Vikings are often depicted as a classic example of a barbarian: strong, aggressive, not interested in anything complicated or refined. I'm wondering just how accurate that image is. Was there any real focus on education or learning in Viking culture? Would Vikings even notice or care if a person was smarter than average?
Standard PSA: Viking isn't an ethnicity, it's a job title. Referring to all Scandinavians in the medieval period as vikings would be like referring to all Americans as Marines.
On to your question: Scandinavia produced a huge amount of poetry, prose, and scholarship, relative to the size of the classes that could produce it. The sagas, the Eddas, and a whole host of skaldic verse are just some of the things that came out of Scandinavia in the medieval era. To be able to read both Norse/Icelandic/Danish/Swedish and Latin was a huge benefit, and something people were proud of.
As far as intelligence's value as an attribute is concerned, there is a definite cultural trend toward viewing it favourably. The position of Lögsögumaðr, or Law-Speaker, was very important in Icelandic society, as this was the person who dictated the laws of the country; each year of their three year term, they were required to recite a third of the laws by memory. Njál, one of the protagonists of Njáls saga was renowned as a lawyer and as someone who was extremely intelligent.