The Viking at home:
It was only a small part of the Vikings who took part in the adventures abroad, the majority worked at home mostly as peasants. The Vikings lived in a class-divided society with an upper class consisting of magnates and other important people and then the lowest class being the slaves.

The Vikings are on alert!

The Vikings lived in villages, being several farm houses and a main house located in the middle, protected by a fence. The main house could be up to 30 metres long and was divided into living quarters and a stable which could room up to 20 animals. Inside the fence you could also find some smaller houses which served as workshops and living quarters for the servants.
At the end of the Viking period several magnates had houses which were up to 50 metres long. The stable would now be a separate building which could room up to 100 animals.

The magnates probably produced more agricultural products than they could consume themselves. These agricultural products were then being traded on the local markets and eventually some markets were transformed into towns.
Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark. Ribe started as a market place and became an important commercial center for western Europe and Scandinavia. The largest commercial center was however Hedeby in Slesvig. It became an international meeting place for trades from western Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic region. The town was abolished by the end of the Viking period.