The Vikings Research Paper

“Everywhere the Christians were the victims of massacres, burnings, plunderings: the Vikings conquer all in their path, and no one resists them” (Doc. C). This shows that when people saw the Vikings, they didn’t even bother trying to defend themselves, and instead immediately surrendered. That is how well known they were. The Vikings have also been described as devils or warriors. “The monks. . . described it often as if the devils from hell are being unleashed on them” (Doc. D). The Vikings were very similar to the Mongols, in the sense that they both were warriors who raided Central Europe, and survived off of fear, intimidation, and terrorism. The Carolingians were so scared of the Vikings raiding, that they began to pay them protection money. “And these payments were so enormous that there were years when the empire had no currency anymore” (Doc. F). Because of this, people living in Central or Western Europe had to barter for what they

The Vikings spent most of their time raiding villages and killing people. They sailed very far distances in their longships to find land to raid. The Vikings mostly raided western and eastern parts of Europe. They also raided places like Greenland and Canada. While raiding the Vikings would basically kill anyone that got in their way and they would destroy villages completely. If you survived a Viking raid, you were extremely lucky. When the Vikings raided they would steal anything they could, including money, food, cattle and loot from churches. The Vikings would usually not leave places alone. Once they had raided them one time, they would do it again and keep stealing and killing. One famous raid that the Vikings did was in Northumbria, North-east England. Here the Vikings arrived in their longships and burned down buildings, murdered monks, stole things and frightened everyone. Apparently some of the Christian church leaders said

Ireland has changed in many ways since the beginning of time. Many different people have invaded Ireland and changed so many things. One of the most important continuous invaders of Ireland were the vikings. These vikings were only from Norway, known as ostmen, they were notorious for raiding and looting. But, things were different with Ireland they managed to settle and establish permanent bases there.

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.

We all think of Vikings as pirates who sail around slaughtering people, but there is more to it than just smashing and killing. The Vikings actually caused the Charlemagne Empire to break-up faster, they caused Europeans to have a society based off of Feudalism, and they changed the English language.

The Vikings were a Germanic people who were known for how they executed their raids and the discovery of new territories. They raided, colonized, and traded in the conquered areas and had a thirst for new waters and a hunger for land. Because of this hunger, the most impact they had on western civilization was as discoverers and settlers of the New World. They discovered and settled in Iceland, Greenland, and North America. Each of these was impacted in some way or another by the Vikings.

The Vikings were considered to be highly skilled artists and craftworkers. Just about everything they used was made by hand. Materials like wood, iron, clay, and iron were used to make the majority of their everyday items. Even bone was used to make needles, and

Later on after their raids they rebuilt the towns and settled. They created and spread new ways to grow crops around Europe. The Vikings stretched new techniques and effective innovations to Europe which led to Europe's development in the middle ages. The Vikings weren't always destructive. - http://www.oocities.org/workshopst/vikings.htm

The Viking culture prevails as an advanced seafaring society that were violent invaders to the barbarous extent and furthermore contributed to advancements in technological and societal regards. It is true for the Norse to be exceedingly violent in their invasions but they indeed, did not traverse a certain line. The lack for fertile land in their Scandinavian homelands and the requirement to meet the needs of their expanding population motivated their adventurous tendencies to explore unknown areas for arable soil to invade, settle and gain resources, thus using alternate methods of survival. This essay therefore seeks to explore the layers which fundamentally bases the magnitude of the Viking’s violence and their impacts upon society.

burn and pillage their way across civilized Europe. During this period much progress was achieved in terms of Scandinavian art and craftsmanship, marine technology, exploration, and the development of commerce. It seems the Vikings did as much trading as they did

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.

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.

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)

Metalwork also provides evidence as traces of Scandinavian style objects found in England. This for example includes jewellery, a snake pendant had been found in Norfolk which would have been worn by a woman therefore suggesting female Viking presence in England and so supports the success of the Vikings to even migrate their own people over from Scandinavian lands. This was therefore the most important reason for the success of the Vikings as such strengths remained continuous and evident throughout their entire raiding and campaigning period.