Ireland Continuities And Changes In The Vikings

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.

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.

The Vikings lived in Northern Europe during the Middles Ages. They settled on Scandinan land. The Vikings were very important in Northern Europe in Middle Ages, even in ViKings Age from 800 CE to 1066 CE.

Shortly before the ninth century, North-west Europe was exposed to raids and attacks from the Scandinavians. They had discovered the wealth that could be obtained from the richer communities of Britain and Frankia, both in currency and natural resources (the latter being found especially in Ireland). As time went on, during the course of the ninth century, the leaders of the attacks on these countries grew more ambitious and soon there were different motives for raiding these places. Many leaders had become content to stay and settle permanently in these abundantly richer countries. This process of Viking settlement led to the integration of two cultures, between the peoples of the

Before the Norman conquest, the British Isles saw invasion, migration, and colonisation from various groups. Each left their own unique legacy on the shaping of the islands driven by the interaction and cultural exchange. While the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons both had sway over the formation of England, they had little to no real contact with much of the rest of the British Isles. Due to this, it can be argued that while they are commonly regarded as little more than pillaging raiders, it was in the Viking’s arrival in the British Isles that had the longest lasting effects on the region’s inhabitants.

Vikings impacted Europe by developing major trading cities throughout the continent. The Vikings created a lasting impact on Ireland by giving the country its name and founding their first trading towns: Dublin, Waterford, Wicklow, and Limerick. They first came to Ireland in AD 795 when they raided a monastery on Lambay island. They used their towns to launch attacks within Ireland and across the sea to Britain.

Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are three countries from Scandinavia in which the Vikings came from. They were mainly farmers, fishermen and traders. Most Vikings had more than one son and it was tradition for the eldest to inherit and take over the farm. Since there was more than one son a lot of men had to choose between working for their brother or leaving to go find their own wealth and land.

The Vikings came from different areas of Scandinavia, and sailed the world. The Vikings traveled farther, more reliably than any other culture of their time. The Viking age in European history was about 793 c.e. to about 1100 c.e. During this time many Vikings left Scandinavia and travelled to other countries traiding, raiding, pillaging, or to start a new settlement. They traveled as far south east as the Byzantine Empire, and as far west as North America.

With their raids on other countries going well, the Vikings wanted a central location in order to open up the rest of the European mainland. This is when they fell upon the country of Ireland. When the Vikings first came to Ireland in 795 through 824, their initial raids were small and short lived. Not expecting what was to come from the country, the Vikings attacked in a sporadic manner and quickly pulled back to their home land. Their main target were monasteries as stated above.

The Viking Ages was basically a misunderstanding for the Vikings and the English. People from Scandinavia went to England to find gold. They thought about attacking the castles, but

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.

Looking at this on a more global perspective, the Irish had unfortunately lived in lands that did not belonged to them; instead, foreign individuals- the British, the Vikings, and many other conquerors. Like many individuals throughout the world, the Irish was expected to conform, adapt, and furtively become a part of the community around them. However, little did the conquerors know, the Irish had one crucial advantage: hope. They survived all the prejudice against them, they survived starvation, they survived war, and most importantly, they survived life. All this was able to become reality due to hope.

In the middle ages the Vikings were an early source of conflict and warfare. At the end of the Eighth century groups of people coming from as far as Scandinavia and the very northern parts of Europe began to attack and plunder coastal villages and cities (Marshall 22). These people were called Vikings which means pirates.

The first Viking attack on Ireland was in 820, and like the monk’s attacked in 793, the people of Ireland had no chance against the powerful Viking army. In the years following the first attack Viking’s gained leadership, and by 839, a brave Viking chieftain named Turges, declared himself king of Ireland. Turges sacrificed the Irish kings Armagh and Clonmacnois, to Thor, a Viking god.

The Vikings lived about one thousand years ago in the lands that we now call Iceland, Lapland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. To most people the Vikings were raiders that got in their longboats and sailed somewhere and then went from town to town killing and pillaging. This is not completely true, because the Vikings were also