(Redirected from Vikings)
'Viking', also called
Norseman or Northman, refers to a member of the
Scandinavian seafaring traders,
warriors and
pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of
Europe from the 9th to the 11th century
[1] and reached east to
Russia and
Constantinople, (referred to as
Varangians by the
Byzantine sources and by the
Russian
Primary Chronicle.)
[2][3]
Leif Eriksson, known from
Icelandic sagas as a descendant from a line of Norwegian Viking chieftains, who had established the first European settlement in
Greenland in about 985, was most likely the first European discoverer of
America in about 1000.
[4] His initial area of settlement is known as
L'Anse aux Meadows located in
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Canada.
The name Viking at first (c. 800) in Scandinavia meant a man from the ''Vik'', the bay that lies between Cape
Lindesnes in
Norway and the mouth of the
Göta River in
Sweden.
[5] The first Oxford English Dictionary reference to ''Wiking'' dates from 1807.
[6] The spelling ''viking'' in
Modern English is first recorded in 1840. The word is not found in
Middle English but only came into use in modern historical writings.
[7]
The term
Viking Age has come to denote the years from about 800 to 1050 in
Scandinavian History.
[8][9]
The term ''Viking'' has also denoted entire populations of Viking Age Scandinavia and their settlements, as an expanded meaning. For example the traders and raiders of the era that originated from the eastern coast of the
Baltic sea were first mentioned in the
Icelandic sagas as the (
Norwegian:''Vikinger fra Estland''),
[10][11] Estonian vikings[12][13]
Viking voyages decreased and ended with the introduction of
Christianity to Scandinavia in the late 10th and 11th century.
Etymology
The Principles of English Etymology By Walter W. Skeat,
Published in 1892, defined 'Viking': ''better Wiking, Icel. viking-r, O. Icel.
★ wiking-r, a creek-dweller; from Icel. vik, O. Icel.
★ wik, a creek, bay, with suffix -uig-r, belonging to ''
[14]
In Old Norse, this would be spelled ''víkingr'',
[15] a man from the ''Vik'', the bay that lies between Cape
Lindesnes in
Norway and the mouth of the
Göta River in
Sweden.
It may be noted that ''
Viken'' was the old name of the region bordering on the
Skagerrak, from where the first Norse merchant-warriors originated. The Swedish county bordering on the Skagerrak, which is now called
Bohuslän, was previous to the construction of the
Bohus fortress also called ''Vikland''. Vikland was once a part of the Norse district of
Viken. Later on, the term, ''Viking,'' became synonymous with "naval expedition" or "naval raid", and a ''víking'' was a member of such expeditions. A second etymology suggested that the term is derived from
Old English, ''wíc,'' ie. "trading city" (cognate to
Latin ''vicus'', "village").
Etymologists trace the word to
Anglo-
Frankish writers, who referred to "''víkingr''" as one who set about to raid and pillage,
[16] as in the saga of
Egil Skallagrimsson. In current Scandinavian languages, the term ''Viking'' is applied to the people who went away on Viking expeditions, be it for raiding or trading. In English and many other languages, Viking might refer to the Viking Age
Scandinavians in general.
[17] The pre-Christian Scandinavian population is also referred to as
Norse, although that term is properly applied to the whole civilization of
Old-Norse-speaking people.
The word ''Viking'' appears on several
rune stones found in
Scandinavia. In the
Icelanders' sagas, ''víking'' refers to an overseas expedition (Old Norse ''fara í víking'' "to go on an expedition"), and ''víkingr,'' to a sea-man or warrior taking part in such an expedition.
In Old English, the word ''wicing'' appears first in the
Anglo-Saxon poem, "
Widsith", which probably dates from the
9th century. In Old English, and in the writings of
Adam von Bremen, the term refers to a
pirate, and is not a name for a people or a culture in general. Regardless of its possible origins, the word was used more as a verb than as a noun, and connoted an activity and not a distinct group of individuals. To "go Viking" was distinctly different from Norse seaborne missions of trade and commerce.
The word disappeared in
Middle English, and was reintroduced as ''Viking'' during
18th century Romanticism (the "
Viking revival"), with heroic overtones of "
barbarian warrior" or
noble savage. During the
20th century, the meaning of the term was expanded to refer not only to the raiders, but also to the entire period; it is now, somewhat confusingly, used as a noun both in the original meaning of raiders, warriors or navigators, and to refer to the Scandinavian population in general. As an adjective, the word is used in expressions like "
Viking age", "Viking culture", "Viking colony", etc., generally referring to medieval Scandinavia.
In
Russian language Vikings are called
Varangians, or Varyags (
Russian,
Ukrainian : Варяги, Varyagi). The term Varangians made its first appearance not in
Scandinavia or
Russia but in
Byzantium where it was introduced to designate a function. In Russia it was extended to apply to Scandinavian warriors journeying to and from
Constantinople. In the Byzantine sources Varangians are first mentioned in 1034 as in garrison in the
Thracian theme. The Arabic geographer
Al Biruni has mentioned the
Baltic sea as the Varangian Sea and specifies the Varangians as a people dwelling on its coasts. The first datable use of the word in
Norse literature appears by
Einarr Skúlason in 1153. According to Icelandic
Njalssaga from the 13th century the institution of Varangian guard was established by year 1000. In the Russian
Primary Chronicle the Varangian is used as a generic term for the Germanic nations on the coasts of the Baltic sea that likewise lived in the west as far as the land of the English and the French
[18]
The word ''Væringjar'' itself is regarded in Scandinavia as of
Old Norse origin, cognate with
Old English ''Værgenga'' (One who seeks protection, a stranger), derived from ''varar'', (solem vow, oath) and ''ganga''.
Historical considerations
In
England the Viking Age began dramatically on
June 8 793 when Norsemen destroyed the Abbey church on
Lindisfarne, a centre of learning famous across the continent. Monks were killed in the abbey itself, thrown into the sea to drown or carried away as slaves along with the church treasures. Three Viking ships had beached in Portland Bay 4 years earlier but the incursion may have been a trading expedition that went wrong rather than a piratical raid. Lindisfarne was different. The devastation of
Northumbria's Holy Island shocked and alerted the royal Courts of Europe. "Never before has such an atrocity been seen," declared the Northumbrian Scholar,
Alcuin of York. More than any other single event, the attack on Lindisfarne demonized perception of the Vikings for the next twelve centuries. Not until 1890's did scholars outside Scandinavia begin seriously to reassess the achievements of the Vikings, recognizing the artistry, the technological skills and the seamanship.
[19]
Until
Victoria's reign in
Britain, Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty. The chronicles of medieval England had always portrayed them as rapacious 'wolves among sheep'. During the nineteenth century public perceptions changed. In 1920 a winged-helmeted Viking was introduced as a radiator cap figure on a new
Rover car, marking the start of the cultural rehabilitation of the Vikings in Britain.
