Strange love phrases from the Vikings

Strange love phrases from the Vikings.

The image we usually have of the Vikings is that of a warrior people, harsh, belligerent, and capable of undertaking incredible maritime feats. All of this is true, however, love was also one of the great hobbies of the Vikings, as evidenced by the ancient inscriptions found in the region of Bryggen, Norway.

The Norse myths, recorded mainly in the Eddas and the Sagas, do not abound in references to love, probably because it was a less important topic than war. However, the Viking peoples have left us one of the strangest and most enduring love letters in history.

In short, a love letter written on parchment is much less durable than one carved with Runes on wood, rock or ivory. And that is precisely what was found in Bryggen: more than 500 runic inscriptions regarding everyday issues, commercial exchanges, and, of course, messages of love.

Most of these love phrases are characterized by being simple and direct:

Óst min, kyss mik.
(My love, kiss me)

Others, however, resort to a certain pathos, a certain anguish at the loss of the other, probably as a consequence of the long nautical expeditions that separated the lovers for years:

Mun þú mik, man ek þik.
Unn þú mér, ann ek þér.
(Remember me, I will remember you.
Love me, I will love you)

And just as the Vikings boasted about their triumphs in war, they also gossiped about their love conquests.

Although the following is not exactly a love phrase, we can well think that it records the conquest of a particularly beautiful woman, at least enough to carve that event with Runes:

Smiður sarð Vigdisi af Snældubeinum.
(Smidur slept with Vigdis of the Snældubeinar)

Less indiscreet is the following Viking love phrase, which does not make direct reference to a romp—undoubtedly memorable—but rather to a fleeting relationship during the carver’s passage through a neighboring village:

Ingibjörg unni mér þá er ek var í Stafangri.
(Ingibjörg loved me when I was in Stavanger)

Of course, not all Vikings knew how to write, so those who did know the craft were highly required to carve messages. The following is one of the most extraordinary. Possibly it was sent to be carved by a worried wife and sent to a husband who delayed her return excessively:

Gyða segir at þú gakk heim.
(Gyda says you should return home)

The following Viking love message, by far the most compromising of all, is actually a rather dangerous confession; taking into account the unpleasant fate that awaited the infidels.

Ann ek svá konu mans at mér þykkir kaldr eldr. In ek emi vinr vifs þessa.
(I love that man’s wife so much that the fire seems cold to me. And I am that woman’s lover)

But the most interesting Viking love message of all has nothing to do with declarations, reminders, promises, or urgencies carved in runes; but rather a proof that this town had extremely cultured individuals.

It is the Latin inscription of a famous phrase by Virgil, which combines three elements that obsessed the Vikings: love, conquest, and a third, which was only admissible in the field of love: defeat:

Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori.
(Love conquers everything, let’s let ourselves be conquered by it)

The dark side of love. I Norse myths.

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