If you're looking into things you want to know or didn't know about Vikings, the Viking Lair can provide you with facts you should know but didn't know about them.

Vikings, googling that's going to get some exciting results. One of the first things to come up is the Minnesota Vikings soccer program. And then there are the highlights of the History Channel drama series Vikings, some Viking merch, and then finally, there are details about the real Vikings from history. We all know it's not called a Viking Lair but a village.

Vikings lived in villages between 800 and 1050 AD in the prehistory of Denmark. It is called the "Viking Age" and defined as the "turbulent expansion of the people from Scandinavia" from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark to Europe and Russia. The first assault on the Lindisfarne monastery, an island in England, ended at the Stamford Bridge War.

When most people think about Vikings, a few thoughts are sure to appear in their brains. A party of tall and mighty warriors plundered and plundered everywhere they went, as seen in various authentic Viking apparel. We're dreaming about horned hats and furs caked with dirt and dust. You even know of Viking merch items like axes and spears, of sails, of the Norse Gods. With the help of Vikings, we even name sports teams after them because of their power and tenacity in combat. We also have top-rated TV shows about them, but is the stuff we've come to believe about Vikings true?

It could come as a surprise to anyone who reads this article just how much they don't know or how much people get wrong about the Scandinavian warriors.

Vikings burning funeral boats is not a trend.

The picture of a burning funeral ship drifting into the sea might be strong, but it's not exactly true. Certain Vikings-particularly significant ones-were indeed cremated in vessels. But these ships were generally buried on land as part of a burial ceremony. They probably haven't been sent to the open sea.

While funeral rituals vary in the Viking world, burials often contained grave goods or things that the deceased would require in the afterlife. These burials have also become part of traditional Viking art.

Viking women have had certain equal rights.

Viking girls were as young as 12 years old and had to think about the family as their husbands sailed on adventures. They always had more independence than the other women of their age. As long as they weren't slaves or serfs, Viking women would be able to inherit lands, seek a divorce, and regain their dowries if their marriages ended.

Vikings settled on the beaches of North America before Columbus.

Most of us recognize that separate Native American tribes long inhabited the lands that made up North America before Columbus arrived and "discovered" the land. Before Columbus was born, "European sailors" fled their lands to look for new ones. These sailors were Vikings and believed that they were the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil. Viking Leif Eriksson leads an expedition through the Atlantic to Canada today. Many assume that the Vikings spent the whole winter in Newfoundland, taking wood and grapes back to Greenland.

Vikings skied for some adventure.

The Scandinavians built rudimentary skis at least 6,000 years ago, while ancient Russians may have invented them earlier. By the Viking Age, Norsemen saw skiing as an easy way to get around, and a common recreation means. They also worshiped the god of skiing, Ullr.

Viking gentlemen tended to be white.

To adhere to their Viking society's beauty standards, brunette Vikings—usually men—would bleach their hair with a heavy soap material with a high lye content. Bleaching beards occur in some countries. Some consider their bleached hair and beard as part of traditional Viking art. It is possible that these remedies also benefited Vikings with an epidemic that was much more prickly and rampant than the mousy manes: the head lice.

Viking warriors don't wear horned helmets.

The Vikings are associated with horned helmets. But the ubiquitous headgear used in operas, books, and TV shows was undoubtedly not worn by Viking warriors. They must have been unwieldy for a close-quarter fight and a meaningless assignment.

These helmets were first related to the Vikings in the 19th century, thanks to a costume designer. Carl Emil Doepler designed the costumes of Richard Wagner's Norse-themed operas. The designer based hat patterns on Greco-Roman artwork and hats worn by old Germanic priests during ceremonies.

Vikings participated in rap fights.

Vikings also sought innovative ways to rivalries. If two people were in disagreement, they could need each other in public. From the Old Norse term for "provocation," Flyting was an excuse for the Viking to show off his linguistic prowess by poetically mocking someone else.

Flyting has been a feature of courts in the Viking world, including England and Scotland. These ideas have been present in Viking merch, as well.

Viking brides receive kittens as wedding gifts.

When a couple gets married, family members and guests usually send a couple of presents to help them launch their new life together. Gifts like money or gadgets are popular, and giving someone a pet as a wedding present is something no one will do nowadays, but according to Norhalla.com, that was a common practice among the Vikings.

Fresh Viking brides had kittens as one of their wedding presents, aside from authentic Viking apparel. Vikings believe cats to be an essential part of creating a new home, and Freyja, the goddess of love and marriage, closely connected the sweet and furry animals.

Vikings have never been members of a single party.

Vikings did not know the fellow Vikings. They didn't even call themselves Vikings: the term applies to all the Scandinavians who took part in overseas expeditions. During the Viking Age, the lands that now makeup Denmark, Norway, and Sweden used to be a patchwork of chieftain-led tribes that mostly battled each other—when they weren't busy wreaking havoc on foreign shores, that is.

Vikings spent most of their time farming.

If most people think of the Vikings, they think of the Nordic warriors who crossed the seas and conquered other lands, battling and plundering. And though that's valid to a certain degree, Vikings' life was more than just battle and conquest. According to History101.com, much of the population of the North has led a simple farm life. They have grown crops such as maize, oats, barley, and grain for flour. They were increasing onions, beans, cabbage, and even raising livestock, including ducks, goats, geese, sheep, and cattle. Even one of the most famous Norse Viking heroes of the period, Ragnar Lothbrok, started as a fisherman.

The Vikings' history contains misconceptions, misinformation, sentimental ideas, and pop-culture laziness. The Vikings' truth is as fascinating as their stories, and they have the added benefit of being honest. Far from the brutal, unwashed, horned brutes of cultural representations, the Vikings were hunters, settlers, merchants, and colonizers. They had a complex religion, a stratified society, a rich history. That should have been clear in several authentic Viking apparel.

Of note, the past of Vikings is also full of violence. From their violent attacks on England to their slave trade and drug-fueled combat, the Norse people of the Viking Age (between the 790s and 1066 AD) have swathed through history. They have left a mark in the form of thriving settlements, archeological sites, and beautiful sagas.