The first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly editions of the Viking Age began to reach a small readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britain's Viking past. Linguistic enthusiasts started to work on identifying Viking-Age origins for rural idioms and proverbs. The new dictionaries of the Old Norse language enabled the Victorians to grapple with the primary
Icelandic sagas.
In Scandinavia
Thomas Bartholin and
Ole Worm, the 17th-century Danish scholars and Olaf Rudbeck in Sweden were the first to set the standard for using runic inscriptions and Icelandic Sagas as historical sources. During the
Age of Enlightenment and Nordic Renaissance historical scholarship in Scandinavia became more rational and pragmatic in the works of a Danish historian
Ludvig Holberg and Swedish
Olof von Dalin. The latter half of the 18th century the Icelandic sagas were still used as important historical sources but the Viking Age was not regarded as a golden age but rather as a barbaric and uncivilized period in the history of the Nordic countries. Until recently the history of the Viking Age was largely based on Icelandic sagas, the history of the Danes written by
Saxo Grammaticus, the Russian
Primary Chronicle and the
The War of the Irish with the Foreigners. Although few scholars still accept these texts as reliable sources, historians nowadays rely more on archeology and numismatics, disciplines that have made valuable contributions toward understanding the period.
[20]
The Viking Age
Main articles: Viking Age
The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the
Norman Conquest of England in 1066 is commonly called the Viking Age in
Scandinavian History. The
Normans, however, were descended from
Norwegians (in Norwegian they are still to date referred to as ''jeg er en Normann''),
Orkney,
Hiberno-Norse, and
Danelaw Vikings who were given
feudal overlordship of areas of northern France — the
Duchy of Normandy — in the
8th century. In that respect, the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe. Likewise, King
Harold Godwinson, the last
Anglo-Saxon king of England who was killed during the Norman
invasion in 1066, was descended from Danish Vikings. Many of the medieval kings of Norway and Denmark were married to English and Scottish royalty and Viking forces were often a factor in dynastic disputes pre-1066.
Geographically, a "Viking Age" may be assigned not only to the Scandinavian lands (modern Denmark, Norway and Sweden), but also to territories under
North Germanic dominance, mainly the
Danelaw, which replaced the powerful
English kingdom of
Northumbria and the
Isle of Man. Contemporary with the European Viking Age, the
Byzantine Empire in the
Balkans and
Anatolia, heir to the
Eastern Roman Empire, experienced the greatest period of stability (circa 800–1071) it would enjoy after the initial wave of
Arab conquerors in the
7th century.
Viking navigators also opened the road to new lands to the north, west and east, resulting in the foundation of independent kingdoms in the
Shetland,
Orkney, and
Faroe Islands,
Iceland,
Greenland, and
L'Anse aux Meadows, a short-lived settlement in
Newfoundland, circa 1000 A.D. Many of these lands, specifically Greenland and Iceland, were likely discovered by sailors blown off course. Greenland was later abandoned because its few "green" spots disappeared due to climate change. Vikings also seized and destroyed many villages and territories in
Slavic-dominated areas of
Eastern Europe. The Persian traveller
Ibn Rustah described how Swedish Vikings, the
Rus, terrorized and
enslaved the
Slavs.
During three centuries, Vikings appeared along the coasts and rivers of Europe, as traders generally, but also as raiders when opportunity allowed, and even like
Turgesius, as settlers. From 839,
Varangian mercenaries in
Byzantine service, notably
Harald Hardrada, campaigned in
North Africa,
Jerusalem, and other places in the
Middle East. Important trading ports during the period include
Birka,
Hedeby,
Kaupang,
Jorvik,
Staraya Ladoga,
Novgorod and
Kiev.
Generally speaking, the
Norwegians expanded to the north and west to places such as
Iceland and
Greenland, the
Danes to England and France, settling in the
Danelaw (NE England) and
Normandy, and the
Swedes to the east. These nations, although distinct, were similar in culture, especially
language. The names of Scandinavian kings are known only for the later part of the Viking Age, and only after the end of the Viking Age did the separate kingdoms acquire a distinct identity as nations, which went hand in hand with their
Roman Catholicization. Thus the end of the Viking Age (9th–11th century) for the Scandinavians also marks the start of their relatively brief Middle Ages.
There is archaeological evidence (coins) that the Vikings reached the city of
Baghdad, the centre of the Islamic Empire and their considerable intellectual endeavours. In 921,
Ibn Fadlan was sent as emissary on behalf of the
Caliph of
Baghdad to the iltäbär (vassal-king under the
Khazars) of the
Volga Bulgaria, Almış. The Bolgar King had petitioned to the Caliph to establish relations. He had asked to have someone come to teach him Arabic and the Qu'ran and pledge allegiance to Hanafi rite of the Sunni Muslims. The Caliph promised to send money to build a fort on the Volga, but the transaction never occurred. The
Norse regularly plied the
Volga with their trade goods: furs, tusks, seal fat to seal boats and
slaves (notably female slaves; this was the one time in the history of the
slave-trade when females were priced higher than males). However, they were far less successful in establishing settlements in the Middle East, due to the more centralized
Islamic power, namely of the
Umayyad and, later,
Abbasid empires.
Decline
After trade and settlement, cultural impulses flowed from the rest of Europe. Christianity had had an early and growing presence in Scandinavia, and with the rise of centralized authority along with a stiffening of coastal defense in the areas the Vikings preyed upon, the Viking raids became more risky and less profitable. With the rise of kings and great nobles and a quasi-
feudal system in Scandinavia, they ceased entirely – in the 11th century the Scandinavians are frequently chronicled as combating the Vikings from the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, which eventually lead to Danish and Swedish participation in the
Baltic crusades (end of 12th and early 13th century) and contributed to the development of the
Hanseatic League.
The east Baltic world was transformed by military conquest: first the
Livs,
Letts and
Estonians, then the
Prussians and the
Finns underwent defeat, baptism, military occupation and sometimes
ethnic cleansing and extermination by groups of
Germans,
Danes and
Swedes.
[21]
Historical records
Traditionally the earliest date given for a Viking raid is 787 when, according to the ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,'' a group of men from
Norway sailed to
Portland, in Dorset. There, they were mistaken for merchants by a royal official, and they murdered him when he tried to get them to accompany him to the king's manor to pay a trading tax on their goods. The next recorded attack, dated
June 8 793, was on the monastery at
Lindisfarne on the east coast of
England. For the next 200 years,
European history is filled with tales of Vikings and their plundering; the majority of chronicles comes from western witnesses or their descendants, a lesser quantity of chronicles comes from eastern mentions from the
Nestor chronicles,
Novgorod chronicles,
Ibn Fadlan chronicles,
Ibn Ruslan chronicles, and many brief mentions of the Fosio bishop from the first big attack to the
Byzantine empire.
The vikings had little influence throughout the coastal areas of
Ireland and
Scotland but they conquered and colonised large parts of England (see
Danelaw), and conquered large coastal territories in the
Baltic Sea and a large part of inland Russian territories across the rivers settled in
Staraya Ladoga,
Novgorod and along major waterways to the
Byzantine empire.
