In the Middle Ages, Vikings in Scandinavia would indiscriminately leave hatchets or small axes hanging on trees, laying on slates or driven in on tree stumps in a haphazard manner. This was their custom of ensuring that if any of their people or a fellow Viking would get lost in the woods, that person would chance upon these hatchets or small axes and they would then use these implements to defend against, hunt for prey / food or make a temporary shelter.

It was a benevolent and thoughtful way for the Vikings to ensure that not one of their people were defenseless against nature or their many enemies. This caring, sympathetic and considerate tradition of caring for fellow Vikings by leaving hatchets and small axes in the forest became known to the Norsemen as the RAK or Random Axe of Kindness.