Were the Vikings Really Blonde...

 ...or were they bottle blondes?

We like to think of Vikings as tall blonde people, but in fact their hair came in all kinds of colors.

Except for one thing.

It turns out that many people in the north used lye soap on their hair. Lye soap lightens hair. So the description of vikings as "blonde" may actually be because they were lightening their hair, intentionally or otherwise.

It wasn't great for your hair, but it also wasn't great for the parasites that might find their way into your hair, so...