Wales also saw some Viking settlements on its coast; the modern day city of
Swansea takes its name from Sweyne Forkbeard who was shipwrecked at modern day
Swansea Bay; neighbouring
Gower Peninsula has many place names of Norse origin (such as
Worms Head; worm is the Norse word for dragon, as the Vikings believed that the serpent-shaped island was a sleeping dragon). Twenty miles west of
Cardiff on the
Vale of Glamorgan coast is the semi-flooded island of
Tusker Rock, which takes its name from Tuska, the Viking whose people semi-colonised the fertile lands of the
Vale of Glamorgan.
Danish seamen, painted mid-12th century.
The Britons of
Cornwall allied with Danish Vikings in 722 to defeat the Saxons of
Wessex at "Hehil", possibly somewhere near modern day Padstow; this battle is recorded in the Analies Cambria and kept Cornwall free of Anglo-Saxon control for at least 100 years. The Danes tactically helped their Cornish allies by making devastating pillaging raids on Wessex which weakened the authority of the Saxons, and in 1013 Wessex was conquered by the Danes under the leadership of the Viking King of Denmark
Sweyn Forkbeard.
Vikings travelled up the rivers of
France and
Spain, and gained control of areas in
Russia and along the
Baltic coast. Stories tell of raids in the
Mediterranean and as far east as the
Caspian Sea.
In select cases, the
Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Wales,
Brittany in 865 and in 722
Cornwall, during their battles against the
Anglo-Saxons, decided to ally with the Vikings against the Saxons.
Adam of Bremen records in his book ''Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum'', (volume four):
★ ''Aurum ibi plurimum, quod raptu congeritur piratico. Ipsi enim piratae, 'quos illi Wichingos as appellant, nostri Ascomannos regi Danico tributum solvunt''.
:"There is much gold here (in
Zealand), accumulated by piracy. These pirates, which are called ''wichingi'' by their own people, and ''Ascomanni'' by our own people, pay tribute to the Danish king."
Egil Skallagrimsson writes; ''Björn var farmaður mikill, var stundum í víking, en stundum í kaupferðum'', in English: "Björn was a great traveller; sometimes as Viking, sometimes as tradesman".
Icelandic sagas
Norse mythology,
Norse sagas and
Old Norse literature tell us about their religion through tales of heroic and mythological heroes. However, the transmission of this information was primarily oral, and we are reliant upon the writings of (later) Christian scholars, such as the Icelanders
Snorri Sturluson and
Sæmundur fróði, for much of this. Many of these sagas were written in
Iceland, and most of them, even if they had no Icelandic provenance, were preserved there after the Middle Ages due to the Icelanders' continued interest in Norse literature and law codes.
Vikings in those sagas are described as if they often struck at accessible and poorly defended targets, usually with impunity. The sagas state that the Vikings built settlements and were skilled craftsmen and traders.
The writer Snorri Sturlason wrote about the Norwegian kings, and is famous for his sagas (Kongesagaene/King's Saga) about the Norwegian kings down to this present day. Like Snorri Sturlason, Icelanders at that time were Norwegian in both language and culture because of the Norwegian rule, but evolved more and more to their own liking because of the isolation from the mainland.
Viking expansion
Vikings, the Early
Medieval Danish,
Norwegian, and
Swedish traders&raiders, famed for their
longships, colonized the coasts of
Ireland,
Great Britain,
Normandy, the
Shetland,
Orkney, and
Faroe Islands,
Iceland,
Greenland,
Newfoundland circa 1000.
[22] They reached south to
North Africa and east to Russia and Constantinople, as looters, traders, or mercenaries. Vikings under
Leif Eriksson, heir to
Erik the Red, reached North America, with putative expeditions to present-day
Canada, Maine and Southeastern Massachusetts, Including Cape Cod in the
10th century.
Britain
England
''yellow:'' Danelaw
According to the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, after
Lindisfarne was raided in 793, Vikings continued on small-scale raids across
England. Viking raiders struck England in 793 and raided a Christian monastery that held Saint Cuthbert’s relics. The raiders killed the monks and captured the valuables. This raid was called the beginning of the “Viking Age of Invasion”, made possible by the Viking longship. There was great violence during the last decade of the 8th century on England’s northern and eastern shores. While the initial raiding groups were small, it is believed that a great amount of planning was involved.
During the winter between 840 and 841, the Norwegians raided during the winter instead of the usual summer. They waited on an island off Ireland. In 865 a
large army of Danish Vikings, supposedly led by Ivar, Halfdan and Guthrum arrived in East Anglia. They proceeded to cross England into Northumbria and captured York (
Jorvik), where some settled as farmers. Most of the English kingdoms, being in turmoil, could not stand against the Vikings, but
Alfred of Wessex managed to keep the Vikings out of his country. Alfred and his successors continued to drive back the Viking frontier and take York.
A new wave of Vikings appeared in England in 947 when
Erik Bloodaxe captured York. The Viking presence continued through the reign of
Canute the Great (1016-1035), after which a series of inheritance arguments weakened the family reign. The Viking presence dwindled until 1066, when the Norwegians lost their final battle with the English. See also
Danelaw.
The Vikings did not get everything their way. In one instance in England, a small Viking fleet attacked a rich monastery at
Jarrow. The Vikings were met with stronger resistance than they expected: their leaders were killed, the raiders escaped, only to have their ships beached at Tynemouth and the crews killed by locals. This was one of the last raids on England for about 40 years. The Vikings instead focused on Ireland and Scotland. There was a good deal of intermarriage between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons.
Scotland
While there are few records from the earliest period, it is believed to be clear that a Scandinavian presence in
Scotland increased in the 830s. In 836, a large Viking force believed to be Norwegian invaded the Earn valley and
Tay valley which were central to the
Pictish kingdom. They slaughtered Eoganan, king of the Picts, and his brother, the vassal king of the Scots. They also killed many members of the Pictish aristocracy. The sophisticated kingdom that had been built fell apart, as did the Pictish leadership. The foundation of
Scotland under
Kenneth MacAlpin is traditionally attributed to the aftermath of this event.
The isles to the north and west of Scotland were heavily colonized by Norwegian Vikings.
Shetland,
Orkney, the
Western Isles,
Caithness and
Sutherland were under Norse control, sometimes as fiefs under the King of Norway and other times as separate entities. Shetland and Orkney were the last of these to be incorporated into Scotland in as late as 1468. As well as Orkney and Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland, the Norse settled in the Hebrides. The west coast was also heavily settled, and Galloway, which got its name from the Gall-Gael or Foreigner Gael (as the mixed Norse Scots were known). In addition there are many Norse place names in Lothian. .
Wales
Wales was not colonized by the Vikings as heavily as eastern England and Ireland. The Vikings did, however, settle in the south around
St. David's,
Haverfordwest, and
Gower, among other places. Place names such as Skokholm, Skomer, and Swansea remain as evidence of the Norse settlement.
