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Yet, though they undeniably carried out very destructive and violent attacks, from small-scale raids against churches to major campaigns involving thousands of warriors, the Vikings formed part of a complex and often sophisticated Scandinavian culture. As well as raiders they were traders, reaching as far east as the rivers of Russia and the Caspian Sea; explorers, sending ships far across the Atlantic to land on the coastline of North America five centuries before Columbus; poets, composing verse and prose sagas of great power, and artists, creating works of astonishing beauty.

The reputation of the Vikings simply as raiders and plunderers has long been established. Restoring their fame as traders, storytellers, explorers, missionaries, artists and rulers is long overdue...

When and where did the Vikings come from?

The Vikings originated in what is now Denmark, Norway and Sweden (although centuries before they became unified countries). Their homeland was overwhelmingly rural, with almost no towns. The vast majority earned a meagre living through agriculture, or along the coast, by fishing. Advances in shipping technology in the 7th and 8th centuries meant that boats were powered by sails rather than solely by oars. These were then added to vessels made of overlapping planks ('clinker-built') to create longships, swift shallow-drafted boats that could navigate coastal and inland waters and land on beaches.

Exactly what first compelled bands of men to follow their local chieftain across the North Sea in these longships is unclear. It may have been localised overpopulation, as plots became subdivided to the point where families could barely eke out a living; it may have been political instability, as chieftains fought for dominance; or it may have been news brought home by merchants of the riches to be found in trading settlements further west. Probably it was a combination of all three. But in 793 that first raiding party hit Lindisfarne and within a few years further Viking bands had struck Scotland (794), Ireland (795) and France (799).

Their victims did not refer to them as Vikings. That name came later, becoming popularised by the 11th century and possibly deriving from the word vik, which in the Old Norse language the Vikings spoke means 'bay' or 'inlet'. Instead they were called Dani ('Danes') - there was no sense at the time that this should refer only to the inhabitants of what we now call Denmark - pagani ('pagans') or simply Normanni ('Northmen').

The remains of a Viking longship found at Gokstad in South Norway, c1920. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

When and where did the Viking begin to raid?

At first the raids were small-scale affairs, a matter of a few boatloads of men who would return home once they had collected sufficient plunder or if the resistance they encountered was too strong. But in the 850s they began to overwinter in southern England, in Ireland and along the Seine in France, establishing bases from which they began to dominate inland areas.

The raids reached a crescendo in the second half of the ninth century. In Ireland the Vikings established longphorts - fortified ports - including at Dublin, from which they dominated much of the eastern part of the island. In France they grew in strength as a divided Frankish kingdom fractured politically and in 885 a Viking army besieged and almost captured Paris.

In Scotland they established an earldom in the Orkneys and overran the Shetlands and the Hebrides. And in England an enormous Viking host, the micel here ('great army') arrived in 865. Led by a pair of warrior brothers, Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, they picked off the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England one by one. First Northumbria, with its capital at York, fell to them in 866, then East Anglia, followed by the central English kingdom of Mercia. Finally, only Wessex, ruled by King Alfred, remained. A pious bookworm, Alfred had only become king because his three more martial older brothers had sickened or died in battle in previous Viking invasions.

In early January 878 a section of the Great Army led by Guthrum crossed the frontier and caught Alfred by surprise at the royal estate at Chippenham. Alfred barely managed to escape and spent months skulking in the Somerset marshes at Athelney. It looked like the independence of Wessex - and that of England generally - might be at an end. But against the odds Alfred gathered a new army, defeated the Vikings at Edington and forced Guthrum to accept baptism as a Christian. For his achievement in saving his kingdom he became the only native English ruler to gain the nickname 'the Great'.

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Silver penny of King Alfred. (Photo by Museum of London/Heritage Images/Getty Images)For 80 years England was divided between the land controlled by the kings of Wessex in the south and south-west and a Viking-controlled area in the Midlands and the north. Viking kings ruled this region until the last of them, Erik Bloodaxe, was expelled and killed in 954 and the kings of Wessex became rulers of a united England. Even so, Viking (and especially Danish) customs long persisted there and traces of Scandinavian DNA can still be found in a region that for centuries was known as the Danelaw.

By the mid-11th century united kingdoms had appeared in Denmark, Norway and Sweden and the raids had finally begun to subside. There was a final burst of activity in the early 11th century when royal-sponsored expeditions succeeded in conquering England again and placing Danish kings on the throne there (including, most notably, Canute, who ruled an empire in England, Denmark and Norway, but who almost certainly did not command the tide to go out, as a folk tale alleges). Vikings remained in control of large parts of Scotland (especially Orkney), an area around Dublin and Normandy in France (where in 911 King Charles the Simple had granted land to a Norwegian chieftain, Rollo, the ancestor of William the Conqueror). They also controlled a large part of modern Ukraine and Russia, where Swedish Vikings had penetrated in the ninth century and established states based around Novgorod and Kiev.

Where did Vikings settle and live?

This was not the full extent of the Viking world, however. The same maritime aggression that had caused them to plunder (and ultimately conquer) settled lands also led them to venture in search of unknown shores on which to settle. Vikings probably arrived in the Faroes in the eighth century and they used this as a stepping-stone to sail further west across the Atlantic.

In the mid-ninth century a series of Viking voyages came across Iceland and in the year 872 colonists led by Ingólf Arnarson settled on the island. They established a unique society, fiercely independent and owing no formal allegiance to the kings of Norway. It was a republic whose supreme governing body was, from 930, the Althing, an assembly made up of Iceland's chief men which met each summer in a plain beside a massive cleft in a ring of hills in the centre of the island. It has a strong claim to be the world's oldest parliament.

From Iceland, too, we have other vital pieces of evidence of the inventiveness of Viking societies. These include the earliest pieces of history written by Vikings themselves in the form of a 12th-century history of Iceland, the Íslendingabók, and the Landnámabók, an account of the original settlement of the island (with the names of each of the first settlers and the land they took).

But more important - and surprising for those who view of the Vikings is as one-dimensional warriors - is the collection of sagas known as the Íslendingasögur or Icelandic Family Sagas. Their setting is the first 150 years of the Viking colony in Iceland and they tell of often-troubled relations between the main Icelandic families. Alliances, betrayals, feuds and murders play out against the backdrop of a landscape in which features can still often be identified today. At their best, in tales such as Njál's Saga or Egil's Saga, they are powerful pieces of literature in their own right, and among the most important writing to survive from any European country in the Middle Ages.

