Ok, so I need to preface this that there is a more than tiny chance that the guy that wrote this down originally was just trolling us, because he had a lot of theories at other things and might have just made a guess that was entirely off. But I still want to tell you about this. Sorry if it's wrong.
John of Wallingford, a Benedictine Monk in about 1240, wrote that the English were losing their womenfolk to the Vikings because the Vikings bathed, brushed their hair, and changed clothes sometimes. So, basically, had hygiene.
The Vikings bathed at least once a week, which is more than some peasants that would only bathe once a year, and they left behind a lot of combs that they used to keep themselves more tidy, plus their braids and changing their clothes more often. All this added up to them being better smelling and more attractive than the native men.
I will point out also, they're also good warriors and whatnot, so it's entirely possible that they just demanded the women and the men had to hand them over or die, and saying that the women wanted the Vikings for such a silly reason might have been easier for them to take.
Either way, I find this hilarious. If you're curious, there are sources below or you can google John of Wallingford and read more there. Or you can just giggle about it like I do.
Sources:
Imgur-- The Librarian-- John of Wallingford is a Medieval Troll
History of York-- Viking Male Hygiene
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