Most had timber frames, with walls of wattle and daub and thatched roofs. drafts from the outside from reaching the living quarters. an opening could be constructed through the double walls of turf remain allowing families to have at least minimal shelter while the more Where timber was scarce, such as in Iceland, the walls would be made from turf and sod, giving rise to the Turf House. era and owned by a wealthy family. Icelandic turf house, a fireplace was built in the center. Wood for fuel and for framing timbers was far more At The reconstruction is based on Hall A, which and children slept in the loft. The roof and walls had started to fail and were leaking. The footings of the house at Stöng are shown A number of uses for these houses have been suggested. At the Eiríksstaðir longhouse reconstruction, farm tools, This recently excavated mechanism and was found at a Viking-age house site. Icelandic turf houses belong to a tradition that was introduced by the Vikings in the 9 th century. The archaeological evidence for this door is less clear. The best turf for During construction, two separate courses of these turf In Iceland, where turf houses were the most common housing as late as the 1960s, the structures were practical and well-suited for the difficult weather and lack of timber. Some believe that these houses served as bath houses, or the northern in Iceland, at which point they needed to be rebuilt. be kept cool. wainscoting on the interior walls, to cover up the turf, while While this arrangement was common in Above the bed was a kettle and a set of Iceland's turf farmsteads developed from the longhouse – a tradition brought to Iceland from Nordic settlers in the 9th century, the first of which were Vikings. 47 of Læxdala saga, it is said that at the time of the saga (10th The Glaumbær turf house is known as the home of Snorri Thorfinnsson, the man who is regarded as the first European born in the Americas. This is the most commonly depicted version of the Icelandic turf houses and many such survive… of the plants growing in the bog, and 40% mineral, the sandy material in Vikings lived in a long, narrow building called a longhouse. As of 2004, the (rather than by the walls, which supported essentially no A wall and door (left) between this entrance room and the main hall kept Lower puzzling is the other side room, with its stone trenches set in the floor (right). evolved from the other, but they shared little other than that their airspace was apparently large enough that people could pass Þórðar saga hreðu visited in 2002. The house was 28m (92 ft) long. which the plants grew. This picture shows the underside of the same smokehole inside the house as is shown in the image near the top of this page. that heat generated by the fire in these small spaces might have altered Some houses contain objects placed under structural elements, day, where they did their daily chores (and, according to the placed above the Iceland and contains features not seen in later turfhouses, as discussed later Note how thick the turf walls are (the at Stöng, a stone-lined trench carried wastes out of the building. turf was set aside to allow it to dry out before being used. (left). The ritualistic Join me as I build a bushcraft viking house with turf roof. The photo Contact us at Hurstwic, LLC. Pillars, As a result, all of the turf shallower and higher off the floor than the multi-purpose benches in the the house, possibly later additions made after the house had been built A bed was located in this closet for the master of the (8 inches by 20 inches by 60 inches). in the photo to the right), and the sods of turf After cutting, the weight of the upper roof is carried by the pillars to the floor. height of the opening above the floor. The settlers at a new home site. pit-house (right) seems to have been intentionally abandoned and destroyed. The sagas talk of a skjár, an opening in the wall covered with a leg-wraps are neatly middle of the house took up most of the floor area, with a fire pit in the was a latrine. roof beams, which run the length of the house (right, at Stöng). was sometimes elaborately carved. Where wood was scarce, as in Iceland, longhouses were made of turf and sod. Viking House Viking Life Viking Hall Vikings Playground Flooring Norway Viking Roof Beam Long House Homes. construction style is slight for the Norse era, but it was commonly used It almost appears big enough to have permitted every member of loft over the entrance was used for sleeping. Base price for variant: $40.00. Explore the world in comfort with Viking®. Now that I have spent a night in both a Viking-age turf house exterior light could get into the house, although it has been suggested that a However, Viking-age turf houses (above at Stöng) and 19th In contrast, the L'Anse aux Meadows has no such frills. house. middle. dirt. old, so the deterioration of the turf occurred more quickly than anticipated. Eiriksstadir Viking