[23] The Vikings, however, were not able to set up a Viking state or control Wales, owing to the powerful forces of Welsh kings, and, unlike in Scotland, the aristocracy was relatively unharmed. There was less intermarriage in Wales than any other British Isle Country.
Nevertheless, following the successful Viking alliances with Cornwall in 722 and Britanny in 865, the Britons made their peace with the Danes, and a Viking/Welsh alliance in 878 defeated an Anglo-Saxon army from Mercia. The Danes made significant settlements on the coastal lowlands of Wales, such as Glamorgan, Gower and South Pembrokeshire, and in total contrast to the Anglo-Saxons of
Mercia and
Wessex, by the middle-to-end of the Viking Age, the Danes and Britons managed to live peacefully alongside each other, and like the Britons, the Danes were loath to give up their new territory in Wales to the Saxons without a fight, and ultimately, the Saxons were unable to conquer Wales, partly as in 1013 the Saxons were themselves conquered by the Vikings and annexed to a Danish empire controlled by
King Canute.
Cornwall
In 722 the
Cornish allied with
Danish Vikings in order to hold
Wessex from expanding into
Cornwall. A Wessex
Saxon army led by
King Ine was comprehensively destroyed by an alliance of Cornish and Vikings near the Camel estuary. This battle, as well as the Vikings continually attacking Wessex, enabled Cornwall to stay autonomous from Wessex, and Wessex itself would eventually be conquered by the Danish Vikings in 1013 led by the Viking King of Denmark,
Sweyn Forkbeard.
Ireland
The Vikings conducted extensive raids in
Ireland and founded many towns, including,
Athlone,
Dublin,
Limerick,
Mullingar,
Wexford,
Waterford and
Leixlip. At one point, they seemingly came close to taking over the whole isle; however, the Scandinavians settled down and intermixed with the Irish. Literature, crafts, and decorative styles in Ireland and the British Isles reflected Scandinavian culture. Vikings traded at Irish markets in Dublin. Excavations found imported fabrics from England, Byzantium, Persia, and central Asia. Dublin became so crowded by the 11th century that houses were constructed outside the town walls.
The Vikings pillaged monasteries on Ireland’s west coast in 795, and then spread out to cover the rest of the coastline. The north and east of the island were most affected. During the first 40 years, the raids were conducted by small, mobile Viking groups. From 830 on, the groups consisted of large fleets of Viking ships. From 840, the Vikings began establishing permanent bases at the coasts. Dublin was the most significant settlement in the long term. The Irish became accustomed to the Viking presence & culture. In some cases they became allies and also intermarried throughout all of
Ireland.
In 832, a Viking fleet of about 120 ships under
Turgesius invaded kingdoms on Ireland’s northern and eastern coasts. Some believe that the increased number of invaders coincided with Scandinavian leaders’ desires to control the profitable raids on the western shores of Ireland. During the mid-830s, raids began to push deeper into Ireland. Navigable waterways made this deeper penetration possible. After 840, the Vikings had several bases in strategic locations throughout Ireland.
In 838, a small Viking fleet entered the
River Liffey in eastern Ireland. The Vikings set up a base, which the Irish called
longphorts. This longphort would eventually become Dublin. After this interaction, the Irish experienced Viking forces for about 40 years. The Vikings also established longphorts in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. The Vikings were driven out of Ireland for a short period around 900, but returned to Waterford in 914 to found what would become Ireland's first city. The other longphorts were soon re-occupied and developed into cities and towns.
The last major battle involving Vikings was the
Battle of Clontarf in 1014, in which a large force from the pan-Viking world and their Irish allies opposed
Brian Boru, then the High King of Ireland and his forces, a small contingent of which were Viking defectors. The battle was fought in what is the now Dublin suburb of
Clontarf on Good Friday of that year. Boru, the Irish High King had gracefully allowed the Viking King of Dublin; Sigtrygg Silkbeard, one year to prepare for his coming assault. Silkbeard responded by offering the bed of his mother to several Viking lords from Scandinavia and the British Isles. The savage melee between the heavily mailed Norse and the unarmored, yet undaunted Gaels ended in a rout of the Vikings and their Irish allies. Careful accounts were taken by both sides during the battle, and thus many famous warriors sought each other out for personal combat and glory. High King Brian, who was near verging upon eighty, did not personally engage in the battle but retired to his tent where he spent the day in quiet prayer. History records that the Viking Earl Brodir of Man chanced upon Brian's tent as he fled the field. He and a few followers seized the opportunity, and surprised the High King, killing the aged Brian before being captured. Brian's foster son
Wolf the Quarrelsome later tracked down and dispatched Brodir by disembowelment; Wolf watching as Brodir marched and wound his own innards around the trunk of a large tree. The battle was fairly matched for most of the day and each side had great respect for the prowess of the other; however, in the end, the Irish forced the Norse to return to the sea. Many of the fleeing Vikings were drowned in the surf due to their heavy mail coats as they struggled for the safety of their longships; others were pursued and slain further inland. After the battle, Viking power was broken in Ireland forever, though many settled Norse remained in the cities and prospered greatly with the Irish through trade. With Brian dead, Ireland returned to the fractured kingdom it had once been, but was now cleared of further Viking predation.
West Francia
West Francia suffered more severely than
East Francia during the Viking raids of the ninth century, which destroyed the
Carolingian Empire, though it suffered less severely than the
Low Countries. The reign of
Charles the Bald, whose military record was one of consistent failure, coincided with some of the worst of these raids, though he did take action by the
Edict of Pistres of 864 to secure a standing army of cavalry under royal control to be called upon at all times when necessary to fend off the invaders. He also ordered the building of fortified bridges to prevent inland raids.
Nonetheless, the
Bretons allied with the Vikings and
Robert, the
margrave of
Neustria, (a march created for defence against the Vikings sailing up the
Loire), and
Ranulf of Aquitaine died in the
Battle of Brissarthe in 865. The Vikings also took advantage of the civil wars which ravaged the
Duchy of Aquitaine in the early years of Charles' reign. In the 840s,
Pepin II called in the Vikings to aid him against Charles and they settled at the mouth of the
Garonne. Two
dukes of Gascony,
Seguin II and
William I, died defending
Bordeaux from Viking assaults. A later duke,
Sancho Mitarra, even settled some at the mouth of the
Adour in an act presaging that of
Charles the Simple and the
Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte by which the Vikings were settled in
Rouen, creating
Normandy as a bulwark against other Vikings.
Iberia
By the mid 9th century, though apparently not before (Fletcher 1984, ch. 1, note 51), there were Viking attacks on the coastal
Kingdom of Asturias in the far northwest of the peninsula, though historical sources are too meagre to assess how frequent or how early raiding occurred. By the reign of
Alfonso III Vikings were stifling the already weak threads of sea communications that tied
Galicia (a province of the Kingdom) to the rest of Europe. Richard Fletcher attests raids on the Galician coast in 844 and 858: "Alfonso III was sufficiently worried by the threat of Viking attack to establish fortified strong points near his coastline, as other rulers were doing elsewhere." In 861, a group of Vikings ransomed the king of Pamplona, whom they had captured the previous year, for 60,000 gold pieces.