Who was the most famous Viking?

Ivarr the Boneless - a famous warrior and one of the leaders of the ' Great Heathen Army ' that landed in East Anglia in 865, and that went on to conquer the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia - was remembered as the founding father of the royal dynasty of the Viking kingdom of Dublin.

It is not known how Ivar came by the nickname 'the Boneless', although some have suggested it could have been due to an unnatural flexibility during combat or because he suffered from a degenerative muscular disorder, eventually resulting in him having to be carried everywhere. Unless his body is ever recovered - which would be difficult if he really was 'boneless' - we will never know.

Other famous Vikings include Aud the Deep-Minded, Eirik Bloodaxe and Einar Buttered-Bread. Click here to read about the 8 most famous Vikings

Vikings and religion: what gods did they believe in?

Iceland was the location of another drama that highlights the transition of Viking societies away from warrior chieftainships. Christianity came later to Scandinavian Viking societies than to many other parts of Europe. Whereas France's kings had accepted Christianity by the early sixth century and the Anglo-Saxon kings of England largely in the seventh, Christian missionaries only appeared in southern Scandinavia in the ninth century and made little headway there until Harald Bluetooth of Denmark accepted baptism in around 960. Harald had become Christian after a typical piece of Viking theatre: a drunken argument around the feasting table as to which was more powerful - Odin and Thor, or the new Christian God and his son, Jesus.

Iceland remained resolutely pagan, loyal to old gods such as Odin; the All Father; a one-eyed god who had sacrificed the other eye in exchange for knowledge of runes; and Thor, the thunder-god with his great hammer Mjölnir, who was also especially popular with warriors.

Detail of a stone relief representing the divine triad: Odin (the chief god in Norse mythology), Thor (god of thunder) and Freyr (god of fertility). Gotland, Sweden. Image c1987. (Photo By DEA/G DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Iceland became Christian to avoid a civil war. Competing pagan and Christian factions threatened to tear the Althing apart and dissolve Iceland into separate, religiously hostile, states. At the Althing's meeting in the year 1000 the rival factions appealed to Iceland's most important official, the lawspeaker Thorgeir Thorkelsson. As a pagan he might have been expected to favour the old gods but, after an entire day spent agonising over the decision, he concluded that henceforth all Icelanders would be Christian. A few exceptions were made - for example the eating of horsemeat, a favoured delicacy that was also associated with pagan sacrifices, was to be permitted.

What was Valhalla and how did Vikings get there?

For a Viking, what two things would be desired the most in the afterlife of Valhalla, the hall of slain warriors? Feasting and fighting, of course.

If chosen to die by the mythical Valkyries, a Norse warrior longed to be welcomed by the god Odin into Valhalla, a magnificent hall with a roof thatched with golden shields, spears for rafters, and so large that 540 doors lined its walls, says BBC History Revealed magazine. The honoured dead, known as the Einherjar, spent all day honing their battle skills against each other in preparation for Ragnarök - the end of the world - then every night, their wounds magically healed and they partied like only Vikings could.

Their drinking horns never emptied thanks to Heidrun, a goat on the roof of Valhalla that ate from a special tree and produced the finest mead, and there was always enough meat as the boar named Sæhrímnir came back to life after each slaughter so it could be cooked over and over.

To join the Einherjar, a Viking had to die in battle - and even then, they only had a 50:50 chance. The half not chosen to go to Valhalla instead went to the field of the goddess Freya, so they could offer to the women who died as maidens their company.

As for the old or sick, they went to an underworld called Hel. It was largely not as bad as the name suggests, though there was a special place of misery reserved for murderers, adulterers and oath-breakers, where a giant dragon chewed on their corpses.

Where did the Vikings travel to?

Iceland, too, was the platform from which the Vikings launched their furthest-flung explorations. In 982 a fiery tempered chieftain, Erik the Red, who had already been exiled from Norway for his father's part in a homicide, was then exiled from Iceland for involvement in another murder. He had heard rumours of land to the west and, with a small group of companions, sailed in search of it. What he found was beyond his wildest imaginings. Only 300 kilometres west of Iceland, Greenland is the world's largest island, and its south and south-west tip had fjords [deep, narrow and elongated sea or lakedrain, with steep land on three sides] and lush pastures that must have reminded Erik of his Scandinavian homeland. He returned back to Iceland, gathered 25 ship-loads of settlers and established a new Viking colony in Greenland that survived into the 15th century.

Erik's son, Leif, outdid his father. Having heard from another Viking Greenlander, Bjarni Herjolfsson, that he had sighted land even further west, Leif went to see for himself. In around 1002 he and his crew found themselves sailing somewhere along the coast of North America. They found a glacial, mountainous coast, then a wooded one, and finally a country of fertile pastures that they named Vinland. Although they resolved to start a new colony there, it was - unlike either Iceland or Greenland - already settled and hostility from native Americans and their own small numbers (Greenland at the time probably had about 3,000 Viking inhabitants) meant that it was soon abandoned. They had, though, become the first Europeans to land in (and settle in) the Americas, almost five centuries before Christopher Columbus.

For centuries Erik's achievement lived on only in a pair of sagas, The Saga of the Greenlanders and Erik the Red's Saga. The location of Vinland, despite attempts to work out where it lay from information contained in the sagas, remained elusive. It was even unclear if the Vikings really had reached North America. Then, in the early 1960s, a Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his archaeologist wife, Anne Stine, found the remains of ancient houses at L'Anse aux Meadows on Newfoundland in Canada. Fragments of worked iron (many of them nails, probably from a ship), which the native population did not possess the technology to produce, meant that it was soon clear this was a Viking settlement. Although perhaps too small to be the main Vinland colony, it was still astonishing confirmation of what the sagas had said. Leif Erikson 's reputation as a great explorer and discoverer of new lands was confirmed without doubt.