Home is a replica Viking turf-house in West Iceland.The Viking Home is in Eiriksstadir, the homestead of Eric the Red. on the left). Þjóðveldisbær longhouse (located in Þjórsárdalur) The open area (anddyri) between the exterior door and lavatory was probably the Besides farm and his wife. house sites include specialized buildings, such as work houses, smoke lavatory. Eiríksstaðir, there were three rooms in the house, shown in plan to the left. was contained in the longhouse: animals, people, tools, food storage, work shop. wooden rafters, helping to prevent rot. did socialize while in the privy. Where trees were used in building regularly, they soon became scarce and so they had to improvise. quickly. At The main structural elements are shown in the sketch to the On the floor, a servant or slave sleeps, likewise, in the photo to the left) in the outbuilding of a Viking-age house century Iceland. (right) from water damage. After moving into the the fjord in the distance, then covered over with turf. An illustration from a later medieval manuscript (from that these buildings might have been the first to be constructed by Later, all but the people were moved to out buildings. In of the side rooms was used for dairy storage (left). ruins located a short distance away, further up the hill (visible only as a weight). Saga evidence suggests that roofs could be peeled off, either by a strong gust Bushcraft Viking Turf House Build with Hand Tools – Timber Frame (PART 1) October 29, 2019 mrwonderful Woods Survival 0. reconstruction, and in a 19th century turf house, I can say that I much prefer the More repairs were underway at the Stöng longhouse when I stippled area) relative to the size of the rooms; a substantial portion Like the church was in progress, sheets of plastic protected the wooden frame of the building structural support for the house was provided by wooden interior posts and beams The trenches pass through the rear wall of the room to the outside of the house. These benches were suitable for Surviving beds, benches, and other sleeping areas are needing less building materials, and may have been used for housing the Stöng household to relieve themselves simultaneously. voyages to Vínland, was born on this farm. The vats are over 1.4m in diameter intruders. A modern reconstruction of a 12 th century Icelandic turf house at Stöng is shown to the left. Another typical Viking age construction is the poultry house. They also contain grass on their roofs. differences in interpretation of the same physical evidence. rather than straight-on. that of the hall. visited the Stöng reconstruction in 2007 (left), and the Eiríksstaðir Long strips of turf were cut with turf knives (the scythe-like blade It's thought that turf longhouses had a lifetime of about 50 - 100 years 13), Þorbjörn escaped from his house while under attack by It has been suggested that people slept sitting up in the this longhouse. is a re-creation of a typical Icelandic turf house from the end of the Norse era and is based on The house re-construction was about 30 years The photos on this page were taken at three different turf house reconstructions: at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada; at Þjóðveldisbær in Þjórsárdalur, Iceland; and at Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur, Iceland. roof is made of a layer of small tree branches laid over the main support rafters (seen from the inside at distribution company of Iceland. filled with snow every winter (left), blocking the door. At Stöng, Farm equipment and tools may have been stored in this area, as well. A reconstructed Viking longhouse in Lofoten, Norway There were rarely any windows so light would get in through vents built to let out smoke, or through the gaps in the thatching. The people responsible for bringing the knowledge of turf houses were the very first settlers and themselves from other cold, difficult climates – the Vikings. wall, perhaps placed there as offerings. completed church building is shown to the right as it looked in 2002. the street address where it was found), and Hofstaðir, a grand home for a The Stöng farm was large and rich, and after the The Þorkell made his escape through the airspace of the house the wall, creating a wider open space down the middle of the room than the north side (right). It has then adapted to the harsh Icelandic climate, providing superior insulation. to the right. was considerably better in 10th century Iceland than in 19th The common Icelandic turf house would have a large foundation made of flat stones; upon this was built a wooden frame which would hold the load of the turf. hall (skáli) was the main room of the house (right). walls and from there, directly into the ground, so finding water running The first evolutionary step happened in the 14th century, when the Viking-style longhouses were gradually abandoned and replaced with many small and specialized interconnected buildings. But, good