Domestic Animals

An Icelandic horse. Pagan Scandinavians ate horse meat as part of their religious observances. Horses were ridden and were used in horse-fights, a popular pastime.

Cattle were an important source of dairy products, meat and skins, as well as being used as draught animals. They were the most common farm animal in Viking Age Scandinavia and were a valuable economic resource.

Sheep provided wool for clothes and meat to eat. This image is of a sheep at Grábrók, Vesturland, Iceland.

The Gutefår (Gotlandic Sheep), a type of Swedish horned sheep, is probably identical to the type of sheep kept by Viking Age farmers.

Pigs provided meat, lard, skins and bristles, and could be bled without killing to make blood puddings for people to eat. Only a small number of pig bones have been found at each archaeological site, so it seems likely that Viking families only kept a small number of pigs, instead of whole herds.

Archaeological Remains

The Vikings kept a variety of animals around the farm. Archaeology shows which animals were most commonly consumed by examination of the bones recovered on archaeological sites, and the burial rituals associated with them show that some animals, like dogs and horses could have ritual or cultic significance too.

Livestock

Viking Age horses were small, being little more than pony-sized, and some Vikings were reportedly too large to ride them, such as Göngu-Hrólfr (Walker-Hrolf aka Rollo) who was the first ruler of Normandy. Hrafnkels saga describes how a horse dedicated to the god Frey was the source of conflict and feuds.

Sheep and cattle provided food, milk and materials for clothes. Pigs provided meat, lard, skins and bristles but may only have been kept as individual animals in a single household. They might also have been bled without slaughtering them to provide blood for blood pudding. Poultry (hens and geese) were kept for eggs and meat.

Pets

Dogs would have functioned as guards and as hunting animals, while cats would have kept the rodent population down. It is notable that only dogs and horses are found as whole animal burials. It is possible that both would have been considered pets, and that other animals might also have been accorded that status.

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