This might well have pleased him, for a man's reputation was everything to a Viking. Quick wit, bravery and action were among the key attributes for a Viking warrior, but to be remembered for great deeds was the most important of all. The Hávamál, a collection of Viking aphorisms, contains much apt advice such as "Never let a bad man know your own bad fortune", but most famous of all is the saying "Cattle die, kindred die, we ourselves shall die, but I know one thing that never dies: the reputations of each one dead".

Did Viking shield-maidens exist?

Apologies to fans of the hit series Vikings: historians just can't agree on whether Norse warrior women like Lagertha actually existed, says BBC History Revealed magazine. While there are stories of shield-maidens, or skjaldmaer, in historical accounts, nearly all can be dismissed as unreliable, apocryphal, allegorical or more myth than reality.

Still, tantalising clues and mysterious finds - including artefacts showing women carrying swords, spears and shields - have boosted the idea that Viking women went into battle alongside men. In the 12th century, the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus wrote of women in Denmark who sought "so zealously to be skilled in warfare that they might have been thought to have unsexed themselves". In 2017, meanwhile, archaeologists discovered that a 10th-century grave of a warrior, filled with weapons, actually belonged to a woman.

What was a Viking sunstone?

The Vikings were superb sailors who got as far afield as Russia and North America, but their navigational techniques haven't always been completely understood, says BBC History Revealed magazine. A mysterious 'sunstone', mentioned in a medieval Icelandic saga, was considered mere legend until an opaque crystal, made from Iceland spar, was recently discovered among the navigation equipment of a sunken Tudor shipwreck.

Intriguingly, scientists have proven that Iceland spar, when held up to the sky, forms a solar compass that indicates the Sun's location, through concentric rings of polarised light, even in thick cloud cover or after dusk. It's now thought that this was the mysterious sunstone that helped guide Vikings such as 'Lucky' Leif Erikson to Newfoundland, and usage of it may have persisted until the end of the 16th century.

When did the Viking Age end?

It is traditionally said that the raiding, pillaging age of the Vikings, which began in Britain with the ransacking of Lindisfarne in AD 793, ended with the failure of Harald Hardrada 's invasion in 1066.

Yet the Viking influence spread from the Middle East to North America, and could not be undone by a single defeat in battle. At the same time that Hardrada was picking up his career-ending neck injury at Stamford Bridge, the Norman Conquest was being launched. Its leader, and future king of England, was William - the great-great-great-grandson of Rollo, a Viking.
Philip Parker is author of The Northmen's Fury: A History of the Viking World (Vintage, 2015). For more information, visit www.philipparker.net This article was first published by HistoryExtra in 2016 and has since been updated to include information taken from BBC History Revealed magazine

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Invaders, predators, barbarians - the Vikings are often portrayed merely as one-dimensional warriors whose achievements include little more than plundering and raiding. But from where did the Vikings originate and were they really violent, godless pagans? Here, historian Philip Parker explains the real history of the Viking world...

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longship, also called Viking ship, type of sail-and-oar vessel that predominated in northern European waters for more than 1,500 years and played an important role in history. Ranging from 45 to 75 feet (14 to 23 metres) in length, clinker-built (with overlapped planks), and carrying a single square sail, the longship was exceptionally sturdy in heavy seas. Its ancestor was, doubtless, the dugout, and the longship remained double-ended. Fully developed examples have been found dating from 300 bce. It carried the Vikings on their piratical raids of the 9th century and bore Leif Eriksson to America in 1000. It was also used by Dutch, French, English, and German merchants and warriors. Some of the 11th-century versions shown in the Bayeux Tapestry have their masts supported by shrouds, implying that their square sails could be manipulated enough to sail with the wind abeam. The introduction of the stern rudder about 1200 led to the differentiation of bow and stern and the transformation of the longship.

Amy Tikkanen.

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longship, also called Viking ship, type of sail-and-oar vessel that predominated in northern European waters for more than 1,500 years and played an important role in history. Ranging from 45 to 75 feet (14 to 23 metres) in length, clinker-built (with overlapped planks), and carrying a single square sail, the longship was exceptionally sturdy in heavy seas.

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The Vikings were originally diverse Scandinavian seafarers from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (though other nationalities were later involved) whose raids and subsequent settlements significantly impacted the cultures of Europe and were felt as far as the Mediterranean regions c. 790 - c. 1100 CE. The Vikings were all Scandinavian but not all Scandinavians were Vikings.

The term applied only to those who took to the sea for the purpose of acquiring wealth by raiding in other lands, and the word was primarily used by the English writers, not inclusively by other cultures. Most Scandinavians were not Vikings, and those who traded with other cultures were known as Northmen, Norsemen, or other terms designating their origin.

Beginning in 793 CE and continuing on for the next 300 years, the Vikings raided coastal and inland regions in Europe and conducted trade as far as the Byzantine Empire in the east, even serving as the elite Varangian Guard for the Byzantine Emperor. Their influence on the cultures they interacted with was substantial in virtually every aspect of life, most notably in the regions of Scotland, Britain, France, and Ireland. They founded Dublin, colonized Normandy (land of the Northmen) in France, established the area of the Danelaw in Britain, and settled in numerous communities throughout Scotland.

The Scandinavian culture was actually highly developed & the Viking raids on other nations were only one aspect of the civilization.

Their settlements in Iceland and Greenland spread Scandinavian culture further across the North Atlantic and placed them in an ideal position for further exploration and colonization. The Vikings were the first Europeans to visit North America and establish communities. The Newfoundland site of L'Anse Aux Meadows has been positively identified as an early Viking settlement while debate continues on other sites from Maine to Rhode Island - and even further south - as evidence of early Viking habitation or at least visitation in North America.

Although popularly imagined as warriors wearing horned helmets, this is inaccurate. Horned helmets would have been impractical in battle and were most likely only worn for ceremonial purposes. Further, although the Vikings were great warriors and their name in the present day is almost synonymous with warfare, slaughter, and destruction - an association encouraged by popular media representations - but the Scandinavian culture was actually highly developed and the Viking raids on other nations were only one aspect of the civilization.

