Viking Day Part 2

Shields were fixed along the side of the ships to help protect them from the cold waves. The class licked their hands and then blew on them they found it was cold this showed them how cold the Vikings may have got. This is why Vikings wouldn't have worn fur as it would have got wet and they would have frozen. Fur was used for blankets and for trading. They wore  mostly linen and wool, but  mostly wool as it is warm.

Sea monsters - they put scary figureheads on the boats such as a dragon on the front of the boat to frighten them away. When they came close to land took dragon head off so that they didn't frighten away the land spirits and gods . 

The Vikings neededto know where they were going as they worried about falling off the end if the world. They followed stars at night and in the day they used the sun and they made a sundial that showed direction. 32 notches around the dial and made one deeper which was south. As the shadows changed in length the tips were marked to make a curved line that they then used to help them. 

The Vikings had lodestone which was magnetic. They put it on wood and put it in the water and it always pointed in the same direction, north. They were beginning to discover the first compass.

In their homelands the Vikings were farmers. Named months after jobs on farms such as sowing moon which is April. Months were called a moon.  June was Hay moon when hay was gathered in, August was corn cuttting moon , October was blood moon or slaughter moon when animals were killed to get meat for the winter and cut down the number if animals that neede to be fed. Meat was preserved by using the smoke from the fire to smoke  it.