Picture a Viking. What comes to mind? A fearsome warrior, perhaps, with a wild, matted beard, clad in dirt-stained leather and smelling faintly of sweat, stale ale, and the sea. This image of the “dirty Viking” is a staple of pop culture, a convenient shorthand for a brutish and uncivilized past. But like the myth of the horned helmet, it’s a fiction that crumbles under the weight of historical and archaeological evidence. The truth is, the Norse people of the Viking Age (roughly 793-1066 CE) were far more concerned with personal hygiene and grooming than we’ve been led to believe.

A Grooming Kit for the Grave

One of the most compelling arguments against the “dirty Viking” myth comes directly from the ground. Archaeologists excavating Viking graves and settlement sites have unearthed a surprising abundance of personal grooming tools. These were not rare luxury items for the elite; they were common, everyday objects found with men and women from all walks of life.

The most ubiquitous of these items is the comb. Made from bone, antler, or wood, combs are found in nearly every Viking gravesite. They were often intricate, stored in their own cases, and worn on a cord around the neck, ready for use at a moment’s notice. This wasn’t just for detangling; it was for keeping one’s hair and beard neat, clean, and free of lice. The sheer number of combs found tells us that a tidy appearance was a daily priority.

But the Viking grooming kit, or hreinlætis-tól, didn’t stop there. Other common finds include:

• Tweezers: Small bronze or iron tweezers were used for plucking stray hairs.
• Razors: While magnificent beards were certainly a point of pride, they were styled and shaped. Razors were used to keep cheeks and necks clean-shaven or to trim beards to a fashionable length.
• Ear Spoons: Perhaps the most surprising find for a modern audience, these small, spoon-shaped tools were used for cleaning wax out of one’s ears.

These objects were so personal and valued that they were often buried with their owners, intended for use in the afterlife. Their presence in graves across the entire Viking world, from Scandinavia to England and Russia, paints a clear picture: grooming was an essential part of Viking identity.

Saturday is Bathing Day

Beyond the physical evidence, the Vikings’ own language and literature reveal a culture that valued cleanliness. In fact, if you speak a Scandinavian language today, you carry a piece of this history with you. The Old Norse word for Saturday is Laugardagr, which literally translates to “washing day” or “bathing day.” This tradition persists in modern Scandinavian languages: it’s Lørdag in Danish and Norwegian, and Lördag in Swedish.

This wasn’t just an abstract concept. The sagas, the epic stories of Norse heroes and families, are filled with references to bathing, washing, and personal appearance. Characters are frequently described as washing their hands and faces before meals. Heroes often take a bath and change into fresh clothes before heading to a feast, a legal proceeding at the Thing (a governing assembly), or even a battle. A well-groomed appearance was seen as a sign of self-respect and social standing. In a society that placed immense value on honor, looking your best was part of presenting yourself as an orderly and respectable individual.

Too Clean for Comfort: An Outsider’s Perspective

Perhaps the most fascinating evidence for Viking hygiene comes not from the Norse themselves, but from the people they encountered. While some accounts paint them in a poor light, others complain about the exact opposite of the “dirty Viking” stereotype.

The 13th-century English chronicler John of Wallingford, Abbot of St. Albans, grumbled that the Danish Vikings who had settled in England were far too popular with local Anglo-Saxon women. And why? Because of their excellent hygiene habits. He wrote that they were “wont, after the fashion of their country, to comb their hair every day, to bathe every Saturday, to change their garments often, and set off their persons by many such frivolous devices.” In his view, this fastidious grooming made them dangerously seductive, leading noblewomen astray.

A more nuanced, and famously cited, account comes from Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an Arab diplomat who met a group of Rus Vikings on the Volga River in the 10th century. Ibn Fadlan was disgusted by their custom of sharing a single bowl of water in the morning, which they all used to wash their faces and blow their noses. By his refined Islamic standards, this was abhorrent. However, in the very same passage, he notes that “they are the most perfect of God’s creation in body” and that every man carried an axe, a sword, and a knife at all times. Crucially, he also observed that “every day they must comb their hair.”

What Ibn Fadlan’s account reveals is not that Vikings were dirty, but that standards of cleanliness are culturally relative. While their communal washing habits horrified him, he still couldn’t help but notice their impressive physiques and daily commitment to hair care.

Soaps, Saunas, and Viking Style

So how did they keep so clean? The Vikings made excellent use of the natural resources around them, bathing in cold rivers and lakes, as well as the numerous hot springs, especially in Iceland. Evidence also suggests the use of bathhouses or saunas, where steam could be used to sweat out impurities.

They also had soap. Viking soap was a harsh, potent substance made from animal fat and ash, which produced lye. This was effective for getting grime out of clothes and bodies. But it had another, more cosmetic use: it was also a powerful bleaching agent. Some Vikings, particularly men, would apply the lye soap to their hair and beards. The sun would then bleach their hair blonde or reddish-blonde, a fashionable look at the time. This practice shows a concern not just with being clean, but with actively styling one’s appearance according to cultural trends.

So, the next time you see a depiction of a grimy, dishevelled Viking, remember the archaeological, linguistic, and historical truth. The real Viking likely carried a comb, looked forward to their Saturday bath, and took great pride in a neatly trimmed beard and clean clothes. They were not the unwashed barbarians of legend; they were a people who understood that a clean body and a neat appearance were marks of a civilized and honorable person.