Name

The origin of the word 'Viking' is still debated by scholars. Professor Kenneth W. Harl represents the traditional view that Viking "comes from the Norse vik, meaning a cove or small fjord, a place where pirates could lurk and prey on merchant ships" (3). The philologist Henry Sweet claims the word derives from the Old Norse for "pirate" (Whitelock, 222). Professor Peter Sawyer argues that the word must come from the region of Viken, which flanked the Oslo Fjord, writing:

This district was of great value for it was there that the Danes could obtain the iron that was produced in Norway. If, as seems likely, the word Viking originally referred to the inhabitants of Viken, it could explain why the English, and only they, called Scandinavian pirates Vikings, for England was the natural objective for men from Viken who chose exile as raiders. (8)

Sawyer points out that other cultures all referred to these same people by different names - but none called them Vikings. The Irish records call them pagans or simply foreigners, the French called them Northmen, the Slavs called them the Rus (which gave Russia its name), and the Germans knew them as Ashmen in reference to their use of ash wood for their boats.

The Vikings used the word themselves to refer to the activity of armed raids on other lands for the purpose of plunder. The Old Norse phrase fara i viking ("to go on expedition") had a distinctly different meaning than going on a sea voyage for the purposes of legitimate trade. When one decided to "go Viking" one was announcing one's intention to join in raiding profitable targets in other lands.

Culture

The Viking culture was Scandinavian, with society divided into three classes, the Jarls (aristocracy), Karls (lower class), and Thralls (slaves). Upward mobility was possible for Karls but not Thralls. Slavery was widely practiced throughout Scandinavia and is considered one of the prime motivators for the Viking raids on other lands.

Slavery was widely practiced throughout Scandinavia & is considered one of the prime motivators for the Viking raids on other lands.

Women had greater freedoms in Scandinavian/Viking culture than in many others. Women could inherit property, choose where and how to live if unmarried, represent themselves in legal cases, and own their own businesses (such as breweries, taverns, shops, and farms). Women were the prophetesses of either the goddess Freyja or the god Odin - there were no male religious leaders - and interpreted the gods' messages for the people.

Marriages were arranged by the men of the clan, and a woman could not choose her own mate - but neither could a man. Women's dress and jewelry were similar to men of their social class, and neither sex wore earrings which were thought to be affectations of lesser races. Women were responsible for raising children and keeping the house but both men and women prepared meals for the family.

Most Scandinavians were farmers, but there were also blacksmiths, armorers, brewers, merchants, weavers, luthiers (those who made stringed instruments), drum-makers, poets, musicians, craftsmen, carpenters, jewelers, and many other occupations. A significant source of income was trading amber, the fossilized resin of the pine tree, which they had in abundance. Amber frequently washed up on the shores around Scandinavia and was worked into jewelry or sold in semi-processed form, especially to the Roman and Byzantine empires.

Scandinavians enjoyed leisure time as much as any other culture and played sports, board games, and organized festivals. Sports included mock-combat, wrestling, mountain climbing, swimming, javelin-throwing, hunting, a spectacle known as horse-fighting whose details are unclear, and a field game known as Knattleik which was similar to hockey. Their board games included dice, games of strategy along the lines of chess, and chess itself.

Contrary to the popular image of the Vikings as filthy and savage, they were actually quite refined and paid a great deal of attention to hygiene and appearance. Once trade was established with the east, Viking Jarls often wore silk and expensive jewelry. They braided their hair, were well groomed, and wore fine cloaks and intricately-crafted jewelry in the form of necklaces and arm- and wristbands.

Cleanliness was not only a sign of wealth and status but also had religious significance. Vikings made sure to always keep their finger and toenails short because of their belief in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and the end of the world, at which the ship Naglfar would appear floating on the waters unleashed by the great serpent Jormungand. Naglfar was built from the nails of the dead and so anyone who died with nails unpared provided ship-building material and hastened the inevitable end.

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The end of the world was predestined but one could still struggle against it. The gods of the Norse provided the people with the breath of life, and it was then up to each individual to prove worthy of the gift. The Norse gods came to Scandinavia with the Germanic migrations sometime around the beginning of the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - c.1200 BCE). These were fierce gods who understood their time was limited and lived fully to make the most of it; their followers were encouraged to do the same.

The main sources for the Norse religious beliefs are the Poetic Edda, dated to oral traditions of the 9th and 10th centuries CE, and the Prose Edda (c. 1220 CE), a collection of tales based on older stories. In the Norse creation story, before the world was created there was only ice and a giant named Ymir who lived by the grace of the great cow Audhumla. Audhumla fed Ymir milk which ran continuously from her four udders while, at the same time, licking the ice for her own sustenance. Her licking freed the trapped god Buri who then produced a son, Borr.

Borr married Bestla, daughter of Bolthorn the frost giant, and she gave birth to the gods Odin, Vili, and Vé. These gods united, killed Ymir, and used his body to create the world. The first human beings were Ask and Embla, who had no spirit or form until life was breathed into them by Odin, while other gods gave them reason and passion.

The world created by the gods was understood as an enormous tree, known as Yggdrasil, and included nine planes of existence. The most famous of these are Midgard (home for mortals), Asgard (home of the gods), and Alfheim (home of the elves) and another realm, Niflheim, located beneath Midgard where those who died poorly went. Heroic women, especially those who died in childbirth, went to the Hall of Frigg in Asgard where they spent eternity in the company Odin's wife while men who died heroically in battle went to Odin's hall of Valhalla.

The entire universe was established on the principles of order by Odin and the other gods after they had defeated the frost giants. The frost giants lived in their own realm, Jotunheim, but were a constant threat to both Asgard and Midgard. At some point in the future, a great day of destruction would come and chaos would be unleashed; this day was known as Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods.

When Ragnarök came, the sun would be swallowed by the wolf Skoll and the moon by his brother Hati, plunging the world into darkness while, at the same time, the great wolf Fenrir would ravage through all the planes of Yggdrasil. The god Heimdall would sound his great horn, calling the gods to battle, and Odin would call up all the heroes from Valhalla's halls to join with the gods in defending creation. The gods fight valiantly but, in the end, they fall in battle as the entire universe is consumed in flame and sinks into the primordial waters. Although this is the end of the world, it is not the end of existence; once this present world is destroyed, a new one is created and rises from the waters and the entire cycle repeats itself.