Raiding continued for the next two centuries. In 968 Bishop Sisnando of
Compostela was killed, the monastery of Curtis was sacked, and measures were ordered for the defence of the inland town of
Lugo. After
Tui was sacked early in the 11th century, its bishopric remained vacant for the next half-century. Ransom was a motive for abductions: Fletcher instances Amarelo Mestáliz, who was forced to raise money on the security of his land in order to ransom his daughters who had been captured by the Vikings in 1015. Bishop
Cresconio of Compostela (ca. 1036–66) repulsed a Viking foray and built the fortress at ''Torres do Oeste'' (Council of
Catoira) to protect Compostela from the Atlantic approaches. The city of
Póvoa de Varzim in Northern
Portugal, then a town, was settled by Vikings around the 9th century and its influence kept strong until very recently, mostly due to the practice of
endogamy in the community.
In the Islamic south, the first navy of the
Emirate was built after the humiliating Viking ascent of the
Guadalquivir in 844. Nevertheless, in 859, Danish
pirates sailed through Gibraltar and raided the little
Moroccan state of Nakur. The king's harem had to be ransomed back by the emir of Cordoba. These and other raids prompted a shipbuilding program at the dockyards of
Seville. The Andalusian navy was thenceforth employed to patrol the Iberian coastline under the caliphs
Abd al-Rahman III (912–61) and
Al-Hakam II (961–76). By the next century, piracy from North Africans superseded Viking raids.
Byzantine Empire, Russia, Ukraine
The Varangians or Varyags (Russian, Ukrainian: Варяги, Varyagi) sometimes referred to as Variagians were Scandinavians who
migrated eastwards and southwards through what is now Russia and Ukraine mainly in the 9th and 10th centuries. Engaging in trade, piracy and mercenary activities, they roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki, reaching the Caspian Sea and Constantinople.[1]
North America
Some exploration and expansion occurred still further west, in modern-day Greenland and Newfoundland, with exploration led by
Erik the Red and his son,
Leif Erikson from Iceland. Permanent settlements were established, L'anse Aux Meadows being excavated in modern times. The Icelanders were insufficient in numbers and technological superiority to overwhelm or overawe the local Native Americans (called
Skraelings which means in old-Norse, weaklings). Colonization efforts were strictly limited to opportunistic families who could not obtain good land elsewhere, the best lands of Iceland having been taken years earlier and Greenland proving a harsh environment. The Icelandic Vikings never did try to invade "Vinland," or as we know it today as Newfoundland. Although there were some skirmishes, such activity was an attempt to colonize.
In 1931 a railroad brakeman named James Edward Dodd found a broken sword and fragments of an axe and shield near Beardmore Ontario east of Lake Nipigon. Upon extensive examination, European Norse experts agreed that the relics were authentic Norse weapons.
[1] Similarly, an artifact called the
Kensington Runestone was unearthed in 1898 by a Norwegian-American farmer in West-Central Minnesota. Now residing in a Minnesota Museum, the stone carries an inscription that depicts an attack on a party of Goths and Norwegians that took place in 1362. The authenticity of this artifact is in dispute.
[2]
Greenland
Two areas along Greenland's southwest coast were colonized by Norse settlers ca. 986. The land was marginal at best. The settlers arrived during a warm phase, when short-season crops such as rye and barley could be grown. Sheep and hardy cattle were also raised for food, wool, and hides. Their main export was
walrus ivory, which was traded for iron and other goods which could not be produced locally. Greenland became a dependency of the king of Norway in 1261. During the 13th century, the population may have reached as high as 5,000, divided between the two main settlements of ''Austrbygd'' and ''Vestrbygd''. Greenland had several churches and a cathedral at
Gardar. The
Catholic diocese of Greenland was subject to the archdiocese of
Nidaros. However, many bishops chose to exercise this office from afar. As the years wore on, the climate shifted (qv.
little ice age) and elephant ivory from Africa became increasingly available. Crops failed and trade declined. The Greenland colony gradually faded away. By 1450 it had lost contact with Norway and simply disappeared from all but a few Scandinavian legends.
Explanations of the expansion
Map showing area of Scandinavian settlements during the 9th to 10th centuries. Also the trade and raid routes, often inseparable, are marked.
Why the Viking expansion took place is a much debated topic in Nordic history, and there are no clear answers.
One common theory is that the Viking homelands were
overpopulated. A growing population or a lack of ability of
agriculture to support the existing population could have caused a lack of land. For people living near the coast in possession of good naval technologies, it makes sense to expand overseas in the course of a typical
youth bulge effect. One problem with this explanation is that, as a result of the lack of sources, no such rise in population or decline in agricultural production has been proven. This theory is widely accepted as part of the solution, since it is hard to imagine why a people would colonise new territories if there was not a lack of land at home. However, it does little to explain the plundering raids and trading expeditions, or why the expansion went to overseas countries and not into the big, uncultivated forest areas of the Viking homelands on the
Scandinavian peninsula.
Another explanation is that the Vikings used temporary weakness in the regions they travelled to. For instance, the Danish Vikings were aware of the internal division of the
empire of
Charlemagne that began in the 830s and resulted in the splitting up of the empire. The Danish expeditions in
England also profited from the disunity of the different English kingdoms.
The decline of old
trade routes could also be a part of the explanation. The
trade between western Europe and the rest of the
Eurasian continent had suffered from a severe decline as a result of the fall of the
Roman Empire in the 5th century and the expansion of
Islam in the 7th century. At the time of the Viking, the trade on the
Mediterranean Sea was at its lowest level. By, for instance, trading
furs and
slaves against
silver and
spices with the Arabs, and then trading the silver and spices for
weapons with the
Franks, the Vikings profited from international trade, picking up the role the declining Mediterranean trade had previously filled.
Another important factor when it comes to trade is that the destruction of the
Frisian fleet by the Franks. This gave the Vikings the opportunity to take over its old markets. However, both the explanation underlining disunity and the one underlining trade explains how the expansion was possible, more than why it occurred. This is why we can consider that in addition to the economic factor, there is also another reason of first Vikings’ raids: They could’ve also originated in resistance to forced Christianisation, in particular Charlemagne’s persecutions against all the Pagan people, who would’ve had to accept “conversion, or the massacre”.
Snorri Sturluson in the
saga of St. Olafr chapter 73, describes the brutal process of Christianisation in
Norway: “…those who did not give up paganism were banished, with others he (St. Olafr) cut off their hands or their feet or extirpated their eyes, others he ordered hanged or decapitated, but did not leave unpunished any of those who did not want to serve God (…) he afflicted them with great punishments (…) He gave them clerks and instituted some in the districts.” Clerical pressure by violence since
Charlemagne can explain partly the Vikings’
strandhögg targeting of Christian buildings.
