Here’s an exciting Viking story for kids to read. Children love pirates, Vikings and other historical characters who sailed the world in search of treasure. If you prefer the audio story version, you can find it at the bottom of this page.
In addition to entertaining, Viking stories for kids teach children about the reality of a warrior people who were invincible for centuries thanks, in part, to their incredible knowledge of ship building and the invention of such important navigational tools as the compass.
Viking story for kids: audio story
If you prefer, this Viking story for kids is told by us. It is set to evocative music and effects that will turn listening into an immersive experience.
Music: CC 0 Fairy Dance by Rafael Krux; CC 4.0 Nordur by Alexander Nakarada
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We think you might like to set some atmosphere and read it to them over some music. Here it is:
This viking gets seasick!
The little viking was brave. He knew no other way to be: his father, his mother, his older brothers… they were all brave warriors who were not afraid of combat.
The little viking was not afraid of battle. He was not afraid of having to fight to defend himself against his enemies – he swung his sword and wielded his shield with agility!
The little viking was adventurous. Like all his people, he dreamed of discovering new worlds, of setting sail and sailing rough seas to reach remote places full of surprises and great treasures.
But the little viking had a “little” problem: he could not sail because he got seasick.Every time he got on a viking ship and felt the ground swaying under his feet, he got really sick.
At the very moment they started rowing, he became pale and felt as if his stomach had turned inside out. Once he dared to sail among the fjords, he threw out even the first mush!
But the worst thing was not the discomfort, but that all those brute vikings were always making fun of him, even Kÿorg, the fearsome warrior… who was afraid of spiders!
The little viking was afraid of not being a real viking. But he was much more worried about having to stay on land while the other warriors traveled in search of adventure and incredible far-off lands.
So he decided that, when he grew up, he would build an anti-seasickness viking ship, and so he began to work as a shipbuilder apprentice!
Years went by, but the young Viking could not get over his seasickness. He wasn’t even able to go fishing for bream. However, he felt that he was getting closer and closer to achieving his goal: to design a boat in which it would be impossible to get seasick.
By paying close attention to his teacher’s teachings he had learned very useful things about viking shipbuilding techniques and so, one day, he came up with an idea: he would design a type of deck that would not move with the rocking of the ship, but would always remain straight, aligned with the horizon.
It wasn’t easy to find a way. Getting something to attach to something while keeping it from being attached to something is much, much more complicated than its own tongue twister.
But finally, through a very complicated engineering system that I will not explain now because even I didn’t understand it myself, the young viking achieved his purpose: a viking anti-seasickness ship.
When the day came to set sail, he was very excited. He had recruited brave sailors to accompany him on his first foray across the seas. Among them was Kÿorg, the fearsome warrior, who was inspecting the ship for spiderwebs.
At last they set sail. The viking ship rocked to the sound of the waters while the deck remained
completely still. And then what happened was that none of the experienced sailors on it was able to remain standing!
The fierce vikings didn’t know how to keep their balance, accustomed as they were to the swaying of the other ships. And as they stood up, they fell to the ground. It was very comical to see all those strong and brave men sprawled on the deck not understanding that they just had to behave as if they were walking on the ground itself!
But the young viking was not laughing. He had no time for that. He was too abstracted enjoying the sea wind in his face, the music of the sailing of the waters, the taste of salt in his mouth, the feeling of freedom of sailing, at last, towards his Viking dream.
Curiosities about Vikings
Vikings were members of the Nordic populations originating from Scandinavia, the region comprising Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They were expert sailors because they were able to devise a system of shipbuilding that allowed them to navigate both rough seas and very shallow coastal or river waters. They were able to expand rapidly throughout the world because their ships were light as well as sturdy and durable.
As sailors, Vikings also had a great advantage over other communities of the time because they discovered useful systems for navigating at sea, such as the sunstone, a kind of magic crystal capable of revealing the position of the sun even on very cloudy or rainy days. They also invented the magnetic compass as we know it today, an invention that they kept absolutely secret in order to have an advantage over other sailors on the high seas.
Vikings existed for 300 years, a time in which they gained much fame throughout Europe. And no wonder! They were reckless warriors who spread terror wherever they appeared, since their main activity was focused on plundering the main European cities. They were similar to pirates, but they did not plunder on the high seas, but on land.
Vikings loved to comb their hair! For Viking men, having long hair and a nice hairstyle was more important than it was for women. They devised complex hair braiding systems and always carried a comb with them. It was not that they were conceited, but that hair was a symbol of power and social position.
In Viking society women played an important role, they were highly regarded, treated with respect and listened to, something that was far from being the case in other societies of the time.
Viking stories for kids… and of pirates, Egyptians, Romans…
We hope your child liked this Viking story for kids. You can enjoy many other stories about historical civilizations in our page of children’s stories to read. There you will find a very funny pirate story that uses absurd humor and, at the end, has a section dedicated to explaining who pirates were and how they differed from privateers. And they all have their own free audio story!
You will also find the tale of a whimsical little pharaoh who wants to build an impossible pyramid and which offers facts about the interesting Egyptian civilization and its incredible funeral rites. Our Cleopatra story also takes place in Egypt, where the kiddies will learn in a fun and entertaining way the story of one of the most important women in ancient history and her relationship with the Roman Empire. We hope you enjoy it!