The Norse gods were honored through the actions of the people who believed in them. No evidence of a religious hierarchy has been found in Scandinavia prior to the coming of Christianity. Women who were touched by the gods were known as Volva and could hear the divine words and translate them for other mortals. Although there were some temples erected to the gods, most worship seems to have taken place in natural settings which had some connection to a certain deity. The stories of the gods, creation, and Ragnarök were transmitted orally and were only written down much later, in Iceland by the historian/poet Snorri Sturluson (l. 1179-1241 CE).

Shipbuilding & The Viking Raids

The Norse mythology would influence the Viking culture and encourage their raids because the Viking life emulated that of the gods. Brave warriors went abroad to do battle against forces they saw as chaotic and dangerous. The Mediterranean and European religious belief in a single god and his savior son who needed priests, churches, nuns, books, and rules to be worshipped would have seemed absurd and threatening to the Vikings. There was nothing in the Christian teaching which resonated with Norse ideology. Once the Scandinavians had fully mastered shipbuilding and began to "go Viking," they showed no mercy to the Christian communities they encountered, but early Scandinavian settlers in foreign lands frequently adopted the new faith.

Carvings from Scandinavia dated to c. 4000-2300 BCE show that the people already knew how to build boats at this time. These small ships were driven by paddles, had no keel, and would have made long-distance trips perilous; still, there is ample evidence that such journeys were made. Shipbuilding developed past this stage of small ferry boats only around c. 300-200 BCE and would not develop further until interactions with Roman traders and Celtic and Germanic merchants using Roman technology between c. 200-400 CE. The first ship able to navigate the sea easily is known as the Nydam ship, from Denmark, built c. 350-400 CE, though this ship had no sail.

Long before the development of keel or sail, however, a number of Scandinavian traders established permanent communities in Europe and assimilated with the Christian culture, forgetting the stories of the Norse gods and their old religious practices. Professor Harl notes that by 625 CE,

The West Germanic kinsmen of the Scandinavians had converted to Christianity and had begun to forget their own stories. Between 650 and 700 CE, new Christian cultures emerged in England, in the Frankish world, and in Frisia, which led to a parting of the ways between the Scandinavian heartland and the new states in the former Roman Empire. (25)

This "parting of the ways" was largely due to differences in religious understanding and behavior. The Christian god was supposed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent and this was a significant departure from the Norse gods who, like other pagan religions, each had their own area of expertise, their own lives and concerns, and whose actions explained the observable world in a way the Christian god did not. For the Vikings, the universe was full of gods and spirits and supernatural energies which infused a challenging world of adventure while, to the Christians, it was ruled by one deity who presided over a fallen world of sin; this difference in world views influenced how the Vikings dealt with the Christians they encountered on their raids.

It would have been considered dishonorable for a Norse warrior to kill unarmed civilians and take their possessions, but this is precisely what the Vikings did between c. 793-1100 CE. They were able to do so because those they plundered were not Norse, were not bound by the same belief, and so the rules which maintained Viking society did not apply to them.

When the Vikings first came to Britain and sacked the priory of Lindisfarne in 793 CE, they murdered every monk they found and carried off everything of value; this would have been considered a serious crime if the slain had been Norse, but as it was, the monks were simply obstacles to the acquisition of wealth and, further, it was abundantly clear that the Christian god had no power to defend his people if they could so easily be killed within the walls of their own place of worship.

Expansion & Legacy

The Viking raids on Christian communities, like those of the Huns on the Roman Empire centuries earlier, were interpreted by European Christians as God's wrath on his people for their sins. In Britain, Alfred the Great (871-899 CE) would institute his reforms in education to better his people and appease his God. He also made baptism into the Christian faith a stipulation of treaties with the Vikings. When Alfred defeated the Viking army under Guthrum at the Battle of Eddington in 878 CE, Guthrum and 30 of his chieftains had to submit to baptism and conversion.

Charlemagne in France (800-814 CE) pursued a much more active course in attempting to forcefully Christianize the Scandinavians through military campaigns which destroyed sites sacred to Norse belief and established Christianity as an enemy faith of a hostile people. Charlemagne's efforts have been cited by a number of historians as the primary motivation for the savagery of the Viking raids, but this claim does not take into account the raids on Britain and Ireland between 793-800 CE. There is little doubt, however, that Charlemagne's evangelical holy wars did little to encourage Scandinavian acceptance of Christianity and only led to animosity and greater division.

In the early years of the Viking Age in Europe, the sea-raiders began as little more than pirates, but they would eventually arrive as great armies under charismatic and skilled military leaders, would conquer large territories and establish communities, and finally would assimilate with the local population.

The Viking Age is known for legendary Norse leaders such as Halfdan Ragnarsson (also known as Halfdane, c. 865-877 CE), his brother Ivar the Boneless (c. 870 CE), Guthrum (c. 890 CE), Harold Bluetooth (c. 985 CE), his son Sven Forkbeard (986-1014 CE), Cnut the Great (1016-1035 CE) and Harald Hardrada (1046-1066). Other notable Norse explorers of the time were Eric the Red (died 1003 CE) and Leif Erikson (died c. 1020 CE) who explored and settled Greenland and North America. The Vikings were never defeated en masse in battle and no single engagement ended the Viking Age. The date agreed on by most scholars as the end of the Viking Age is 1066 CE when Harald Hardrada was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, but Viking raids continued after this date. There were many factors which contributed to the end of the Viking Age but the Christianization of Scandinavia throughout the 10th and 11th centuries CE was certainly among the most significant. The Norse religion was the last of the great pagan belief systems to fall to Christianity, and once it did, there was no inspiration in the new faith for one to "go Viking" anymore.

The Vikings influenced the culture of every nation they came in contact with and in every conceivable way from architecture to language, infrastructure to poetry and place names, military reforms to food and clothing, and certainly in the areas of warfare and shipbuilding. Regularly depicted by medieval writers as marauding bands of murderous heathens, the Vikings would be re-imagined as noble savages by the early 20th century CE, and this is often how they are still portrayed in the present day. The Vikings were actually neither of these, however; they were a cultured and sophisticated warrior class who understood, based on their religious belief, that in raiding other lands for personal gain they had everything to win and nothing to lose.

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The Vikings were originally diverse Scandinavian seafarers from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark (though other nationalities were later involved) whose raids and subsequent settlements significantly impacted...