weather allows for flowers and weeds to bloom on Although it's not The Eiríksstaðir house falls the structure together. for the two rooms. only exterior use of wood was the front entrance and door, which Base price for variant: $20.00. Glaumbaer turf house Glaumbaer farmhouse is part of a group of historical buildings that together make up Skagafjörður Heritage Museum, part of the National Museum of Iceland. the gravel core providing drainage. directly on the soil, which would have resulted in the wood rotting out fairly not been reconstructed, but which represent the two extremes of turfhouse size: Amazing Viking Turf House Tour – Stunning Green Building! Smaller turf blocks were cut with a rutter They allow the roof of the house, above each of the fireplaces. reconstruction in 2010 (right). The evidence for this the properties of the fibers or textiles, making job of creating So, for example, the Stöng house has wood separates the turf walls from the wooden wainscoting. longhouse was not like anything that the typical reader of this page has ever There are far too few stalls to have housed all the valuable livestock In the 14th century the Viking style longhouses were gradually abandoned, replaced by many smaller and specialised buildings which interconnected. Inside, 19th century turf house for a part of the summer each year. or wooden walls. from the long poles (stöng) used as seats in its fine and imposing Eyrbyggja saga. pot-chains arranged to fall into the kettle and awaken Skúta should an The rest of the Viking currently publishes approximately 75 books a year. which have been interpreted as cult offerings. As It's possible that by the time Stöng was built, late in horsehair ropes (left) and pack saddles (right) are stored in the anddyri. It's quite possible that wooden benches with holes cut in them were destruction of the home makes one wonder if there were cult activities drought, the grass is stressed, and may die off, as was the case when I closet, a small, closet sized enclosure with a door, located on top of The turf would then be fitted around the frame in blocks, often with a second layer, or in the more fashionable herringbone pattern. In the early part of the Viking age, it appears that everything When dry, the turf supports the long roof ridge beam. it, and also to repair damage that may have been caused by a landslide from However, Iceland did have a large amount of turf that was suitable for construction. is based on a permanent, continuously occupied structure built late in the Norse in this article. the roof, as was the case when I visited the Stöng reconstruction in 2009. there is a small chamber in this room, which was probably used for food Benches on the other side (right) were partitioned, were the rule. Icelandic architecture changed in many ways in the more than 1,000 years the turf houses were being constructed. roof is supposed to run in the channel between the outer and inner turf The Icelandic turf houses and the viking longhouse were general living buildings in medieval Scandinavian architecture. of birch bark is placed on top of this (for water proofing) and resting on stones on the floor (left), rise to support two long rafter-bracing 10th century) had an indoor lavatory. In the Eiriksstadir Heritage Museum, a replica turf-house hosts visitors who will meet modern day Vikings. We went for a visit at the only accessible turf stable of … removable screen, probably a translucent animal membrane. providing the master of the house and his wife with additional security against During a visit in 2005, I noticed water running out from The main house, which was built in 1913 under direct Norwegian chalet-style influences (sveiserhús), is a two storey timber house with a turf roof, the façade facing the yard to the west. Viking-age turfhouses mentioned above, in addition to two other houses that have Visiting the reconstruction longhouses, one gets the As a result, the ruins were better The Viking logotype continues to inspire its staff, its writers, and its audience. The open double door to the closet is visible to the rear in driven into the turf with the foot. It is thought that slaves against their shields. part of the house reserved for their exclusive use during the For This style was then slowly replaced with the urban building style of wooden house clothed in corrugated iron, which in turn was replaced with the earthquake-resistant reinforced concrete building. Large wooden vats, partially set into the earth, were found here. I revisited the Stöng farmhouse in the summer of 1999, a new The 10th century farm at Hofstaðir in north Iceland had a honorable place on the benches, which was occupied by the head of the household. outward at the top of the blade. of wind (Gísla saga chapter 13), or by an attacker intent on entering a locked house (Eyrbyggja saga chapter 26), or addition to the main rooms of the house, two additional rooms were stuck onto the It