When thinking of Vikings, the image that comes to mind tends to be hulking, grizzly, and vicious barbarians who mercilessly invaded and enslaved nations all over Europe. This image is only partially true, as they did burn down churches and pillaged villages, but they also did a great deal of exploring and were excellent navigators, and settlers. They founded cities and traded just about everything all over the world. They were a relatively gender-equal society compared to others at the time, and they laid down the foundation for all kinds of civilizations.
The Days Of The Week
Most of our days of the week are actually named after their Norse gods. Tiu (Twia) is the English/Germanic god of war and the heavens who is identified with the god Tyr – and equivalent to the Freek god, Ares. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are named after the gods Woden (father supreme of the Norse gods), Thor (Norse god of thunder), and Freya (Norse goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and marriage).
The Days Of The Week
Not Actually Vikings
The Vikings were not technically called, well, Vikings. The name stems from a verb in Old Norse that means ‘a pirate raid’. Scandanavians referred to the people who would raid as ‘going Viking’. The Scandanavians gained an affinity for ‘going Viking’ with time which is what eventually caused the change in the noun. They actually used to call themselves Norse, Norsemen, or Danes.
Not Actually Vikings