World's First Metrosexuals: Viking Men

Posted by Alex in Everything Else on October 27, 2008 at 1:35 pm


Turns out, Viking are getting a bum rap over that whole plundering and pillaging thing. Dr. Elizabeth Rowe, a Viking expert and lecturer at Cambridge University, wanted the world to know that Vikings are a peaceful race that prefer grooming to pillaging:

They say that the Norse explorers, far from being obsessed with fighting and drinking, were a largely-peaceful race who were even criticised for being too hygienic.

The university’s department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic has published a guide revealing how much of the Vikings’ history has been misrepresented. They did not, in fact, wear horned or winged helmets. And they appear to have been a vain race who were concerned about their appearance.

"It seems that the Vikings may not have been as hairy and dirty as is commonly imagined," the guide says. "A medieval chronicler, John of Wallingford, talking about the eleventh century, complained that the Danes were too clean – they combed their hair every day, washed every Saturday, and changed their clothes regularly."

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9 comments to "World's First Metrosexuals: Viking Men"

  1. Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
    October 27th, 2008 at 1:53 pm

    They must've smelled relatively nice! I mean, compared to the other folks who only bathed twice a year.

  2. Persephone
    October 27th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    During the Middle Ages, Pagans seem to have had much better bathing and cleaning habits than Christians.

  3. matt
    October 27th, 2008 at 3:25 pm

    ...reminds me of the Far Side comic with the caption that goes something like, "unbeknownst to most, the Vikings knew the importance of a good stretch before a raid on a village."

  4. Byrd Brain
    October 27th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    Oooh! I get the pink shield when he's dead!

  5. Goober
    October 27th, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    Virtually everyone in the medieval world was cleaner than most modern folks think. And vanity about one's looks is certainly nothing new.

    But anybody who thinks the vikings weren't violent raiders, who killed everything that moved and stole anything that didn't, is an idiot.

  6. ted
    October 28th, 2008 at 12:44 am

    I wouldn't say they had the world's first vain men - that goes way back before the Vikings.

  7. Robolasse
    October 28th, 2008 at 3:12 am

    As a dane i think the british deserve a good rampage, to reestablish our good reputation. They are bascially calling us faggots. ;-)

    Seriously: Actually the people of the middle ages generally had a better life, diet wise and hygienical, than people in the beginning of the industrial area.

  8. LordMarius
    October 29th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

    Actually, the Norwegian word for Saturday, "lørdag", comes from the ancient nordic word "laugardag", which translates to "washing day".

  9. Ali S.
    October 29th, 2008 at 5:39 pm

    So much for the image of a burly, stinky, manly man of a viking. :( *sigh*


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