When we think of Vikings, we often think of burly men who used brute force to seize and conquer land. They originated from Scandinavia and were best known for sailing, trading, pillaging, and colonizing. The Vikings were an interesting group of people, but they are largely misrepresented in film and media today. These pirates made their mark all over the world and even beat Columbus to the U.S. Rethink everything you think you might know about the Vikings.

We hate to burst your bubble, but you can’t believe everything you see on T.V. In almost every depiction of Vikings in movies, they can be seen wearing large horned helmets. The horned helmet look that most of us are familiar with inspires fear.

You would assume hygiene was not high on the priority list for a group of pirates sailing, pillaging, and exploring the world. Surprisingly, the vikings were a group of hygienic individuals. Historians have found makeshift tweezers, razors, combs, and ear cleaners by excavating Viking sites.

The Vikings were pirates of sorts, traveling by sea to conquer people and land. As such, they loved their boats. To be buried in a boat was a great honor. They believed that these ships would carry their fallen men and women to their “final destinations”.

When they weren’t sailing and conquering, Vikings could be found skiing for fun! The Scandanavians were one of the first groups to develop skis. In fact, they even worshiped a god of skiing, named Ullr.

Many Scandanvaians naturally had blond or red hair. They viewed blond hair as beautiful, so some men and women who had darker hair actually dyed their hair lighter. They used lye to bleach their hair and conform to their culture’s beauty ideals.

The Vikings weren’t actually all a part of a unified group. They made up smaller tribes around Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. A viking from one tribe most likely wouldn’t recognize a viking from another.

While Vikings are best known for their brute fighting, many Viking men were actually farmers by trade. The majority of Vikings spent their time farming barley, rye, and oats rather than raiding Europe. Viking farmers raised cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep to support and feed their families.

While Columbus is credited with “discovering” the New World, we now know this is not true. Historians have found that Nomadic Asian tribes discovered the land thousands of years ago. However, a Viking beat Columbus to the punch as well.

The Vikings had their own gods and Norse religion played a large role in their culture. They even named some of the days of the week after their gods. The Norse gods are not as familiar to us as some of the Greek and Roman gods, even though they came long after Greek and Roman mythology.

“Berserkers” was a term used to refer to a kind of Viking who fought in a “trance-like” fury. Most likely, these fearsome warriors took hallucinogens to add to their battle finesse. Berserkers were some of the most feared men of the time, because they fought animalistically.

Viking women actually had more freedom than other women in Europe during the Viking Age. A Viking woman could carry weapons, divorce their husband, and perform all of the “male jobs” while their husbands were away.