sword.

3.

The Viking bride would not wear any special dress or gown but would focus mainly on her hair and would wear a crown made out of silver covered in valuable crystals.

4.

Like the bride, the groom would not wear any special clothes but would carry a very special weapon (probably given to him by his father.)

5.

The bride and groom wouldn't just exchange rings but would also exchange their ancestors swords.

6.

At the wedding the bride and groom would sacrifice an animal for the gods: a goat for Thor, a sow for Freyja, and a boar or a horse for Freyr. The blood of the animal would be put in a bowl and a bundle of fir-twigs would be dropped in and would be used to sprinkle the blood on the couple.

7.

At the wedding feast a replica of Thor's hammer would be placed on the brides lap while she said her prayers to him.

8.

It was a tradition that the bride and groom would get drunk on bridal ale during the feast. Bridal ale is a special beer brewed especially for the bride and groom.

9.

At least six witnesses would walk the bride and groom to their bed by torchlight after partying.

10.

It was tradition for the bridal party and the groom party to race to the feast and the team that lost would have to serve the ale and beer for the rest of the evening.

viking foods

Today as my blog I am going to write about viking foods.

What did they eat?

The vikings ate pretty much anything they could get their hands on but their main specielty was farming. Vikings were very good farmers they would make flour out of dried corn which they would then make into bread to eat with the cheese they made out of their cows milk. Vikings would usually send their kids out to find nuts and berries in the woods and if they were lucky they would find some geese or chickens wandering around the farm to collect eggs from. While the girls were at home making flour, collecting nuts and berries and doing house chores the boys would go out and hunt for meat or go and do some fishing.

Did they have feasts and celebrations?

Vikings had many many feasts to celebrate. Some of the main reasons where for weddings, solstices, and festivals. Depending on how wealthy the host was a major feast would usually last 12 days! at feasts vikings would usually eat meat, bread, nuts, berries, fish, and cheese and drink mead, beer, weak ale and if they were at a major feast strong fruit wines.

How did they cook their food?

Their were three ways the vikings used to cook their food:

1. boiling, method 1: Vikings usually boiled their meat which they would do by digging a pit and lining it with wood which they would then put water and meat in and drop in hot stones to boil the water and add any herbs or spices they had to flavour the meat.

2. boiling, method 2: the other way vikings would boil their meat (and veggies) is by digging a hole making a fire in it and dangling a metal pot over it with water and either meat or veggies and a bit of seasoning.

3. over the fire: to cook fish or meat the vikings would make a fire and roast meat or fish over it on a spit.

viking games and entertainment

Today I am going to be writing about what the vikings would do for entertainment and whether or not they had any board games.

 Did they have any board games?

The answer is yes. they did have many board games but the most popular one was Hnefatafl, no one actually knows the rules to this game but we know that there would be two players one much stronger than the other who would have many more tokens than the weaker person and would have to get to the opponents king that wasn't guarded very well. this game was very popular until 12th century when it was replaced with chess.

What indoor games did they play?

The vikings had many indoor games but my personal favourite is one that the vikings would usually play after a feast or a meal. this is how the game goes, there would be two teams men in one team women in the other and they would throw a dice to see what team goes first. The team that throws the bigger number goes first and will drink as much as possible and try to insult the other team then the other team would try to out-drink and out-insult the other team the winning team is the team stays the wittiest and drinks the most.

What outdoor games did they play?

The vikings played lots of outdoor games including archery, stone throwing, wrestling, a type of tug of war called toga-hönk, and a ball game using a stick and ball. it wasn't uncommon for someone to get hurt or killed in some of these games. The women would not compete in these games but would sometimes gather round to watch. Family games were usually stuff like swimming and ice skating. did you know that the vikings invented ice skating? of course the vikings didn't have nice shiny ice skating shoes on a nice indoor skating rink but they did have a bit of horse or cow bone attached to their shoes with leather straps on a frozen lake or river.

Did they have any competitions?

Vikings did have lots of competitions they would have swimming races, archery competitions, wrestling competitions and toga-hönk (tug of war).

What toys did kids and babies have?

