Medieval Scandinavian architecture

The major aspects of Medieval Scandinavian architecture are boathouses, religious buildings (before and after Christians arrived in the area), and general buildings (both in cities and outside of them).

Boathouses are the buildings used to hold Viking Ships during the winter and any time they could not sail. They were usually built slightly back from the waterline. They were dug into the ground as well as built up. They had to be extremely long because the Viking Ships could be 25 meters long or longer. The walls were made of wood with stones piled up at the base. Each held one ship only, but many boathouses could be built next to each other if multiple ships had to be housed.

Trelleborg is a collective name for six Viking Age circular forts, located in Denmark and the southern part of modern Sweden. Five of them have been dated to the reign of the Harold Bluetooth of Denmark (died 986). All trelleborgs have a strictly circular shape. This structure may also be (partially) encircled by an advanced rampart but this part of the structure is not necessarily circular.

Ritual Houses were the religious buildings before Christians came to Scandinavia. Early ritual houses were simple wooden buildings not much different from other buildings. Ritual houses were a place to display the weapons of defeated enemies. But as time went on, they got more complex. They became imitations of churches. They often had multi - layer roofs with decorations on the peaks. The entrances were also ornamented with decorated columns. Most rituals (slaughtered and burnt animal sacrifices) took place outside, so the majority of the decorations were on the outside.

Stave churches used for Christian gatherings in the Norse region because many Norse had been forcibly converted. The roofs were often multi-layered, and they usually had a tower or spire in the middle of the highest layer of the roof. They were built of wood, and had stone walls around the base. From the outside, they look like more complex forms of the Ritual Houses. But the inside was highly decorated with intricate designs. Most of these designs depict Jesus, a cross, or the disciples.

These buildings were built of wood, usually logs similar to “Lincoln Logs" or log - cabin style. The roofs were covered in dirt to keep the heat inside the house, and grass was planted in the dirt on the roof to keep it from eroding away. These buildings were for farming the rough steep fjords. The buildings for farms were split into two parts, Innhus and Uthus. The Innhus was for food storage, sleeping and living. The Uthus were the buildings for animals, tools and animal fodder (animal food), in other words,the Uthus were the barns and silos.

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Wikipedia