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Is your pet part of the family? That鈥檚 nothing new. Archeological evidence exists to suggest that the vikings held their own animals in high 鈥� even intimate 鈥� regard, taking them with them on voyages.

Earlier this year,  for the first time that 鈥� as early as the ninth century 鈥� vikings brought horses, dogs and other animals  across the North Sea.

This article was written by Keith Ruiter, Senior Lecturer in History at University of Suffolk, and Harriet Evans Tang, Post Doctoral Research Associate at Durham University. It was first published by our friends at .

The prevailing assumption had been that enterprising viking armies had simply acquired horses (along with other items of plunder) in their . But these findings suggest that the depth of the relationships viking-age people had with animals have been dramatically underrepresented.

But why? After all, the vast majority of people 鈥� Scandinavian or otherwise 鈥� living through the viking age relied on farming to survive. Why has it taken so long for researchers to realise that these humans and animals sustained deep, complex, emotional and mutually enriching relationships? 

Past societies cared about humans, animals and things . Some humans could be owned, even viewed as objects and valued far less than some animals.

滨苍听, we use both archaeology and texts聽to show that聽some horses in communities such as those of viking-age Scandinavia and Iceland could be seen as 鈥減eople鈥� themselves, capable of agency and worthy of careful and deliberate treatment.

Horses in human graves

Horses in the viking age were seen as , meaning they were capable of crossing physical and conceptual boundaries, travelling over different terrains, and even between worlds. They also held cosmological significance.

Read more: Viking Funerals: Burial Rituals from the Norse Age

Norse poetry depicts the god Odin riding to the land of the dead on his eight-legged horse . A newly-discovered bracteate 鈥� or pendant 鈥� bearing a runic inscription from Denmark might also suggest an association between Odin (or at least someone who identifies himself as 鈥淥din鈥檚 man鈥�) and a horse companion as far back as the early fifth century AD.

Historically, horse bodies in viking-age burials have been interpreted as , part of the possessions of the deceased in the afterlife, or as status symbols. But these interpretations miss something vital 鈥� the bond between horse and rider.

Horses have special relationships with their riders, as both have to learn to . In Norse poetry (some of which links to the viking age) horses were a vital part of warrior identities. Legendary poems about the heroes  and  depict heroes who are almost .

, the horse of Sigurd the dragon-slayer for example, is  after his death.

Evidence of partnerships between humans and horses has been found in burials from across northern Europe, from the grand ship burials of  and Gokstad, to the  of tenth-century Denmark, to the more modest . But horses weren鈥檛 just buried with men.

At  in Sj忙lland, Denmark, a woman was buried with a horse next to her, one leg partially overlapping with the human body (above). Something about this human and this horse meant such an intimate arrangement was appropriate. 

The woman is thought to have been a ritual specialist, possibly a sorceress, buried with an iron-tipped copper rod and a range of other objects including some knives, a bucket and a small wooden box. A large flat stone, a dog which had been cut in half and some sheep bones, as well as some iron pins (possibly for fastening baggage to a saddle) and a dog chain completed the burial.

At , a tenth-century burial also has a . Like the woman at 罢谤别办谤辞苍别谤-骋谤测诲别丑酶箩, they are thought to have been a ritual specialist.

But the woman wasn鈥檛 the only one buried with the tools of her trade. An iron rangle (a metal ring with smaller rings attached to it) was laid on the chest of the horse buried alongside her. When attached to wagon harnesses or bridles, the metal rings would jingle. It is thought that it may have played a role in .

Were these women buried with these horses because they had special relationships? Or because they were sorceresses? Or did being a sorceress entail close relationships with these animals? We believe that, among other rituals, horses appear to have been vital participants in the processes and practices of funerals.

Good to die with, good to live with

Research shows that relationships with horses have a host of benefits, . It鈥檚 interesting then, that there is a   and  that young men should . Horses are considered  and  even  in these texts.

The 13th-century saga  even depicts a woman who appears to benefit from a medieval form of , finding relief from her ailment by sitting on her horse as it is led around a field:

The most relief was offered to her by sitting on horseback, as 脼贸r冒r led her horse back and forth, and he did so, even though it was a great pain to him, as he wanted to try to comfort her.

In a time of ecological upheaval, looking to the past to understand the relationships humans have had with animals can inspire different approaches to the present and the future.

Given a  granting legal personhood and rights to a river, looking for historical analogies, such as the vikings and their horses, can encourage us all to continue to push for more responsible relationships with the non-human world.

This article was written by Keith Ruiter, Senior Lecturer in History at University of Suffolk, and Harriet Evans Tang, Post Doctoral Research Associate at Durham University. It was first published by our friends at .