Viking children would usually play with wooden toys there parents carved for them or play ball and child size games of the ones there father would play.

Did they have any stories?

The vikings had two different types of stories fairy tales and sagas. sagas were like poems a viking would recite a saga to his or her children talking about their time in the war or one of their voyages. sagas where very, very, very long. Prepare yourself because viking fairy tales aren't a single bit like what your used to. viking fairy tales are very gruesome the person to live happily ever after  and be the hero was always the meanest tricksiest person in the story. one of the stories are about where the first man and woman came from and guess where they came from? the armpit sweat of a giant! If the giants used deodorant none of us would be here.
 

Viking names and what they mean

Today as my first blog for my new topic, vikings, I am going to write about viking names and what they mean.


Girls names:

Name                       Meaning

Astrid                      ás - Word for god in old norse / frid - beautiful (woman.)

Brynhild                Bryn - chain mail / Hild - fighter.

Freydis                  Freyr - fertility goddess /  Dis - low rank goddess.

Gudrun                  Gud - god / run - secret knowledge.

Gunnhild               Gunnr - fight / Hild - fighter.

Gunnvor                Gunnr - fight / Vor - defend.

Hilde                     Hild - fighter.

Ingrid                    Ing - viking god / Frid - beautiful (woman.)

Ragnhild              Regin - council / Hild - fighter.

Ranveig               Rann - house / Veig - Unknown, Perhaps Víg - fight.

Sigrid                  Sigr - victory / Frid - beautiful (woman.)

Sigrunn               Sigr - victory / Secret - Knowledge.

Siv                      Sif - a relation or an inlaw.

Solveig               Sól - house, hall / Veig - Unknown perhaps Víg - fight.

Svanhild             Svan - swan / Hild fighter.

Torhild               Tor - The mighty thor / Hild - fighter.

Torunn               Tor - the mighty thor / Unn - love.

Turid                  Tor - the mighty thor / frid - beautiful (woman.)

Vigdis                Vig - fight / Dis - low rank goddess.

Yngvild             Yng - viking god / Hild - fight.



Boys names:

Names               Meaning

Arne                  Orn - Eagle.

Bjørn                 Bjørn - bear.

Eirik                  Ei - the unique one / Rik - prince.

Geir                   Geirr - javlin.

Gisle                 Gísl - Hostage, the handle of the javlin.

Gunnar             Gunnr - fight / ar - warrior.

Harald             Har - army / Vald - Prince.

Hákon             Hár - A prominent person/ Konr - family.

Inge                Inge - The viking god Yngve.

Ivar                yr - A coniferous tree / Ar - worrier.

Knut              Knutr - A knot

Leif               Leif -  Property, inheritence.

Magnus        Magnus - Mighty, big.

Olav             Anu - ancestor / LaibaR - inheritence.

Rolf             Rod - Honour / Ulfr - wolf.

Sigurd         Sigr - victory / Vard - guardian.

Snorre         Snurre - The unruly one.

Steinar        Stienn - stone / Ar - worrier.

Torstein      Tor - The mighty thor / Steinn - stone.

Trygve       Tryggr - the trustworthy one.

Ulf            Ulfr - wolf.

Valdemar  Valr - Might / Mar - famous.

Vidar        The viking god Vidar.

Yngve      The viking god yngve.

The anatomy of a dog

Today I am going to draw the anatomy of a dog and learn about what each part of its body does.

Here is my image:

Larynx

A dogs Larynx is its voice box which allows it to speak. When a dog becomes quite old there is a chance it mite get Laryngeal Paralysis a disease that some older dogs get when their larynx does not open and close when the dog breathes like it should normally do this makes the dog stressed when its hot because it breaths more rapidly but it can't.

Esophagus

The esophagus is a tube that connects the stomach to the mouth. The esophagus is located right in the chest and throat. The walls of the esophagus are made of muscles that move in wave like movements to push food into the stomach. When the dog has finished eating and there is no food in the esophagus the walls of the esophagus will collapse on each other to close it.

