Though many Vikings grew their own crops, they had limited access to vegetation. This meant they often hunted for animals to survive, and looked after livestock. The result was access to a huge amount of protein and fat, excellent for building muscle.
The average height of Vikings as found by researchers and scholars, varied depending on a number of factors, including their age and gender. Typically, the average male Viking would usually be between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 9, while the average female would be between 5 foot 1 and 5 foot 3.
The chances are Vikings were a lot leaner than many people today, thanks to their protein-rich diet, and their commitment to hard labor. However, it's likely that the comparative 'largeness' of Vikings was down to their muscular bodies and strength, rather than simply being “fat”.
The average Viking was 8-10 cm (3-4 inches) shorter than we are today. The skeletons that the archaeologists have found, reveals, that a man was around 172 cm tall (5.6 ft), and a woman had an average height of 158 cm (5,1 ft).
The Viking trained their what Shaul calls their “tactical or combat chassis”—legs, hips, and core—daily. They did this by farming (lifting heavy stuff), shipbuilding (chopping trees), and rowing (strengthening legs, arms, and lungs).
Dr Tarrin Wills, from the Centre for Scandinavian Studies, has examined early Icelandic literature and discovered that its authors pinpointed physical characteristics of high testosterone levels – known to cause violent behaviour – creating some of the earliest 'criminal mugshots'.
As it turns out, their food was healthy, fresh, and even a poor Viking ate much better than an English peasant during the Middle Ages.
Thorkell the Tall, (born late 950s, southern Sweden—died after 1023), Viking warrior and chieftain who gained renown during his lifetime for his fighting prowess and who played a notable role in English history in the 11th century. Little is known of Thorkell's early life.
Given the average life expectancy of 40-45 in the Viking Age, it was important that early on children could help and carry out the work of an adult.
The average height for a man during this time was around five feet and nine inches. The average weight for a male Viking was around 170 pounds. The Vikings were a strong and healthy people. They didn't have many diseases that we know of.
Archaeological findings show that the Vikings had everything required of a terrible foe. Their axes, swords, spears, bows and arrows, shields, and armour were equal to the weapons and armours of continental Europe and Britain – and often of the highest quality available at the time.
The faces of men and women in the Viking Age were more alike than they are today. The women's faces were more masculine than women's today, with prominent brow ridges. On the other hand, the Viking man's appearance was more feminine than that of men today, with a less prominent jaw and brow ridges.
Diet is probably a big factor in why the Vikings were so tall. While most Europeans were living in agricultural societies, and therefore ate a lot of carbohydrates, the Vikings prioritized animal husbandry and fishing, which meant that they had more protein in their diet.
The Vikings needed all the energy that they could get in the form of fat – especially in winter. Meat, fish, vegetables, cereals and milk products were all an important part of their diet. Sweet food was consumed in the form of berries, fruit and honey. In England the Vikings were often described as gluttonous.
However, there have been a few exceptions. One of the tallest recorded Viking warriors is believed to have been Harald Fairfax, King of Norway, who was estimated to have been around 6'5” tall.
The Vikings have the benefit of nearly 1,000 years of weapons development from the Bronze age Spartans, with stronger weapons, armor and shields, and unlike the Spartans, the Vikings believed in the principle of combined arms.
In general, Viking marriages took place when men and women were still very young. Virtually every man and woman were expected to be married by the time they reached the age of 20. Girls were often entered into arranged marriages in their early teens.
Scientists have discovered extinct strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons – proving for the first time that the killer disease plagued humanity for at least 1400 years. Just as people travelling around the world today quickly spread COVID-19, it is likely Vikings spread smallpox.
The Vikings loved their children, and when they weren't exploring, travelling, farming, raiding or invading faraway shores, they dedicated much of their lives to raising strong children who would do them proud.
However, experts believe Vikings were quite large, muscular people, capable of striking fear into the hearts of their enemies as a result of their strength and size. The physical build of the Vikings was likely to be somewhat similar to our own, but with significantly more mass and muscle.
At the battle of Ashdown in 871, Alfred routed the Viking army in a fiercely fought uphill assault.
The events of 1066 in England effectively marked the end of the Viking Age. By that time, all of the Scandinavian kingdoms were Christian, and what remained of Viking “culture” was being absorbed into the culture of Christian Europe.
A Viking family would typically eat two meals per day. Dagmal was the morning meal in which the adults would eat leftover stew from the night before with bread and fruit. The children would usually have porridge and dried fruit or, on occasion, buttermilk and bread.
Unlike modern Norwegians, Vikings tended to only eat two meals per day. These were known as dagmal and nattmal, which meant a day meal and night meal.
They ate beef, goat, pork, mutton, lamb, chicken and duck and occasionally horsemeat. The chickens and ducks produced eggs, so the Vikings ate their eggs as well as eggs gathered from wild seabirds. . Because most Vikings lived on the coast, they ate all kinds of fish, both ocean-going and freshwater fish.