Genetics
The Vikings’ prolific expansion is still exhibited in modern genetics. Relatively high frequencies of Haplogroup
R1a1 are found in
Northern Europe, the largest being 23% in Iceland, and it is believed to have been spread across
Europe by the
Indo-Europeans and later migrations of
Vikings, which accounts for the existence of it in, among other places, the
British Isles.
[3]
Archaeology
Rune stones
Main articles: Rune stone
The vast majority number of runic inscriptions from the Viking period come from
Sweden, especially from the tenth and eleventh century. Many
rune stones in Scandinavia record the names of participants in Viking expeditions, such as the
Kjula Runestone which tells of extensive warfare in Western Europe and the
Turinge Runestone which tells of a warband in Eastern Europe. Other rune stones mention men who died on Viking expeditions, among them the around 25
Ingvar stones in the this
Mälardalen district of
Sweden erected to commemorate members of a disastrous expedition into present-day
Russia in the early 11th century. The rune stones are important sources in the study of the entire Norse society and early medieval Scandinavia, not only of the 'Viking' segment of the population (Sawyer, P H: 1997).
Runestones attest to voyages to locations, such as
Bath,
[24] Greece,
[25] Khwaresm,
[26] Jerusalem,
[27] Italy (as Langobardland),
[28] London,
[29] Serkland (i.e. the Muslim world),
[30] England,
[31] and various locations in Eastern Europe.
Burial sites
There are numerous burial sites associated with Vikings. Some examples include:
★ Gettlinge gravfält,
Öland, Sweden, ship outline
★
Jelling, Denmark, a World Heritage Site
★
Oseberg, Norway.
★
Gokstad, Norway.
★
Tuna, Sweden.
★ Hulterstad gravfält, near the villages of
Alby and Hulterstad,
Öland, Sweden, ship outline of standing stones
Ships
Miniatures of two different types of longships, on display at ''Vikingeskibsmuseet'' in
Roskilde,
Denmark.
Viking ship head of dragon, has more a dog's nostrils, canines, and rounded ears.
There were two distinct classes of Viking ships: the
longship (sometimes erroneously called "drakkar", a corruption of "dragon" in Norse) and the
knarr. The longship, intended for warfare and exploration, was designed for speed and agility, and were equipped with oars to complement the sail as well as making it able to navigate independently of the wind. The longship had a long and narrow hull, as well as a shallow draft, in order to facilitate landings and troop deployments in shallow water. The knarr, on the other hand, was a slower merchant vessel with a greater cargo capacity than the longship. It was designed with a short and broad hull, and a deep draft. It also lacked the oars of the longship.
Longships were used extensively by the
Leidang, the Scandinavian defence fleets. The term "Viking ships" has entered common usage, however, possibly because of its romantic associations (discussed below).
In Roskilde are the well-preserved remains of five ships, excavated from nearby
Roskilde Fjord in the late 1960s. The ships were scuttled there in the 11th century to block a navigation channel, thus protecting the city, which was then the Danish capital, from seaborne assault. These five ships represent the two distinct classes of the Viking Ships, the longship and the knarr.
Longships are not to be confused with
longboats.
Modern revivals
Early modern publications, dealing with what we now call Viking culture, appeared in the 16th century, e.g. ''Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus'' (Olaus Magnus, 1555), and the first edition of the 13th century ''Gesta Danorum'' of
Saxo Grammaticus in 1514. The pace of publication increased during the 17th century with Latin translations of the
Edda (notably Peder Resen's ''Edda Islandorum'' of 1665).
''See also
19th century Viking revival.''
Romanticism
The word ''Viking'' was popularized, with positive connotations, by
Erik Gustaf Geijer in the poem, ''The Viking'', written at the beginning of the 19th century. The word was taken to refer to romanticized, idealized naval warriors, who had very little to do with the historical Viking culture. This renewed interest of
Romanticism in the Old North had political implications. A myth about a glorious and brave past was needed to give the Swedes the courage to retake
Finland, which had been lost in 1809 during the
war between Sweden and Russia. The
Geatish Society, of which Geijer was a member, popularized this myth to a great extent. Another Swedish author who had great influence on the perception of the Vikings was
Esaias Tegnér, member of the
Geatish Society, who wrote a modern version of ''
Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna'', which became widely popular in the Nordic countries, the
United Kingdom and
Germany.
A focus for early British enthusiasts was George Hicke, who published a ''Linguarum vett. septentrionalium thesaurus'' in 1703–05. During the 18th century, British interest and enthusiasm for Iceland and Nordic culture grew dramatically, expressed in English translations as well as original poems, extolling Viking virtues and increased interest in anything Runic that could be found in the Danelaw, rising to a peak during
Victorian times.
Nazi imagery
Main articles: Nazi mysticism
Similarly to Wagnerian mythology, the
romanticism of the heroic Norse ideal appealed to the
German supremacist thinkers of
Nazi Germany. Political organizations of the same tradition, such as the Norwegian fascist party,
Nasjonal Samling, used an amount of Viking symbolism combined with Roman symbolism and imagery widely in their propaganda and aesthetical approach.
Living history
Since the 1960s, there has been rising enthusiasm for
historical reenactment. While the earliest groups had little claim for historical accuracy, the seriousness and accuracy of re-enactors has increased.
On
1 July 2007, the reconstructed Viking ship Skuldelev 2, renamed Sea Stallion, began a journey from Roskilde, Denmark to Dublin, Ireland. The remains of that ship and four others were discovered during an 1962 excavation in the Roskilde Fjord.
This multi-national experimental archeology project will see 70 crew members sail the ship back to its home in Ireland. Tests of the original wood show that it was made out of Irish trees.
The Sea Stallion is scheduled to arrive outside Dublin's Custom House on
14 August 2007 where it will be met by a large ceremony and a live webcast by Ireland's national broadcaster
[4].
The purpose of the voyage is to test and document the seaworthiness, speed and manoeuvrability of the ship on the rough open sea and in coastal waters with treacherous currents. The crew will test how the long, narrow, flexible hull will withstand the tough ocean waves. The expedition will also provide valuable new information on Viking longships and society. The newly constructed version was built using Viking tools, materials and much the same methods as the original ship.
Eventually, the Sea Stallion will go on public view at Dublin's Collins Barracks for the winter months before sailing back to Denmark.
A crew from the BBC’s award-winning ''Timewatch'' programme will also film the project for a documentary to be screened in the autumn.
Neopaganism
Main articles: Germanic neopaganism
Germanic neopagan groups place emphasis on reconstructing the culture and pre-Christian beliefs of the Germanic peoples, including the Viking era of Norse culture.
Popular culture
Popular misconceptions
Height
Legend had it that the Vikings were very tall and large men.
Ibn Fadlan and various European sources mention that the Vikings were of great stature. A number of modern studies have been conducted which show Vikings to have been on average between 168.4 cm (66.3in) and 176 cm (69.3in) tall. There is variation, and higher ranking Vikings tended to be taller (likely due to better nutrition), but the Vikings were, compared to people of today, not unusually tall. However, when compared to the people that lived during the Viking era, Vikings were indeed taller (which is highly attributable to genetic factors).
