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The Vikings Research Paper

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The Vikings were Norse people from Scandinavia who lived during the Viking Age from eighth century to the twelfth century. The first arrival of the Vikings in Ireland was in 795. But at that time the Vikings used the strategy hit and run until the 9th century they began to settle with the Irish. The Vikings were successful around the world because they were very skilled in navigation and very powerful they reached China, Russia, and the Middle East. The Vikings had a great impact on the Irish society in many aspects, for example, trade, art, military, and technology. The whole world benefited from the Vikings even if they were barbarian raiders, they explored and discovered a number of new lands. In this essay I will talk about the impact or …show more content…

“Dublin was to become the center for the slave trade for the Vikings in Ireland, with Bristol being an important exit port even then, well before the African slave trade centuries later.” () The archaeological found some evidence while digging in Dublin, for example, huge slave chains and it was designed to fit around the person’s neck, so the cannot fight or escape. The Old Norse word for a slave, “thraell” is the same word in English, as thrall even if the slavery was existed in Ireland before the Vikings. Ireland and other European countries benefited from their new technology. The Vikings were not only raiders; they were explorers and very skilled working with metals, wood and other materials. For example, offensive weapons. Before the Vikings arrived Irish weaponry was not having the best craftsmanship or the best technology. For example shields, spears and swords. The arrival of the Vikings brought a better technology and a few new weapons, for example the axe, and the bow. However, the swords and some other weapons used as symbols of wealth because it was very expensive and hard to …show more content…

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. Also the word “Margadh” which means market in English borrowed from Old Norse “Markadr”. Some of the common Irish names are the same in Old Norse for example, MacManus (Son of Manus), and McAuliffe (Son of Olaf) and that’s because some of the Vikings married Irish native women. The Vikings were pagans and they had many gods, for example, Odin, Thor, and Freyr. The Vikings attacked the Christian Churches, but most scholars today believe that this attack had nothing to with the religion. These monasteries were an easy target for plunder, because it was wealthy and poorly

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