Culture of the Barbarians

Literature

The first works of literature the barbarians produced were probably sections from the Bible since they had adapted to the culture of the Romans and had converted into Christianity. Later on, after the rule of Charlemagne, people became more literate. What became very popular was the writing of epic poems, and the most famous one was Beowulf, which for historians showed how people thought of heroism. Oral legends and folktales were written down last unlike most civilizations, in which the situation is reverse.

Religion

The North men in the early Bronze Age and even until the time of the Vikings, were polytheists, which meant that they worshipped more than one god. A famous group of gods called the Norse gods were from a group of Scandinavian nomads' old religion.

The North Men practiced sacrifice to ensure that they had good luck with them. They sacrificed what they believed was valuable in places where these artifacts would later be preserved. In the beginning, hunters would sacrifice their finest dove on the first day of the summer hunt. They did this to "invite continual success through the season". Later on, in the 400s warriors sacrificed their booty as they thought that gods were responsible for the victory.

The north men even had their religion until the 800s when the Frankish king Charlemagne promoted Christianity to the Germanic barbarians. The Vikings fled Europe to Iceland to keep their own religion and there they passed sacred rituals down. However, Iceland too was converted into Christianity by 1000 C.E.

Art

During the Stone Age, the North Men made cave paintings and statues from amber, which seemed to glow in the sun, a large factor in the religion of the barbarians. Since it was so bright, the barbarians worshipped with the help of what will soon become idols. In fact, the barbarians valued amber so much, they would trade several slaves for a small amber statue. Once the barbarians got a surplus of metals, the real art began.