Horned helmets
Main articles: Horned helmet
Apart from two or three representations of (ritual) helmets – with protrusions that may be either stylized ravens, snakes or horns – no depiction of Viking Age warriors' helmets, and no actually preserved helmet, has horns. In fact, the formal close-quarters style of Viking combat (either in shield walls or aboard "ship islands") would have made horned helmets cumbersome and hazardous to the warrior's own side.
Therefore it can be ruled out that Viking warriors had horned helmets, but whether or not they were used in Scandinavian culture for other, ritual purposes remains unproven. The general misconception that Viking warriors wore horned helmets was partly promulgated by the 19th century enthusiasts of ''
Götiska Förbundet'', founded in 1811 in Stockholm, with the aim of promoting the suitability of Norse mythology as subjects of high art and other ethnological and moral aims.
The Vikings were also often depicted with winged-helmets and in other clothing taken from Classical antiquity, especially in depictions of Norse gods. This was done in order to legitimize the Vikings and their mythology, by associating it with the Classical world which has always been idealized in European culture.
The latter-day ''mythos'' created by
national romantic ideas blended the Viking Age with glimpses of the
Nordic Bronze Age some 2,000 years earlier, for which actual horned helmets, probably for ceremonial purposes, are attested both in
petroglyphs and by actual finds (See
Bohuslän and
Vikso helmets
[32]).
The cliché was perpetuated by cartoons like ''
Hägar the Horrible'' and ''
Vicky the Viking'', and the uniforms of the
Minnesota Vikings football team.
The regular Viking helmets were conical, made from hard leather with wood and metallic reinforcement for the regular troops and the iron helmet with mask and chain mail for the chieftains, based on the previous
Vendel age helmets from central Sweden. The only true Viking helmet found, is that from
Gjermundbu in Norway. This helmet is made of iron and has been dated to the 10th century.
Savage marauders
Despite images of Viking marauders who live for
plunder and
warfare, the heart of Viking society was reciprocity, on both a personal, social level and on a broader political level. The Vikings lived in a time when numerous societies were engaged in many violent acts, and the doings of the Vikings put into context are not as savage as they seem. Others of the time period were much more savage than the Vikings, such as the Frankish king,
Charlemagne, who cut off the heads of 4,500 Saxons (
Bloody Verdict of Verden) in one day. Most Vikings were traders, although some did plunder, often monasteries around Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, as they had a lot of valuables in gold and silver. As monasteries were centers of learning & writing, their experiences were much more likely to enter the historical record. However, considerable literature in the monasteries would have been destroyed during the plunderings.
One of the Vikings' largest profit-centres was the
slave trade; any group that acts as slave-takers is likely to be viewed with disdain by their victims. During the period of the Vikings,
slavery was common throughout Northern Europe, and the fact that many slaves were captured persons was irrelevant in law. A person from
Poland could be captured and later sold in
England, for example. Slavery was common amongst the Scandinavians themselves, as well.
In the 300-year period where Vikings were most active, there were approximately 347 recorded attacks that spread from the British Isles to Morocco, Portugal, and Turkey. In Ireland, where the Vikings are most famous for attacking
monasteries, there were 430 known attacks during this 300-year period.
Skull cups
The use of human skulls as drinking vessels is also ahistorical. The rise of this myth can be traced back to a Ole Worm's ''Runer seu Danica literatura antiquissima'' of 1636), warriors drinking ''ór bjúgviðum hausa'' [from the curved branches of skulls, i.e. from horns] were rendered as drinking ''ex craniis eorum quos ceciderunt'' [from the skulls of those whom they had slain]. The skull-cup allegation may have some history also in relation with other Germanic tribes and
Eurasian nomads, such as the
Scythians and
Pechenegs.
Uncleanliness
The image of wild-haired, dirty savages sometimes associated with the Vikings in popular culture is a distorted picture of reality. Non-Scandinavian Christians are responsible for most surviving accounts of the Vikings and, consequently, a strong possibility for bias exists. This attitude is likely attributed to Christian misunderstandings regarding paganism. Viking tendencies were often misreported and the work of
Adam of Bremen, among others, told largely disputable tales of Viking savagery and uncleanliness.
[33]
However, it is now known that the Vikings used a variety of tools for personal grooming such as combs, tweezers, razors or specialized "ear spoons". In particular, combs are among the most frequent artifacts from Viking Age excavations. The Vikings also made
soap, which they used to bleach their hair as well as for cleaning, as blonde hair was ideal in the Viking culture.
The Vikings in
England even had a particular reputation for excessive cleanliness, due to their custom of bathing once a week, on Saturdays (unlike the local
Anglo-Saxons). To this day, Saturday is referred to as ''laugardagur''/''laurdag''/''lørdag''/''lördag'', "washing day" in the
Scandinavian languages, though the original meaning is lost in modern speech in most of the Scandinavian languages ("laug" still means "bath" or "pool" in Icelandic).
As for the
Rus', who had later acquired a subjected
Varangian component,
Ibn Rustah explicitly notes their cleanliness, while
Ibn Fadlan is disgusted by all of the men sharing the same, used vessel to wash their faces and blow their noses in the morning. Ibn Fadlan's disgust is probably motivated by his ideas of personal hygiene particular to the Muslim world, such as running water and clean vessels. While the example intended to convey his disgust about the customs of the Rus', at the same time it recorded that they did wash every morning.
Fiction
Vikings and the Romanticist Viking Revival have inspired many works of fiction, from historical novels directly based on historical events like
Frans Gunnar Bengtsson's ''
The Long Ships'' (which was
also filmed) to loosely historical fantasies such as the film ''
The Vikings'',
Michael Crichton's ''
Eaters of the Dead'' (movie version called ''
The 13th Warrior'') and the comedy film ''
Erik the Viking''.
The toy company
Playmobil has a Vikings product line.
LEGO also released a Vikings theme in 2005.
The Christian ''
Veggie Tales'' animated series, created by
Big Idea, Inc., features the character "Lyle the Kindly Viking".
The Viking raiders of Native America are the primary antagonists of the heavily stylised 2007 movie
Pathfinder (2007 film).
Another popular Viking of fiction is the comic strip character
Hägar the Horrible.
Viking metal is also a popular sub-genre of
heavy metal music, originating in the early 1990s as an off-shoot of the
black metal sub-genre. This style is notable for its lyrical and theatrical emphasis on Norse mythology as well as Viking lifestyles and beliefs. Popular bands that contribute to this genre include
Einherjer,
Valhalla,
Týr and
Enslaved.
A Viking named Vlad drives various
drag racers in the ''
Carmageddon'' series.
''
The Lost Vikings'' is an
adventure game developed by ''
Blizzard Entertainment'', where the adventurer controls three different Vikings with distinct abilities. There was also a sequel produced, ''
The Lost Vikings II''.
The band
Led Zeppelin wrote
Immigrant Song in tribute to
Leif Ericson.
