Between the two brooches there was often a string of beads. Under her strap dress the woman wore an undergarment or smock. Research shows that Danish Viking women preferred plain undergarments, whilst Swedish Viking women wore pleated ones. There was therefore even an element of fashion in undergarments.
The Vikings wore their clothes in layers beginning with underwear of linen. Men (and women) are thought to have worn an undershirt and possibly under breeches, but this is more of an assumption as there is no actual evidence for undergarments.
These two episodes (and many others) suggest that linen underwear was worn to bed. It's been suggested that very poor men did not use underclothing and thus may have slept naked.
Viking Facts
Vikings were extremely clean and regularly bathed and groomed themselves. They were known to bathe weekly, which was more frequently than most people, particularly Europeans, at the time. Their grooming tools were often made of animal bones and included items such as combs, razors, and ear cleaners.
The usual costume of the thrall was a simple tunic or shift of undyed homespun. There were few laws regarding slavery.
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, an Arab lawyer and diplomat from Baghdad who encountered the men of Scandinavia in his travels, wrote that Vikings treated their female chattel as sex slaves. If a slave died, he added, “they leave him there as food for the dogs and the birds.”
There's also no archaeological evidence of Viking bras. However, women's smokks and tunics (and 'aprons) could be quite close-fitting, and often had a linen lining. It's possible that a supportive under garment was sometimes added to the bodice of the garment during construction.
A history long unrecorded
The Vikings were, of course, big talkers and long favoured oral traditions over the written word. Their culture, histories, tales and legends have been passed down through the centuries in skaldic poems. Skalds were official poets working in the service of a king, clan chief or jarl.
Description: The waterlogged areas of the excavation at Whithorn uncovered preserved 'sheets' of moss, which had been discarded. Closer analysis revealed them to be studded with fragments of hazel nut shells, and blackberry pips.
For this point in history, however, Viking women enjoyed a high degree of social freedom. They could own property, ask for a divorce if not treated properly, and they shared responsibility for running farms and homesteads with their menfolk. They were also protected by law from a range of unwanted male attention.
Interesting enough, according to the BBC Primary History site, there were no bathrooms in the Viking home. Most people probably washed in a wooden bucket or the nearest stream. Instead of toilets, people used cesspits, which are holes dug outside for toilet waste.
Vikings would have used lanolin-rich wool, which is naturally water-repellent and has the advantage of retaining heat even when wet. They might also have used leather “waterproofs,” which had been treated with animal fat.
The night shirt was once simply a shirt. And the shirt was an undergarment. In medieval times, the absence of vests and underpants meant that the long shirt served as the base layer: all things to all men as it were.
Viking women neither shaved their underarms nor wore the strapless bustiers. The Vikings did not wear horned helmets as shown in the film.
Traces of teeth mutilation have been found in all parts of the world except Europe, with the practice reaching its peak from 700 to 1400 AD, during the height of the Viking Age. The Vikings were the first Europeans to have displayed this custom, perhaps because they picked it up during their travels.
The Vikings were more robust and muscular than the average person, and that was for both women and men. One of the reasons for this is, of course, the hard physical work, that was needed to survive in a landscape like Scandinavia in the Viking age.
The Romans cleaned their behinds with sea sponges attached to a stick, and the gutter supplied clean flowing water to dip the sponges in. This soft, gentle tool was called a tersorium, which literally meant “a wiping thing.”
Vikings were known for their excellent hygiene.
Vikings also bathed at least once a week—much more frequently than other Europeans of their day—and enjoyed dips in natural hot springs.
What time did Vikings go to bed? So in winter, they would have gone to sleep around 6pm, gone up to eat from midnight to 2am and then woken up around 8am. In summer you would have slept from midnight to 4am at most, if at all.
Níð, argr, ragr and ergi
Ergi and argr or ragr can be regarded as specifying swearwords. Ergi, argr and ragr were the severe insults made by calling someone a coward, and due to its severity old Scandinavian laws demanded retribution for this accusation if it had turned out unjustified.
Technically, the answer is “no.” Vikings didn't have the implements we use today to actually “brush” their teeth with toothpaste and toothbrushes. However, they did clean their teeth regularly. From what we know about Viking history, these individuals were some of the cleanest groups across Europe.
Skeletons show that arthritis of the back, hands and knees plagued ordinary Viking farmers. Many Vikings also suffered from tooth problems. More than a quarter of the population had holes in their teeth. Finds of crania show that most Vikings had several teeth missing.
While some early cultures didn't wear bras at all, others took cloth in the shape of a bandeau and wore it around their breasts. Over time, women began to wear corsets and girdles designed more to shape their bodies (uncomfortably at that) than to support breasts, although they did provide lift.
After the straight-fronted corset became fashionable in the early 20th century, a bra or "bust supporter" became a necessity for full-busted women because the straight-fronted corset did not offer as much support and containment as the Victorian styles.
It helped keep the harsh glare of the sun from damaging one's eyesight while also increasing the dramatic sex appeal of the wearer.