Learnings: Animal Taboos

A bronze weather vane shaped like a horse / c. Viking Age

As a matter of fact, modern archaeology has proven that horses and other taboo animals were included in Scandinavian expeditions such as the Icelandic settlement. This scientific reality might seem to suggest that the taboo against mentioning or ferrying farm animals aboard a ship was not taken seriously.

However, when it comes to studying the beliefs of ancient cultures, it helps to be cautious. Many practices which were logical at the time may seem to be contradictory when seen through a modern lens.

So, if one accepts that maritime taboos were at the time "logical" and "real" for Scandinavian people, one needs to consider the other archaeological discoveries in that context. One possible theory that could account for both the existence of animal taboos and the archaeological evidence of horses aboard ships is that these taboo could be "ritually" challenged. Scandinavians might have been able to conteract the bad luck by breaking the taboos on purpose.

Weather vanes were used to know the direction of the wind. This knowledge was funadmental, even vital, to seafarers. It is therefore astounding that this weather vane was made in the shape of a horse, a land animal that should have been taboo to speak of on board a ship!