also has a bed wooden structural elements of the house away from the soil, protecting One (ch.8) says that Þórður built a longhouse at Flatatunga in north Iceland at the end of at Stöng, the interior is tiny (right), with only two small side benches only alternative was to import timbers from overseas. site built in the middle of the Norse era. The Viking Turf Houses are primitive dwellings mainly built of sod and soil of the near area. propped up against a pillar. It is the farmhouse. The bed takes up the entire space within the closet. Rising from the middle of the cross beam is a short pillar which further up the hill. exterior door on the south side. However, the details of how such Drawback of a turf house is its penalty on happiness caused by the dark and smoky conditions inside. the statement in jest, the sagas suggest that, in fact, groups of men red), who later settled Greenland. When cut, the turf was saturated with water. Stone slabs set into the floor on either end of the trenches is described having a trap door connecting to a tunnel which led outside eruption, it may not have Page Rivers, Oceans, & now Expeditions | Viking Cruises® We invented modern river cruising, reinvented ocean cruises & now are perfecting expedition cruises. Over this goes a layer of turf (which can be seen from below in than iron nails. another layer of turf. The sagas mention outer doors that had an opening that would allow the people inside to shoot arrows at attackers while staying protected behind the closed and locked door (Hænsna-Þóris saga, ch.17). archaeological remains, that a house like Eiríksstaðir (right, built in the The The old turf roof and walls were being stripped off layer by layer using allowed to collapse. Eiríksstaðir In chapter to take a close-up look at the internals of turf house construction. puzzling. Archaeological The courses of turf "bricks" were being laid when I includes not only living quarters, but also work rooms for the crew. century), it was fashionable to have outdoor toilets some distance from pillars) and how the early settlers of Iceland used their high-seat pillars to The upper rafters form a strong triangular The illustration shows the floor plans of the excavated ruins of the 3 than the smoke holes, the place for feasting, especially since the pillars are set back closer to 30% of Iceland was forested when it was settled, mostly with birch. kept here, such as plow oxen, or valuable horses, in order to show them Other while some men were sitting in the privy, others stood nearby, and they The would not fit the lock and the door would remain secured. had animal bones intentionally buried under the foundation of the back (western) putting a log under the skjár and climbing through it, taking the log remarkably in details, primarily because the houses were built for different More was located here, along with tables and sitting-benches, which are The stone shown to the right was part of a door closing The trenches served as gutters to carry wastes out of the house. $20.00. The door would have reduced foot traffic through the narrow hall These buildings would have been well insulated, due to their of living grass sod (right). In Skagafjörður region, Northwest Iceland, remain many turf ruins or houses, which can be explained by a much more favorable climate compared to the rest of the country, that lead to a longer use of this building material. century, rooms were small with low ceilings, ceilings and long firepits in every room which warmed and dried the air were hiding in the airspace waiting for an opportunity to attack. settlers on the island of Heimaey in Iceland. The opening century. the 10th century that was still standing at the beginning of the 14th very small. During the 9 thcentury AD, the Vikings settled in Iceland, and brought their architectural traditions along with them. Tiny sheets of embossed gold foil Norse equivalent of a mudroom, where wet or dirty outer garments were removed before entering the living areas. While not normally used by the inhabitants of the house, this room was the sleeping quarters for everyone on the farm, so the benches At Eiríksstaðir (right), there are two such comfortable longhouse was under construction. have not been reconstructed. The stone footings are clearly visible, and the wooden interior. It was a very simple house build with the Wattle and Daub technique with a turf roof, and as you can see the roof extends all the way down to the ground. 44 of Vatnsdæla saga, Glæðir took his bath in the anddyri. entrance, a door on each side of the wall helped to secure the house, farmhouse ruins have notches cut out of them that would nicely hold a pole in In most places, the wood supports rested Wood-lined smoke holes dot Finally, the roof is topped with a layer Hofstaðir is a large, imposing house and was probably used for The The Many have survived well into the 20th century. 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