Materials found in tombs have shown us that there were class distinctions in the Viking period. The class your family-circle belonged to dictated the class you belonged to for your entire life. It was very rare that a person could transcend class distinctions. A person’s individual life mattered little, as it was the class of the ancient lineage of his family which gave him his position and his rights and duties in society. It was the family who gave him this status. The family-circle was the center of his life.
In the Viking society it was very important to ones self-esteem to be a free man. However, this was dependent upon the class you belonged to.
In § 185 in the Gulating law (which addresses violence) , we find seven classes of free men: Løysing, son of løysing, farmer, hauld, lendmann, earl and king. In Rigstula, a poem in Edda, we can read about how Rig (the god Heimdal ) visits families belonging to three classes during the Viking period. Rig stayed with each of the families for three days, sleeping with all three wives, and in this way became the father to all the classes of man. Below I will employ this poem to describe the daily life of some of these classes:
The slave – or “trell”, as the Vikings called him, is not mentioned in the law because they were not protected by the law. The slave was owned by his owner in the same way the owner owned his domestic animals. Slaves were looked upon as the owner’s property. The owner could buy and sell a slave, and he could treat his slave as he liked. If the owner killed one of his slaves, it was not considered as murder. If a free man killed another man’s slave, the murderer only had to pay for a new slave. The price was nearly the same as that of a domestic animal.
When a female slave bore a child, her child automatically became the property of her owner. If a pregnant slave was sold, her unborn child became the new owner’s property as well. Rigstula tells us that the slaves worked all the time. They collected wood, fertilized the fields, made fences, dug turf, bred pigs and made bast ropes. The slave family ate unwholesome and unappetizing food. According to the law, the only thing a slave was allowed to own was a knife.
Slaves were often captured during Viking raids upon British islands, but a free Norwegian man could also become a slave, either by free will or by force. He might be forced into slavery if he wasn’t able to pay the mulct ordained by the Thing or if he couldn’t feed himself and his family. Some Vikings became rich by selling slaves to other tribes in Europe.
The løysing , or bondsman, was a slave who had been set free by his owner, but who was still dependent upon and still owed duties to his former owner. A bondsman was allowed to purchase his freedom by hard work.
The løysing’s son represented a separate class, according to the Gulating law.
The farmer was a free man with all available rights and duties in the Viking society. Rigstula tells that the farmers made looms, spun thread, plowed the fields, built houses and made fences and carts. Most people in the Viking society belonged to the farmer class. This class is described further below under the heading – «The farmer’s life in the Viking Period»
The Leiding, or tenant, was a man who rented or leased a farm. Payment for use of the farm involved giving some of the food to the owner. The tenant could be anyone from a former farm worker to a chieftain. However, as a free man he had all the pertinent societal rights and duties.
A hauld was a freeholder. A man could not become a freeholder until his family had owned the farm as freemen for six generations.
The Chieftain, Rigstula tells us, lived his life in luxury and owned 18 farms. The father made strings for the bow, while the mother adorned herself with jewels and dresses with blue ornaments. The son used the bow and arrow, sword, spear and shield. He rode horses, swam, trained dogs, learned the art of runes, went out in battles and conquered land. They also learned the songs of birds, played board games, tamed horses and made arrows and shields.
The king and his men, the lendmann and
earls , were classes which were added later in the Viking period. (The other classes mentioned above existed during the entire Viking period). Rigstula tells us that the king was a clever hunter and clever with weapons as well. But more importantly – he had magical abilities. He could save lives, stop storms, understand the birds, ease sorrows, give peace to the mind, stop fires, and was a rune master. The king could also ride a horse and draw the sword, vanquish enemies and travel out in Viking raids. The Viking raids were only organized by rich people, such as the chieftain’s family, the king’s family or a very rich farming family. However, warriors might be recruited from the entire area.