Famous Vikings
★
Olaf Tryggvason. Forced thousands to convert to Christianity. Once burned London Bridge down out of anger of people disobeying his orders (conjectured to be the origin of the childrens' rhyme "
London Bridge is Falling Down").
★
Sweyn Forkbeard, king of
Denmark,
England,
Norway and founder of
Swansea ("Sweyn's island")
★
Magnus Barelegs, King of Norway
★
Askold and Dir, legendary
Varangian conquerors of
Kiev
★
Helgi or
Oleg, ruler of
Kiev
★
Björn Ironside, son of
Ragnar Lodbrok, pillaged in
Italy
★
Brodir,
Danish Viking who killed the High King of
Ireland,
Brian Boru
★
Egill Skallagrímsson, Icelandic warrior and
skald (see also
Egils saga)
★
Erik the Red, discoverer of
Greenland
★
Leif Ericsson, discoverer of
Vínland, son of
Erik the Red
★
Freydís Eiríksdóttir, a Viking woman who sailed to
Vínland
★
Canute the Great, the most successful Danish Viking King. Son of
Sweyn Forkbeard, grandson of
Harold Bluetooth and great great uncle to
William the Conqueror. This connection was one of the key justifications for William's claim to the
English throne.
★
Harald Hardrada, Norwegian king who unsuccessfully tried to conquer
England in 1066
★
Gardar Svavarsson, discoverer of Iceland. Originally from Sweden.
★
Guthrum, colonised England (Danelaw).
★
Ingvar the Far-Travelled, the leader of the last great Swedish Viking expedition, which pillaged the shores of the Caspian Sea
★
Ivar the Boneless, disabled son of Ragnar Lodbrok who, despite having to be carried on a shield, conquered York
★
Ingólfur Arnarson, colonised Iceland
★
Oleg of Kiev, conquered Kiev, founded Kievan Rus' and attacked Constantinople
★
Ragnar Lodbrok, captured Paris
★
Rollo of Normandy, founder of Normandy
★
Rurik, founder of the Rus' rule in Eastern Europe
References
1. Viking at Encyclopædia Britannica
2. Rurik as a Viking, or Varangian at Encyclopædia Britannica
3. The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text Translated by O.P. Sherbowitz-Wetzor ISBN 0910956340
4. The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History By Alan Axelrod; p. 8 ISBN 0028644646
5. The Vikings from the Norway article at Encyclopædia Britannica
6. The Viking Revival By Professor Andrew Wawn at bbc
7. The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology; P. 1204; ISBN 0824207459
8. The Viking Age from the Denmark article atEncyclopædia Britannica
9. The Viking Age from the Sweden article at Encyclopædia Britannica
10. Olav Trygvassons saga at School of Avaldsnes
11. Heimskringla; Kessinger Publishing (March 31, 2004); on Page 116;ISBN 0766186938
12. A History of Pagan Europe by Prudence Jones; on page 166; ISBN 0415091365
13. Nordic Religions in the Viking Age by Thomas A. Dubois; on page 177;ISBN 0812217144
14. Principles of English Etymology By Walter W. Skeat; Clarendon press; Page 479
15. The Syntax of Old Norse By Jan Terje Faarlund; p 25ISBN 0199271100
16. http://www.algonet.se/~gwarner/etymology.htm
17. See Gunnar Karlsson, "Er rökrétt að fullyrða að landnámsmenn á Íslandi hafi verið víkingar?", The University of Iceland Science web April 30, 2007; Gunnar Karlsson, "Hver voru helstu vopn víkinga og hvernig voru þau gerð? Voru þeir mjög bardagaglaðir?", The University of Iceland Science web December 20, 2006; and Sverrir Jakobsson "Hvaðan komu víkingarnir og hvaða áhrif höfðu þeir í öðrum löndum?", The University of Iceland Science web July 13, 2001 (in Icelandic).
18. The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text Translated by O. P
19. Northern Shores by Alan Palmer; p.21; ISBN 0719562996
20. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings By Peter Hayes SawyerISBN 0198205260
21. The Northern Crusades: Second Edition by Eric Christiansen; p.93; ISBN 0140266534
22. The Norse discovery of America
23. Welsh place names.
24. baþum (Sm101), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
25. In the nominative: ''krikiaR'' (G216). In the genitive: ''girkha'' (U922$), ''k--ika'' (U104). In the dative: ''girkium'' (U1087†), ''kirikium'' (SöFv1954;20, U73, U140), ''ki(r)k(i)(u)(m)'' (Ög94$), ''kirkum'' (U136), ''krikium'' (Sö163, U431), ''krikum'' (Ög81A, Ög81B, Sö85, Sö165, Vg178, U201, U518), ''kri(k)um'' (U792), ''krikum'' (Sm46†, U446†), ''krkum'' (U358), ''kr''... (Sö345$A), ''kRkum'' (Sö82). In the accusative: ''kriki'' (Sö170). Uncertain case ''krik'' (U1016$Q). Greece also appears as ''griklanti'' (U112B), ''kriklati'' (U540), ''kriklontr'' (U374$), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
26. ''Karusm'' (Vs1), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
27. ''iaursaliR'' (G216), ''iursala'' (U605†), ''iursalir'' (U136G216, U605, U136), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
28. ''lakbarþilanti'' (SöFv1954;22), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
29. ''luntunum'' (DR337$B), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
30. ''serklat'' (G216), ''se(r)kl''... (Sö279), ''sirklanti'' (Sö131), ''sirk:lan:ti'' (Sö179), ''sirk
★ la(t)...'' (Sö281), ''srklant''- (U785), skalat- (U439), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
31. ''eklans'' (Vs18$), ''eklans'' (Sö83†), ''ekla-s'' (Vs5), ''enklans'' (Sö55), ''iklans'' (Sö207), ''iklanþs''
(U539C), ''ailati'' (Ög104), ''aklati'' (Sö166), ''akla''-- (U616$), ''anklanti'' (U194), ''eg×loti'' (U812), ''eklanti'' (Sö46, Sm27), ''eklati'' (ÖgFv1950;341, Sm5C, Vs9), ''enklanti'' (DR6C), ''haklati'' (Sm101), ''iklanti'' (Vg20), ''iklati'' (Sm77), ''ikla-ti'' (Gs8), ''i...-ti'' (Sm104), ''ok
★ lanti'' (Vg187), ''oklati'' (Sö160), ''onklanti''
(U241), ''onklati'' (U344), -''klanti'' (Sm29$), ''iklot'' (N184), see Nordiskt runnamnslexikon PDF
32. http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhornedhelmet.html
33. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/evidence_01.shtml
External links
★
BBC: History of Vikings
★
RTÉ: Reenactment of Viking voyage
★
Borg Viking museum, Norway
★
The Viking Network
★
Ibn Fadlan and the Rusiyyah, by James E. Montgomery, with full translation of Ibn Fadlan
★
Reassessing what we collect website – Viking and Danish London History of Viking and Danish London with objects and images
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