Viking Period Dogs

In case anyone is interested here are the known dog breeds that have been around since viking times (that still exist today)

Finnish Spitz:


Finnish Lapphund:


Icelandic Sheepdog:


Karelian Bear Dog:


Lapinporokoira:


Old Danish Bird dog:


Norsk Buhund:


Norwegian Elkhound: Famously, an example of this breed of dog found in an excavation in the 'east settlement' in Greenland. It was found to have been butchered(and eaten) during the apparent last few days of life for the Greenlandic Vikings also found in that house. Many remains were found of Greenlanders who had starved/froze to death in the 15th century as a result of changing climate and religious restrictions. He's a status dog similar to the Irish wolfhound, therefore very expensive, which shows how desperate they were for food.


Norwegian Lundehund:


Swedish Elkhound:


Swedish Lapphund:


Swedish Vallhund:

Did you just post this because you like doggies?

Actually, It was a bit of both.

I do love doggies.

But I also found it quite interesting as well, it's rare for breeds of dogs to be older than 200 years, especially in europe.

They also look quite class.

A couple at boot camp had a finnish spitz which everyone thought was half fox. Really lovely Dog.

James is quite partial to the lupinporokoira and icelandic sheepdog so far. which is odd for him to like certain types of dogs.

On a side note: A norman era doggie would be a greyhound. They loved their running dogs.