As an accompaniment to my historical romance, The Bride Who Rode in With the Storm (published by Satin Romance), this blog series has been examining different aspects of Viking culture. Last time, it was clothes and jewellery.
For this one, I’m focusing on Viking hygiene. This subject features heavily in Bride as a means for Rosa and Grimulf to get comfortable with one another 😉
🎕 “Are we to be married now?”
She hated
how like a child she sounded, anticipating the arrival of something pleasant,
when all she was doing was dreading this.
“In a
moment. Dry yourself off and get dressed. I want your help with something
first.”
She did as
he commanded. “With what?”
Grimulf
tilted his head to the side, revealing the thick cords of his throat. From his
boot he slipped out a knife, gleaming and sharp as a claw. Rosa cringed, then
straightened, forcing her fear down.
With a
single twist, Grimulf now held the blade. He offered the handle to Rosa.
“Be a good
wife and shave this bracken from my face. You’ll finally be able to see your
husband, then.”
Chapter One – The Bride Who Rode in With the Storm 🎕
Overall Viking Hygiene
Vikings are often depicted as being vicious, hairy brutes who have no clue what a bar of soap is. This misconception has been steadily fading thanks to archaeological discoveries.
In fact, Viking men were constantly sprucing themselves up. They believed their appearance helped improve their standing in the community… Much to the despair of Anglo-Saxon men.
This is a quote
often used when discussing Viking hygiene, written by Medieval chronicler John
of Wallingford in 1002, about how successful these well-groomed Norsemen were
with local women:
“The Danes, thanks to their habit of combing their hair every day, of bathing every Saturday and regularly changing their clothes, were able to undermine the virtue of married women and even seduce the daughters of nobles to be their mistresses.”
I mean, those poor Saxon
men, having to compete and bathe more often than a few times a year! No, no,
Anglo-Saxon hygiene is probably another misconception which will be cleared up
once more evidence is discovered.
Most likely Anglo-Saxons
would have a quick dip or rub down with a wet cloth whenever the need arose as,
all those years ago, having an actual bath could be a matter of life or death. I’ll
discuss bathing practices a little later on in this post.
The reason Vikings were lambasted for their preoccupation with hygiene seems to be because they were so obvious about it, flaunting the fact they spent time and money to take care of themselves.
Hair, TEETH and Beards
Combs were a
much beloved Viking tool. Most were made from bones or deer antlers and were
finely decorated with carvings. Razors, tweezers, even earspoons for wax have
been unearthed from Viking burial mounds, such as this finding in Norwich. Mirrors would have been a sheet of
polished metal or water surface.
Dental hygiene was maintained with toothpicks, although some Vikings, berserkers most likely, decided to file down their teeth to frighten their enemies!
Viking beards
were another way for warriors to show off. The longer the beard, the more
braids a Viking could have, weaving in beads and rings to advertise his wealth.
Braiding also meant any hair that could get in a warrior’s eyes while in battle
was safely tucked away.
Most Viking men
had some sort of facial hair. To be clean shaven was considered unmasculine. It
was also associated with Loki, a god known for mischief and dishonesty, who was
often depicted as beardless.
Now, in Bride, Grimulf asks Rosa to shave him, as a means of getting her to be more at ease, but perhaps there’s something in his past he doesn’t want to share that has left him wanting to cast aside his more brutal, wolfish side…
Bathing
While our ancestors didn’t know about germ theory, they did understand how important bathing was. Unfortunately, only the rich could do so safely. To fill a single tub with plenty of hot water meant multiple servants had to rush with buckets back and forth from boiling them over the fire.
Most made do with bathing in a cold river, but the risk of pneumonia or even accidentally drowning was enough reason to be cautious. Anglo-Saxons even wrote instructions on the best conditions for daring to wash, which considered weather conditions or whether to bathe if pregnant, as they believed bathing could lead to feebleness and fainting spells if done incorrectly.
Meanwhile, in Iceland, Viking baths were in huts similar to a sauna or they would have a dip in a warm spring. Saturday seems to be the best day for a Viking to bathe, as their name for the day translates to “washing day”.
For Bride, I decided to keep to river and tub bathing as this is what Rosa was used to :)
🎕 There was a white bar on the side. Curious, she sniffed it. A slight greasy film smeared over her palm and she was met with a distinctly nutty scent. She put it down but could see no rosemary to freshen herself with.
Rosa did the best she could, scrubbing her skin clean with only the water and her bare hands.🎕
Viking soap was so high in lye that it could bleach hair, which actually wasn’t a disadvantage. Blonde hair was seen as more attractive to Vikings.
There's an interesting recipe in Terry Dreary’s Vicious Vikings for making your own Viking style soap with conkers. I haven't tried it yet, but when they do start falling from trees I'll have to see if it works and share my results on the blog.
🎕 Grimulf watched her struggle a few moments, before saying, “Do you not plan to use the soap?”
At her
incomprehension, he glanced at the bar on the side. “Soap, girl.”
“But it is
a hard bar of… something.”
“And quite
good at cleaning you.”
His smile
grew wider. Grimulf knelt and before she could take the soap he had it in his
hand. It seemed as small as a pebble in his grip.
“Let me help. You’ll not be able to reach here.”🎕
My next Viking post will be a favourite topic of mine—food! While you're waiting, why not have a read of my earlier Viking posts or see what happens next after Rosa and Grimulf's soapy encounter.
P.S. Forgot to add, Viking toilet paper was moss!
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