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Primarily marked on the 25th of December to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas is a time of year celebrated by billions of people around the world. The festival is accompanied by several traditions that, unbeknownst to many, have pagan origins.

Long before Christianity had come to the Nordic regions, the pagan Vikings and other ancient Germanic peoples would celebrate the winter solstice each December, the time of year when the days were the shortest and the night's the longest. Friends and relatives would get together and enjoy food and drink in a festival known as Yule.

As Christianity swept across Germanic Europe centuries ago, many Yuletide traditions were adopted and absorbed into the Christian faith, mixing together to create the modern Christmas we celebrate today.

Here are some of the most common Christmas traditions we have the Vikings to thank for.

Father Christmas

The Norse god Odin was said to be 'the father of all gods'. Described as a bearded old man wearing a hat and a cloak, Odin would often ride his eight-legged horse Sleipnir across the midwinter night's sky, delivering gifts to those down below. Sound familiar?

Although it can be argued that our modern Father Christmas is a fusion of ancient myths, legends and folklore, the resemblance and connection to the Norse god Odin has many historians believing he was the original Santa.

The Christmas Elf

Once again we have Norse mythology to thank for another of our well-known Christmas stalwarts, the elf. Referred to as the álfar (where our word 'elf' comes from) or 'hidden people', these supernatural humanlike beings were often described as tall, pale and beautiful and equipped with magical powers.

So how did we go from the álfar to the short, pointy hat wearing elves we imagine in Santa's workshop today? Again, we have another myth from Nordic folklore to thank, that of the 'nisse'. The nisse is a mythological creature associated with the winter solstice and Christmas season, best described as looking like your typical garden gnome - short and equipped with a red pointy hat.

The little creatures are said to live in the stables and barns of a homestead, guarding the property and those dwelling within. Treat it well and it'll be helpful to you, treat it badly and be prepared for some mischief around your house, perhaps explaining why today's Christmas elves are often represented as cheeky.

Christmas trees

The Vikings worshipped trees, especially the evergreens of the Scandinavian forests, which they believed were the special plant of Balder, the sun god. Since they remained green throughout the winter, the trees came to represent the promise of new life, a reminder that spring was just around the corner.

In ancient Germanic and Norse tradition, the evergreens were often decorated with small carvings of the gods and food, in the hope of encouraging the tree spirits to return to bring about the new spring.

Festive wreath

Whilst the Romans originally created wreaths to be displayed as a symbol of victory, they became connected to our festive celebrations by way of Yule. Like the evergreen trees, wreaths created using an evergreen plant such as Holly, would be brought into people's dwellings during Yuletide to remind them of the warmer days to come, a reassuring symbol during the long cold winters of the Scandinavian north.

The Vikings themselves would set alight to a 'sunwheel', which strongly resembles our modern wreaths. The burning wheel was then rolled down a hill in the hope of enticing the sun to return.

Mistletoe

According to Norse legend, Odin's son Balder had been prophesied to die so his mother Frigg visited every entity in the cosmos to secure an oath from them that they wouldn't harm her son. She neglected to consult the mistletoe believing it too small and harmless to threaten the life of her son. The mischievous god Loki got wind of this oversight and carved an arrow out of the mistletoe. Balder would eventually be slain by Loki's creation, mistletoe proving to be his only weakness.

In one version of the story, Frigg's tears of sorrow fell onto the red mistletoe turning them white, which resurrected her son. Mistletoe came to represent renewal, love and peace with Frigg promising to kiss anyone who passed beneath it.

The 12 days of Christmas

Before we were all singing about turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree, the ancient Norse were enjoying their midwinter festival of Yule for exactly twelve days. Beginning on the day of the winter solstice (the longest day and night), the feasting festivities would carry on for 12 days, creating the origins of the 12 days of Christmas we celebrate today.

Christmas ham

It's a dish that's featured on most Christmas tables at some point during the festive season and once again, we have the Norse to thank for our Christmas ham.

Feasting played a central role in the way the Vikings and other ancient Germanic people honoured the gods. One such ritual saw the sacrificing of a Wild Boar to the Norse god Freyr in the hope of a fruitful harvest during the next season.

The boar would be the centrepiece of the feasting, very much like the Christmas ham that adorns our modern-day tables.

Yule log

In Nordic tradition, the Yule log was a carefully selected log that was ceremonially brought into the house and burnt on a hearth (brick or stone-lined fireplace) during the time of Yule. Part of it would be saved and kept until the following year to not only protect the home but also act as kindling for next year's Yule log.

Whilst the tradition continues to this day across the world, it has also transformed into a culinary one with many people choosing to furnish their Christmas tables with a chocolate Yule log.

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Primarily marked on the 25th of December to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas is a time of year celebrated by billions of people around the world. The festival is accompanied by several traditions that, unbeknownst to many, have pagan origins.

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Viking influence on the English language - Nordic Culture

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The Vikings explored and traveled in most of Europe and settled in places such as Britsh isles, but what influence did the Vikings have on the language

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The Vikings were warriors from northern Europe. They were also known as Norsemen or Northmen. They sailed the seas from the late 700s to the 1000s. They attacked many...

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10 facts about the Vikings - National Geographic Kids

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Discover ten fascinating facts about the Vikings with Nat Geo Kids! Who were the Vikings? Where did they travel? When did they invade? Uncover it all, here!

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The Vikings were a collection of people from Scandinavian regions that migrated and conquered European regions from the eighth to the eleventh century. The Vikings, also called Norse, traveled from their homeland to raid and colonize the British Isles, Iceland, parts of Greenland, the Frankish Empire (France), parts of Italy, as well as other areas in Europe.

The Vikings were referred to by many names. They were sometimes called North Men, Danes, and even heathens. Some parts of Europe referred to the Vikings as 'Rus," which means 'rowers' or 'crew of oarsmen." The tribes in England were the first to refer to the invaders as Vikings.

Historians debate as to why the Norse began leaving Scandinavia and ransacking other regions of Europe. Some historians suggest that Scandinavia could no longer hold a growing population, so the Norse looked for land to settle. Others think that the Vikings wanted wealth, so they decided to take it from others. Perhaps it was a combination of both of these factors.

The Vikings were from regions of Scandinavia, such as Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Many of the Norse settled in the British Isles and what is now known as northern France. The Norse that settled in northern France broke from their brothers and became known as Normans.

