Sagas of Icelanders

• Archeological evidence exists to suggest that the vikings held their own animals in high – even intimate – regard, taking them with them on voyages.
• But these findings suggest that the depth of the relationships viking-age people had with animals have been dramatically underrepresented.
• Why has it taken so long for researchers to realise that these humans and animals sustained deep, complex, emotional and mutually enriching relationships?

Horses in human graves

• Horses have special relationships with their riders, as both have to learn to work with each other.
• In Norse poetry (some of which links to the viking age) horses were a vital part of warrior identities.
• At Trekroner-Grydehøj in Sjælland, Denmark, a woman was buried with a horse next to her, one leg partially overlapping with the human body (above).
• Something about this human and this horse meant such an intimate arrangement was appropriate.
• We believe that, among other rituals, horses appear to have been vital participants in the processes and practices of funerals.

Good to die with, good to live with

• It’s interesting then, that there is a repeated insistence in Norse poetry and medieval sagas that young men should practise horse grooming and training.
• Horses are considered partners in farming and often even members of families in these texts.
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• Keith Ruiter receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (grant 756- 2021-0499) and Berit Wallenbergs Stiftelse (grant BWS 2022.0040).