Jeremy Moore
English 101 April 27, 2015
The Vikings beyond the Myths
Vikings were prominent figures in European history from around 750 A.D. to about 1100 A.D... Much is known about the Vikings through writings of the people who encounter them. As history would have it not all the writings were good. Unfortunately their history was not written by them it was written by those who either they attacked or by others who heard of what they have done. Most of the Vikings were not able to read or write during the early part of their history. So much of what we read and see on television is based off of these encounters. Did the Vikings really deserve the garnered reputation as the brutal plunders and barbarians?
The name Viking came from the word viken in the Norway’s old name Oslo fjord. This term was to refer to the people coming from this region of Scandinavia. The word Viking has become synonymous with piracy (Goodrich R., 2013). Since the Viking were not able to write much of their history was recorded by the British and French for which they attacked on many occasions. Most of the attacks or raids the Vikings did were not about conquest of the people they
…show more content…
The Vikings section belong to the upper class of the people (Lovgren S., 2004). They were sea warriors not a national army but, a small groups lead by Viking chieftains. The Vikings came from the areas of Sweden, Norway, and Demark which was known as Scandinavia in the times of 750 to 100 A.D... They established themselves as traders, warriors, and explorers. Most people from this area were farmers and raised animals as part of their daily lives. Some were craftsman such as metal workers and ship builders. During certain times of the year the men would leave these farms and jobs to go on raids or exploring expeditions. Some would leave their wives to take over their daily jobs on the farms and once the season was over return to their
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
The title "Viking" includes a wide description of Nordic people; Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, who lived during a period of
Most Vikings came from the regions of Scandinavia now known as Denmark, Norway and Sweden. However, they were not united by race or nationality. To the people they raided, the Vikings shared several common features. They were great sailors, ferocious fighters, and hailed from
The Vikings were a very successful group of warriors from Scandinavia. They started raiding and violently attacking other places because of their lack of resources. The Viking homeland was rural and people worked as fishers or farmers. Scandinavian people got their fish from the sea, but because the soil in that area was not very fertile, there wasn’t enough grain being grown to feed the rising population. “As Scandinavia's population grew, food shortage became a common problem. Looking for new sources of food and wealth, some Viking leaders decided to take what they needed from other people” (Doc. A). When the Vikings attacked cities, they took everything they could and then burned what was left of the destroyed city. “And the Vikings came on them just like a storm and cut them down, carried off everything, and burned the place” (Doc. B). Because of this, there was no one left to come after them, or anyone to avenge
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 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
Vikings, also known as Norsemen or Northmen, were a group of people from the Scandinavian warriors that existed from the 9th century until the 11th century. They were seafaring warriors that raided and claimed their areas in Europe. Their disruptive influence affected the European history. The pagan vikings, which were Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, were prompted to take their raids caused by overpopulation or helplessness of their victims.
It is impossible to assign the various Viking groups at all precisely to places of origin. But broadly speaking, adventurers from the coast of Norway raid the north of England and continue round the Scottish coast to Ireland. Vikings from the same region later settle in the Scottish islands, Iceland and parts of Ireland.
The people from the north, Norsemen, lived in villages and on dispersed farms in various regions. The Norwegian Vikings were from Iceland and Ireland. The Danish Vikings were from France and Britain. The Swedish Vikings were from Russia. Regardless of region, Vikings are addressed as one group of people. Written documentation from this era, sagas specify the region of Vikings being recorded.
The Vikings are often represented in modern culture as burly, horn-helm wearing savages, who ruthlessly plunder and destroy towns and countrysides, and while this might be an exaggeration, it is not completely untrue. In the 9th century, the Vikings from Scandinavia exposed the weakness of Charlemagne’s self-confident regime, they sought to loot the now-wealthy Franks and replace them as the dominant warrior class of northern Europe. It was their turn to extract plunder and to sell off slaves across the water. They succeeded because of a deadly technological advantage, ships of unparalleled sophistication, developed by Scandinavian sailors in the Baltic Sea. They were light and agile, with a shallow draft, which allowed them to penetrate
'Ravagers, pagans, ruthless," Time magazine claims on the Vikings. They were more than that. Without them history wouldn't be the same. They had trade routes from Iraq to the Canadian Pacific. They were Metalworkers. they were explorers "whose restless hearts brought them to North America some 500 years before Columbus." They were warriors. They were Democrats. Many people think of them as the men who worshipped Thor and had horned hats. Well one of these is wrong. Vikings never wore horned hats. They had great Hygiene. They slave traded. Much like Sparta their women had rights. Vikings were known also for farming.
Vikings came from three countries of scandinavia; Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The term Vikings literally means ‘a pirate raid’, they get their name from a scandinavian language called “Old Norse”(BBC-primary history). People who go off raiding in ships were called vikings. Because of the raids and constant battles in many places they were often also called savages, traders, and explorers. In scandinavia they were also called Norsemen. During the time A.D. 700 to 1100(BBC-primary history),
I believe that Vikings weren’t just brutal raiders. Instead of raiding they sometimes liked to spend time with their family, manage their farms and learn poetry. But when the Vikings were raiding they were so brutal and absolutely terrifying. When Vikings came people were helpless, they couldn’t do anything. They would have to just run around and hope for the best. Not many people survived Viking raids, but if you did there must have been a miracle. However, despite the fact that Vikings liked to raid and kill there were some good in them.
Another known term for Vikings was Norsemen. Norsemen means “people who come from the North”. They were great travellers and sailed to different parts of Europe, where they would trade, raid, and often settle. The Vikings came from the three countries in Scandinavia (in Northern Europe) Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.