Going through the Discovery Tour on AC Valhalla. Everyone freaked out when I road a horse and said I caused them back luck. Was this an older superstition? I’m curious about these “animal taboos”
Going through the Discovery Tour on AC Valhalla. Everyone freaked out when I road a horse and said I caused them back luck. Was this an older superstition? I’m curious about these “animal taboos”
5 comments
I’ve never heard of this I suggest you take it to r/askhistorians.
Ferrying farm animals were a completely normal part of farm keeping in Norway as pastures were often separated by the sea, and I’d be surprised if it was different during the viking era. In the narrow fjords of Western Norway there are literally just patches of pasture along the coast, separated by fjords and sheer rock.
Hobby historian. Nope, never heard of this.
Related:
Vikings knew how to ride horses, but did not fight on horseback in battle. For viking raids (by boat) they could bring horses for scouting, but I have read that horses after travelling in boats would require at least a day on land before it was “usable”.
Remember that horses in boats would be tied up in a small space (middle of the boat) with hardly any room to move.
Vikings brought farm animals to all the islands they settled, Iceland, Faroe, Shetland etc.
Roving animals like sheep out to an island in summer for grazing is common in Norway even today. Its a naturally fenced pasture.
Same game that put stave churches in a pre-cheistian viking-era.
Uhm… Horses were not taboo animals in pre-Christian times. Eating horse livers and worhipping horse phalluces were part of the pre-Christian cultus. In connection with the god Freyr, horses were even in some cases concidered holy. However, *eating* horses became taboo after the coming of christianity.