Most people believe that the Vikings were soldiers, raiders, and pillagers. They think the Vikings just sailed around the world in longships and rowed from town to town to burn houses and steal gold. This is not entirely accurate, and this belief exaggerates only one single part of Norse life.

Vikings were farmers, traders, travelers, hunters, trappers, fishers, and artisans. Viking women were skilled weavers and textile makers. Clothes were primarily made of wool, linen, and animal skins. Women would turn wool into yarn or fabrics and then dye them to give them color. When the Norse gained more wealth and power, they began to embellish their clothes.

The majority of Vikings were farmers. They grew grain crops, like barley, rye, or oats. They would make bread from the grain.

They were professional agriculturalists. They raised cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and even bred horses. They also were exceptional fishermen and hunted whales as well as fish.

The Norse people lived in simple, rectangular houses. The houses were often made of timber from the area in which they lived. If wood was scarce, then they would use stones to make houses. The Norse did much of their works in these houses, such as weaving cloth, preserving food, or working leather.

The Vikings did have a writing system. Their alphabet had 16 letters, and it did not have the letters E, O, D, G, or P. While they used the sounds while they spoke, their written language simply did not have these letters.

While most of their languages and stories were passed down by mouth, there are few instances of Norse writing. Rather than "writing," they carved their messages on stone. Most of the runic stones preserve stories of great battles, or the stones marked territorial boundaries.

The Norse were excellent and talented shipbuilders. The Norse are exceptionally well known for their longboats. These boats could measure up to 37 meters in length. The boats were relatively narrow so that they could sail on the sea or up rivers. This design helped them raid villages by moving up and down waterways.

The Norse have usually depicted rowing boats, and they did rowboats. They built two different kinds of small boats that either had four oars or six oars that men rowed. However, they also could build larger boats that had up to 50 oars that were used to move the ship.

To move on land, the Norse mostly used horses and carts. In the winter, they sometimes used a sled. They also did a lot of walking in the summer

Most of Scandinavia was considered pagan at the time, which means the Vikings came from pagan regions. Slowly, over time, the Vikings adopted the Christian religion. Sometimes they blended their religion with the Christians they encountered while raiding British and French villages.

While historians know very little about how the pagans worshipped, they know that many pagan groups had priests or priestesses. Historians also believe that Vikings may have sacrificed horses to the gods.

Like Christianity, the Vikings religion believed in diving powers and powerful, supernatural beings. Their ideas about the world stem from the mythologies and stories that are passed down. In these stories, the gods raised the land out of the sea and created Midgard, which is where humans live.

We have more information about the Norse gods from stories and mythologies that were passed down ever after the Christian conversion. The most powerful god in Viking mythology is Odin. He had one eye and was the god of warfare, wisdom, justice, death, and poetry.

A famous Nordic god was Thor. This is the same Thor associated with the current superhero films. Thor was the god of thunder and carries a mighty hammer. This hammer was often made into pendants that Vikings wore.

The Vikings settled in many regions. They first moved from Scandinavia to the British Isles, where they raided British villages. They made settlements in Ireland, Scotland, and England, some parts of Wales, and the Isle of Man.

Some of the Vikings moved to France and started to raid villages in the northern parts of the Frankish Empire. After a peace treaty with the Frankish Empire, the Vikings settled in Normandy.

Moving further south in Europe, the Vikings even found their way to Sicily and Italy. Many of these Vikings originally stopped in Normandy and then moved on to these southern reaches. Several Vikings served as mercenaries in Sicily and Italy. Norse Vikings even raided the northern-most parts of Africa.

The Vikings also raided and settled northern regions too. Another group of Vikings left Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and traveled to long distances to Iceland, Greenland, and Canada. Norwegian Vikings settled in Greenland, and they raided parts of Canada. Swedish Vikings traveled East and settled in parts of Russia.

The Vikings raided and settled across most of the northern hemisphere.

The age of the Vikings ended with the Norman invasion in 1066. However, the power of the Norse dwindled towards the end of the 10 th century for several reasons. As time passed, the Norse were integrated into European societies and cultures.

The Norse lacked a strong central leader or government, but the European societies of the time did have strong central figures and leaders. The Norse were good soldiers, but they were not a good army. Other armies had leaders and worked cohesively as a unit. These stronger armies could fend off Viking raids.

Finally, Christianity swept over Europe, including Norse-held lands. The Norse adapted to Christian beliefs, which was solidified by the Norman Conquest in 1066.

More importantly, the Vikings stopped raiding because as times changed, it was no longer profitable or safe to raid across Europe. Instead, the Vikings settled into the lands they first raided and became citizens in developing nations. The Vikings became Norwegians, Swedes, French, British, or Greenlanders.

Other Interesting Facts & Information About The Vikings

Norse clothing was held in place by brooches or yarn-ropes.

Both men and women wore jewelry.

Viking houses consisted of one big room. They did not have separate rooms.

The Norse drank mead, water, and beer. The wealthier Norse also drank wine.

Artisans were able to carve combs from animal bones and antlers.

Merchants traded furs, beeswax, honey, ivory, and animal skins for items such as silk, spice, wine, and glass.

The Vikings had meetings similar to town hall meetings where they would discuss problems and make decisions about problems within the community.

Laws of villages were not written down.

The Norse believed in blood-feuds. This means that arguments could be settled by fighting.

The Vikings visited North America before Christopher Columbus.

When important Vikings died, the deceased Viking would be buried in a large ship with all of his wealth and belonging. Instead of burying the ship, the Vikings also pushed the ship out to sea.

Read more about the Anglo-Saxons

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The Vikings: Facts & Information for Kids - History for Kids

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The Vikings were a collection of people from Scandinavian regions that migrated to and conquered nearby regions from the 8th-11th century. Learn more!

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Kids learn about the Vikings during the Middle Ages and Medieval times. Scandanavian raiders on long boat and ships from Denmark and Sweden.

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The Vikings

Around 800 CE, various peoples from Scandinavian regions sailed away from their homelands and began raiding other areas of Europe. These pirate Norsemen ("Northmen") became known as Vikings, from the old Norse word for bay or creek: vik.

