Debunking Viking Soap: Horse Chestnuts or Horse Apples? (or Boiled Animal Fat)

Today we're going to explore the bizarre idea that the Vikings made soap out of horse chestnuts, better known to schoolkids in the UK and Ireland as conkers. This idea has spread all over social media, thanks in part to a certain series of children's history books (it's obviously Horrible Histories). But is there any actual evidence for Viking Age soap? Did they use conkers? Or was it more likely to be the classic tallow and lye combination invented by the Sumerians and beloved by homesteaders and wool manufacturers all over the globe? Let's find out where the heck this weird idea comes from, and take a look at what evidence we actually have for the soap used by Early Medieval Europeans!

Some reading:
https://naturewalk.yale.edu/trees/sapindaceae/aesculus-hippocastanum/horse-chestnut-9

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Distribution-of-Aesculus-hippocastanum-including-its-main-native-range-green-areas-and_fig1_378345399

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42955270

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Intro by @Anttimation