Viking Longship Essay

In 1903 a miraculous discovery was made in western Norway.  Under a large mound on a small farm in the Vestford region, there was unearthed a massive Viking ship.  Its treasures and contents were so large they are still being studied today. The Oseberg ship burial, as it has come to be known, gives us important information on Norwegian Viking culture.   This essay will look at the history of its discovery, the ship itself,  its objects, the intriguing carvings, the intricate fabrics, and of course, the bodies .  By studying the Oseberg burial ship we can learn about burial practices, Norwegian Viking diets, Norwegian dress and decoration, shipbuilding practices, arts, and religion.

Erik the Red was a Norwegian Viking that was born in the 10th Century C.E, and his life contributed significantly to the outstanding legacy of the Vikings through his explorations. It is through the discovery of Greenland and its later settlement that cast Erik the Red’s legendary adventures into folklore. These two events are how Erik the Red played his role in Viking history, not through warfare, but through explorations. The adventures undertaken, and the feats achieved by Erik the Red cement his place in Viking History.

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

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.

It was a normal day in the castle of Goranson. All the townspeople were tending to their work when an explosion made a loud sound that ran throughout the castle. Townspeople stood there shocked as the castle stood in silence. After the seconds of silence another loud explosion shook the castle followed by arrows flying throughout the castle and vikings screaming as they charge in. Everyone ran to get to safety and the vikings never followed. They only had one mission, to get the king and destroy the castle. When all the noise had stopped and all the screams were silenced the townspeople went to look outside to see that the castle was all burnt down. One farmer had said “Quick find the king”. They all rushed into various buildings only to find the king was not there.

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

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 escaped from tyranny and fled Europe. They found and settled in Iceland and Greenland. They made expeditions to find new lands were others wouldn't dare go. If it wasn't for the Vikings, the world would be drastically change. Some lands might not have even been discovered or even inhabited. Thankfully, the Vikings were there so, they we could find them and discover new and precious metals and resources. That of which, the world uses and is grateful for today. Vikings really cherished time spent voyaging with their family and closest friends. One of the reasons their

The word Viking in the Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language says that the word Viking means the following. “Vi•king 1. any of the Scandinavian pirates who plunder the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries. 2. a sea-roving bandit: pirate. 3. a Scandinavian. 4. U.S. Aerospace. One of a series of space probes that obtained scientific information about Mars.” (1)

The ships were massive and wait for it... long. They were slim, durable, and flexible. This allowed the ships to steer through fjords, streams, and the ocean. They only thing they lacked (of which they added later) was a mast and sail. (Only in the 15th century did Europeans create a ship that surpassed the longboat.) Vikings, known for their raiding and pillage, were driven to these acts by overpopulation and poverty. A contrasting image of their big and brute reputation, they were made up of "landless sons, social outcasts, and political refugees." Their later divisions spread even further. Their beginning expeditions were small and mostly unrecognized, but as people started to "recognize" them (not collectively) they were dubbed an assortment of names and were even hired as mercenaries by Byzantian Greeks. They remained mostly in the northern north of the equator, but they were still expansive people considering. They "fell" to their expansion, assimilation, and loss of Scandinavian

The Vikings were very civilized and had a very unique way of life. They were travelers and settlers, traders and conquerors. Over the span of about 400 years, the Vikings explored and discovered many places. Among these places are Greenland, Iceland and even North America.They were master shipbuilders and built ships superior to any other ships of that day.Their ships were built of planks of timber, usually oak, overlapped and nailed together. The ships were made watertight by filling the spaces between the planks with wool,

This is a secondary source depicting what a viking longship would have looked like throughout the viking era. This is an artist's interpretation of what a longship looked like and how it functioned, this is evident in the immense detail placed into this artwork and the many pictures crafted displaying different angles. This artwork is being is still to this day is being created by a company known as andrea colour. The reliability of this source is significantly low, this is because of the uncommon occurrence of the photo and it being a mere artists interpretation. This artwork had no influence on the historical discovery of any viking artifact.

It is here where for many centuries fishermen and traders survived and from these very shores the Vikings organized a vast maritime trading network. The Vikings ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland, Greenland, and ultimately North America in the late 10th century to establish colonies throughout. To this day, Norway retains a robust fishing industry boasting one of the world’s largest merchant marine fleets. During the late 20th century, vast reserves of natural gas and petroleum were discovered in Norway’s North Sea bringing a new source of prosperity to the country according to Sager, R. D. et al. (1997).