Surname 10
Scandinavia and Northern Europe, the Iron Age and the Viking Age are considered to have
overlapped each other (Lafayllve 15). It appears that the people of Scandinavia were already a
Viking society long before the Viking Age. The petroglyphs depict images of warriors wielding
various forms of weaponry, including swords, axes, spearheads, as well as varied forms of
defensive armor. The sword was the warrior’s primary weapon and the weapon of choice in
combat. As most petroglyphs indicate, earlier weapons that included spears, axes, and arrows
were adapted from hunting gear (Price 202). While these were mainly slashing swords that were
intended for hand-to-hand combat, they were nonetheless very lethal weapons. Obviously, these
weapons also served other important functions, including acting as status symbols.
The connection between the Bronze Age rock art and Viking society is a plausible one.
Viking religious beliefs were intricately linked to Norse mythology. In fact, Vikings emphasized
strongly on battle and honor, in addition to focusing on the spiritual concept of Valhalla, which
described the mythical home that slain warriors shared with the gods. It is, therefore, natural to
assume that the actions that the figures in some of the images in the petroglyphs perform were
possibly associated with a myth. The notion that the scenes in the said rock arts are a reflection
of the existence of some kind of ‘sacred drama’ has been explored, albeit superficially, by
renowned Swedish archeologists Oscar Almgren (Gunnell 45). The ship ceremonies depicted in
the petroglyphs might be interpreted within the context of Indo-European cultures. These
cultures include Babylon, Rome, Egypt, and Greece, all of which had a fertility ritual associated
with the passing of the fertility god on a longship, as well as a seasonal drama that involved the
theme of the ‘sacred marriage’ (or hieros gamos) along with aspects of death and resurrection.
The human figures, which in some depictions comprise of horn players, costumed
figures, as well as dancers and adorants around the sun symbol and the longships, certainly