Historic Replicas

The Vikings were one of the dominant cultural forces in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.  Like the Romans, the Vikings lived in a heavily stratified society. They lived according to a caste system resembling India’s.  People were born into a group that determined their rights, professions, and social standing, and slaves were on the bottom.  The Vikings depended on slaves to work their land and perform other labor, but generally didn’t accord them the same dignity and respect that some Romans did.  Viking raiding parties captured slaves throughout Eastern and Western Europe, both prisoners of war and peaceful villagers.  The Vikings were more than slaveholders. 

Wielding Viking axes, they went on countless raids for slaves and treasure, and while they weren’t as organized than the Romans, they were no less well traveled; Viking swords and Viking helmets have been discovered in archeological digs throughout Europe.  They expanded their territory and created colonies and settlements far and wide.  Slaves often found themselves far from their homelands; at the turn of the first millennium, in fact, the Vikings ran the largest slave market in the world in Dublin.  Slaves were integral to Viking society, so much so that they were a part of Norse mythology.  The slaves were called thralls, and according to legend, they were descended from a God of the same name.  Many cultures have used religion to justify slavery.  The Vikings went one step further and incorporated slavery into their creation stories; for them, slavery was a God-given institution, and had been since the beginning of time.