What Made The Vikings Such Legendary People

Vikings were legendary warriors that came from Scandinavia and their entire reputation is built on their combat prowess. These warriors (men and women!

) are renowned for being so tall that they tower everyone, but this isn’t what really made them famous.

These are the most interesting facts about Vikings that you probably didn’t know about. What’s real and what’s myth? Let’s find out.

Days of the Week

A fun fact that many people don’t know about the Vikings is that the days of the week are named after their gods. Wednesday was named after the god Woden (Odin) who is the father of the famous Thor, the god of thunder.

Tuesday and Friday are named after Tyr while Thor himself gave us Thursday.

Vikings Might Have Never Worn Helmets

Archaeologists have only found a complete Viking helmet, meaning many warrior didn’t even wear helmets. Perhaps they had some leather headwear, but the material might have not survived over the centuries. Did you know they had their own alphabet?

The Viking Alphabet

The Viking alphabet was called runor, but since they didn’t write a lot on paper, we do see the Scandinavian landscape revealing thousands of large stones that were covered in runes.

They’re called runestones, and most of the runes were carved to memorialize the dead or stories of warfare.

Old Norse Language

Another fun fact that might be hard to believe is that some of the most popular English words have Viking origins. Here are some examples: scrawny, snort, angry and lump.