Why Vikings in Norway were more violent than their Danish counterparts

Vikings are famous - or rather, infamous - the world over for their barbaric raiding.

However, new research has highlighted large differences between the seafaring pillagers of Denmark and Norway.

Vikings in Norway were a lot more violent than their counterparts in Denmark, joint research between the University of Oslo (UiO), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and the University of South Florida (USF) in the United States has found.

"Violence was much more widespread in Norwegian society in the Viking Age than in Denmark," Jan Bill, a UiO professor involved in the research, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

"It was very noticeable to the people who lived here. The risk of dying from violence was simply much greater in Norway than in Denmark," he added.

Researchers compared Viking age Skeletons of Norwegians and Danes and found that human remains from the period uncovered in Norway were far more likely to show evidence of cuts and blows than Danish ones.

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More than a third of the Norwegian skeletons examined indicated that the person was killed in an act of violence, compared to just six percent of the Danish remains studied.

Swords were also much more common in the graves of Norwegian Vikings than their Danish counterparts. Bill explained that this was probably because Norway had better access to iron.

While the remains from Norway indicate those living in the country at the time lived up to the violent reputation of the Vikings, Danish society at the time could be considered more advanced.

"There is a big difference in how thoroughly organised the two societies were. In Norway, the emphasis was primarily on the family and the clan. In Denmark, more emphasis was placed on society's interests," Bill said.

The professor said that Denmark placed more emphasis on municipal building initiatives, such as defensive ramparts, and Danish runestones containing information on the deceased societal role, as evidence of this.