Vikings raided coastal sites, including undefended monasteries in the British Isles and spread fear throughout Europe. For over 100 years, they controlled most of eastern England and also parts of France, especially Normandy.

Some Vikings eventually settled in conquered areas or focused on trading, but others continued raids until the 11th century.

Culture

The earliest Vikings practiced their own forms of pagan religion. Later Vikings converted to Christianity. They spoke a language called Old Norse. Vikings decorated useful objects, such as swords, and crafted beautiful jewelry.

Early Raids

793 - The attack on Lindisfarne Monastery on the Northumberland coast of Britain marks the beginning of the Viking era. The marauders probably came from what is now Norway. They did not destroy the monastery, but news of the attack spread through Christianized Europe and spread fear. As non-Christians then, Vikings had no respect for religious institutions.

795 - Vikings raided monasteries on the northern islands of Skye, Iona and Rathlin.

799 - The first recorded Viking raid in continental Europe was at the Monastery of St. Philibert's on the island of Noirmoutier, off the coast of what is now France.

Inland Raids

As Vikings learned of conflicts between various rulers in Europe, they began striking deeper inland. Some Frankish rulers used the fear of Vikings to their advantage. They paid Vikings not to attack their region. Some even invited Vikings to take their side in local wars. For example, in 840, Lothar invited a Viking fleet to help in a power struggle with his brothers. Vikings gained great wealth in such protection money.

Later Raids

Viking armies continued raids on the continent throughout the 9th century.

842 - Vikings sacked Nantes, then sailed up the Loire and began launching attacks on other inland Frankish cities over the the next few years: Paris, Limoges, Orleans, Tours, Nimes.

844 - Vikings attacked the Spanish city of Seville, controlled by Arabs then.

859 - Vikings set out from the coast of France with 62 ships. For several years, they carried out raids along the Mediterranean Coast. They sacked Pisa in Italy and may have traveled as far as Alexandria in Egypt.

Normandy

In the early 900s, a Frankish king gave some northern territories to the Viking chief, Rollo. In return he asked that Rollo keep other traders from traveling down the Seine River. The region ruled by Rollo region became Normandy, "Land of Northmen."

British Isles

By the mid-ninth century, Vikings controlled much of mainland Scotland as well as its northern isles. Vikings also founded Ireland's trading towns: Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, and Limerick. They used these towns as bases to attack inland in Ireland and across the Irish Sea to England.

Viking armies (mostly Danish) conquered East Anglia and Northumberland. Only King Alfred the Great of Wessex was able to defeat the Danish army in England. After losing Wessex, the Danes settled to the North in what they called Danelaw. Many became farmers and traders and established York as a key trading city.

In the 10th century, English armies led by Alfred's descendants reconquered the Scandinavian parts of England. They killed the last Scandinavian king, Erik Bloodaxe, in 952 and united England into a kingdom.

Westward

With their advanced seafaring skills, the Vikings explored westward across the Atlantic. They settled Iceland and Greenland. Some made it as far as North America. They called it Vinland and built a small settlement in what is now Newfoundland.

Second Viking Age

By the 10th century, Harald Bluetooth, unified and Christianized Denmark and began what is often called the second Viking age. With royal leaders behind them in Denmark, Viking warriors organized larger raids, especially along the coasts of England.

Sven Forkbeard was one of the Vikings leading these new attacks on England. He conquered the entire kingdom in 1013. Sven died and left his son Knut (Canute) to rule a short-lived empire that united England, Denmark and Norway on North Sea.

Edward the Confessor soon regained the English throne from the Danes. His successors fended off more Viking attacks, including one by the last great Viking king, Harald Hardrad of Norway near York.

The Norman Conquest

Battles with Vikings weakened English forces. In 1066, weeks after the battle near York, England fell to the armies of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, who was himself a descendant of Scandinavian settlers in northern France.

The Norman Conquest ended the Viking age. William fended off further Danish challenges. By then, Scandinavian kingdoms had become largely Christian and focused on building power back in their homelands.

Language Influences

The Viking language shows up in many place names in northern England, Scotland and Russia. For example, in Yorkshire in England, 210 town names end in -by, a Scandinavian suffix meaning "town." Here are two examples:

Grimsby - Grimr's town
Wetherby - sheep's town (wether means a castrated ram)

Many words in English come from old Norse. Here are just a few:

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The Vikings - The Middle Ages - Facts for Kids

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Around 800 CE, various peoples from Scandinavian regions sailed away from their homelands and began raiding other areas of Europe. These pirate Norsemen ("Northmen") became known as Vikings, from the old Norse word for bay or creek: vik. Vikings raided coastal sites, including undefended monasteries in the British Isles and spread fear throughout Europe.

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Table of Contents

Danelaw, also spelled Danelagh or Danelaga, the northern, central, and eastern region of Anglo-Saxon England colonized by invading Danish armies in the late 9th century. In the 11th and 12th centuries, it was recognized that all of eastern England between the Rivers Tees and Thames formed a region in which a distinctive form of customary law prevailed in the local courts, differing from West Saxon law to the south and Mercian law to the west. The region derived its name from the Old English Dena lagu ("Danes' law") under the assumption that its unique legal practices were of Danish origin, an assumption borne out by modern scholarship.

The Danes did not settle the whole of this wide area intensively, but their powerful military aristocracy dominated for a sufficient period to leave its imprint on local custom. The area of the Danelaw is marked by the survival of Danish personal names and place-names; DNA evidence also has confirmed the link between Denmark and the modern inhabitants of Derbyshire. In local administration the hundred was generally called a wapentake, and the hide was generally replaced by the plowland. Its law was distinguished by procedural differences, severe fines for breach of peace, and the existence of an aristocratic jury of presentment to initiate the prosecution of criminal suspects. In the areas of intensive Danish settlement, there were an unusually high number of sokemen, a class of personally free peasants attached to a lord rather than to the land.

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Danelaw | region, England, United Kingdom

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Danelaw, also spelled Danelagh or Danelaga, the northern, central, and eastern region of Anglo-Saxon England colonized by invading Danish armies in the late 9th century. In the 11th and 12th centuries, it was recognized that all of eastern England between the Rivers Tees and Thames formed a region in which a distinctive form of customary law prevailed in the local courts, differing from West Saxon law to the south and Mercian law to the west.