Beyond The Northlands : The Vikings And Their World

Coming from Scandinavian countries, predominantly Denmark and Norway, the Vikings began raiding the British Isles in the late 700s (James). The Vikings primarily targeted monasteries, because that is where most of the wealth was concentrated (Loughrey). These raids were very violent, people were killed, and the survivors were sold into slavery (Loughrey). These violent raids earned the Vikings the reputation of barbarians, much like the Mongols a few centuries later in Asia. After some time, once the Vikings exhausted most of the wealth in the monasteries, they turned their interest into settling the British Isles (James). By the late 9th century the Vikings had conquered most of England (James). However, even though these Viking kingdoms did not last very long, the Scandinavians who resided there stayed. These Scandinavians would go on to change the British Isles in many ways. Despite the violent and negative impacts of Viking raids on the British Isles, once the Vikings settled down, they had a significant and positive peaceful impact on the British Isles culturally, politically, and economically.

The Vikings were Norse seafarers, who mainly spoke the Old Norse language. They raided and traded from their Northern European homelands across wide areas of northern, central and eastern Europe, during the 9th to 11th century. The Vikings originated from Scandinavia, and the beginning of the Vikings expansion often originates from the raid of the Lindisfarne Monetary on 8 June 793. The Vikings were the first Westerners to sail to Iceland, Greenland, and over to the New World. However, the story of the Vikings is also an important story for the development of the Christian world in the West. Throughout this essay, I will explain the importance of Viking religion, Viking trade, and how the Viking age had an impact on the way Western and

By the mid-800s, the lands of Ireland, Scotland and England were attracting Viking settlers as well as raiders. Viking settlers founded Ireland’s first trading towns, including Dublin and Limerick. They used ports on the Irish coast to launch attacks within Ireland and against English

The Vikings were a group of Scandinavian raiders that were around from about the 8th century to the 11th. They mainly attacked the British Islands , the Frankish empire, England, but they also plundered places such as the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa. Vikings did not always settle into the places that they found, for instance after exploring North America they left the place never to return again. Even so, after landing on Greenland they colonized themselves there, and ancestors of the Vikings still live there today. So now that you know a little about the history of the Vikings lets go into detail about the specifics of the Viking age. (Peter Sawyer, Oxford Ill. History of the Vikings p. 1-19)

When one sees the word Viking, the mind firstly shifts to men who are uncivilized and unprincipled. Using evidence of achievements and victories will not only show how much they impacted Europe, but how sophisticated Vikings actually were. As Charlemagne’s empire ended, the people of Europe showed extraordinary resilience toward the new movements of the era. From 800 to 1200 CE, Vikings ruled medieval Europe. These Vikings, along with thick soil, are credited with shifting Europe from endemic violence toward cooperation and legal order. An attack on the Lindisfarne monastery off the coast of Northumberland in northeastern England marked the beginning of the Viking Age. Vikings began to appear in Europe due to Scandinavian raiders repeatedly visiting the Christian countries of Europe. At first they were content with just raiding lands, but soon they began to seize land and proclaim rule. They sought riches, not land. With this established rule, Vikings promised safety and began to reform the lands they had acquired. The people agreed due to starvation and possible attacks from eneimes. The new lands had a need for settled agriculture, defensive warfare and commerce. As the Vikings began to fulfill these needs they saw an expansion in cooperation and rule of law among the villagers.

The Vikings had a closely tied relationship between their culture and other cultures. You can see this because some of the stories from different parts of the world were put into their own stories. The story of the creation myth of Ymir is paralleled to the story of the Brahma. The stories of zombies from the African culture can be closely tied to stories of revenants that are in the Viking culture. A reason for some of these resonances may be because of the trade route they had; which was through the Mesopotamian, Byzantium, and the African worlds.

Explain the impact and changes in Europe as a result of the invasions of the Vikings?

The vikings had their own groups of people which included landowning chieftains, freeman, and also young clan members who seeked over sea adventures. While the viking members were at home, they can be described as independent farmers, but at sea the vikings became raiders. During viking period it seemed as if the Scandinavians had a surplus amount of manpower that seems practically inexhaustible, who could organize warriors into conquering armies and bands. The bands negotiated the seas in their longships,also known as a viking ship, and mount raids on nearby cities and towns that were along the coast of Europe. Their brutal way of living and manpower earned them the name vikingr, or viking in old english, which was the name for a pirate in early Scandinavian language.

In the ninth century, Vikings began to raid Ireland, eventually conquering and settling on the island. The strong Irish culture influenced the Viking conquerors’ way of life, rather than an invader’s long-term domination would suggest.

Viking history and culture have been depicted in many movies, television series, and stories. Vikings are commonly known as barbarians that raid villages and intimidate others with huge ships with dragon heads, and horned helmets. This information is based on facts, but has been distorted and exaggerated over many years and tales. Viking history spans from the years 780 until 1100, which is the time span of the Viking raids. Not every Scandinavian was a Viking; Vikings were known as the men that conducted raids and bloody battles. The old definition of Viking was synonymous with the term pirate. The modern definition is relevant to the Scandinavian medieval culture, to include farming, crafting and trading.

Vikings were clever with their attacks, and made strategic battle tactics and

The Irish people were influenced and learned how to fight from the Vikings using some tactics, for example, the younger warriors would draw up in line with their shields to look like a shield wall and the chiefs were well defended by the bodyguards. In the 9th century the Vikings become an integral part of the social life in Ireland. Some of the Vikings learnt how to speak English. And some Irish words adopted from the Vikings specially words in trading, fishing and military. For example the world “Lenga” in Irish it’s the same in Old Norse and it means Fish in English.

We are going to look past the movies and books and find out who were the Vikings and how they were connected to the past? Contrary to some popular rumors of the Vikings, they were not a “race” linked by ties of common ancestry, and could not be defined by how the outsiders referred to them. Most of the Vikings come

The beginning of the tenth century marked a time of exponential growth, as well as vast conflict for the Viking city of Dublin. Indeed, much of this conflict stemmed from Dublin’s growing economic power on the island. Much power was actually represented by wealth and trade, as mentioned in Taxation, Tolls and Tribute: The Language of Economics and Trade in Viking-Age Ireland by Mary A. Valante, “By the middle of the tenth century, evidence from Irish and other sources suggests that the Norse towns at Dublin and Limerick maintained almost exclusive control over long-distance trade in and out of Ireland.” (242) At the time, Dublin began to serve as a hub for the Viking Kingdom of Dublin.

Dublin was described as a “wonder of Ireland” in a twelfth century poem suggesting a national acceptance of the prime value and undeniable importance of the Norse settlement. Additionally, the evidence complied on Irish Kings who competed to gain control of Hiberno-Scandinavian Dublin suggest the wealth and power of the Norse settlement. Nonetheless, the economy of Viking Dublin was vastly prosperous and attributed to the prosperity of the Norse settlement .