Stomach

The stomach is basically a little sack inside the dog that gets passed food by the esophagus. Inside the dogs stomach is many folds these folds are called gastric folds. The gastric folds help the stomach grind and digest food. once the food is eaten most of it leaves within 12 hours.

Small intestine

The small intestine is a tube like tunnel that connects the stomach to the large intestine. Despite its name the small intestine is actually bigger than than the large intestine. The small intestine is about two and a half times the size of your dog, For example if you have a dog that is about 24 centimetres its small intestine will be about 60 cm.

Large intestine

The large intestine basically just connects the small intestine to the anus. In a 40 pound dog the large intestine would be about 15 cm long. even though the large intestine is smaller than the small intestine it is actually thicker in diameter.

Trachea

The trachea (windpipe) is a big hollow tube that helps to let the air flow to and from the lungs. The trachea is located in the throat it joins the lungs and larynx together.


Kidney

The kidneys in a dog do exactly the same work as a humans kidneys by filtering the blood and collecting the body waste which will then be passed down to the bladder which when full will send note to the brain telling the dog that it needs a wee.

Spleen

The spleen helps by fighting of infections and removing aged and non working red blood cells from circulation.

Rectum

The rectum is a place to store the feces (poo) before it leaves the body.

Liver

The liver is an important organ for your dog it helps with digestion and blood clotting, it also removes toxins from the system.

Lungs

when a dog breathes in its lungs will collect all the air but will only breath out the part it doesn't need. The part the dog doesn't need is called carbon dioxide, the dog will breathe out the carbon dioxide and keep the part it needs, oxygen.

Heart

The heart has to sides one that collects blood from circulation and pumps it to the lungs while the other side does the opposite by collecting blood from the lungs and pumping it around the dogs body.

Spinal column

A dog's spinal column is their backbone. A dog's spinal column is a large group of bones that protects the spinal cord which houses all of the important nerves in a dogs back.

Lyerbird facts

Today I am going to write about superb Lyrebirds that can mimic other noises like human voices, mechanical noises and pretty much anything.



Habitat?

 Both species of the lyrebird are native to the south east of Australia and are usually found in moist forests.

Diet?

Lyrebirds mainly eat insects, spiders, little frogs and other little invertebrates it finds on the leaves.

How big are they?

You would probably think that these are small animals wouldn't you? Well no! These birds can grow to be a whole metre!

How long can they live?

These amazing animals can live for up to 30 years!

Interesting facts


1. Like peacocks only the males have the beautifully feathered tails.
2. The superb Lyrebirds have been rated the most amazing mimic birds in the world being able to copy nearly anything!
3. They once became very rare but are know very common in the forests of Australia!

mimic octopus

Today I am going to learn about the amazing shapeshifting animal the mimic octopus!


This is an animal you have probably never heard of which is amazing. The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus Mimicus) is an octopus with real superpowers! It has the ability to shape-shift! ok maybe it cant totally shape-shift but it can kind of morph itself and change colour to mimic other animals. Here are some animals that it can mimic, sea snakes, lionfish, eels, stingrays, Jellyfish and much, much, more!

Here is an amazing video of a mimic octopus.



 In this video it shows how the mimic octopus changes shape and mimics other animals.            

How big are they?

Mimic octopus' are quite small in size only about 2 feet                                                                                                                                                     
When was it discovered?

The mimic octopus was discovered in 1998 by a fisherman.




Habitat?

This particular type of octopus tends to live in Sulawesi, Indonesia and is mainly found at the bottom of river mouths it tends to like muddy places.

How long does it life?

The estimated lifespan of a mimic octopus is around two years.

Diet?

Because of the scenery that the mimic octopus lives in it is suspected to mainly eat little fish like shrimps and quite often crabs.

What does it look like?

The mimic octopus in its own form is brown and white with stripes and spots.

Are they poisonous?

No one really knows wether or not mimic octopus' are poisonous but nobody really believes they are because they already have a defence against predators so why would they need another?

Interesting fact.

female mimic octopus' die the second there eggs hatch which means the babies have to fend for themselves from the second they hatch.

Rating?

Out of 5 stars:

Skill: 5 stars

Coolness: 4 1/2 stars 

Survival: 4 1/2 stars