Vikings Research Paper

Vikings did spend a lot of their time raiding and killing and that is what they are most well-known for, but that doesn’t mean that that is all they are.

The title "Viking" includes a wide description of Nordic people; Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians, who lived during a period of

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)

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

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.

These Vikings’ were the most feared and brutal, being that their self-control was lost frequently in battle. Fighting and raiding to the Vikings could be seen as a hobby. Scandinavians went on raiding adventures and were heartless to who they killed. Women and children were killed as brutally as men were. Europeans were so terrified of the Vikings coming, some French churches created a special prayer for protection: “God, deliver us from the fury of the Northmen.”

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

The evidence to the Vikings success in their land-taking is revealed not only through history and traditional record of these events, but also through the names of people and places around where the land-taking took place. The place names influenced by the Norse language during and after the

'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.

In the article “New Visions of the Vikings” Heather Pringle explains that the Vikings that once shrouded in mystery and in the past few years their culture has come more comprehensible as we find more Viking burial grounds. The Vikings were the first to find North America and explore it and trade with the natives. They were farmers that survived off of their summer plundering and fall harvest. They weren’t a masculine idealistic society, meaning that they have a couple famous warrior maidens.

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),

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

In Norse society, the word Viking meant a sea-borne raider. It was used similarly to the way we use the word “pirate”. To go a-viking meant to undertake sea-borne raiding. The word itself was a job description and did not pertain to everyone. The word Viking did not apply to women, children, slaves or others who did not go raiding. It wasn’t until the nineteenth century when the word passed into common English usage, where it has come to be used to describe the people of Scandinavia in the period from the late eighth to eleventh centuries, not just for those who carried out the sea-borne raiding.

The Vikings were seen as heathen pirates by those that experienced their attacks. Many people had every reason to be frightened as their warships sailed from their homelands in Scandinavia. The Vikings were actually several different peoples who lived in we now know as Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Many people think of them today just as warlike raiders but some were farmers, merchants and architects. Their artists and craftspeople produced beautiful objects. Many Vikings set off from their homelands in search of new lands to settle and farm, such as Iceland. Other voyages were carried out for plunder first, then for settlement. Norwegian Vikings began to settle in the islands off the northern coast of Scotland at the beginning of the

"Viking" this noun from northern Europe ancient word "Vik", meaning, "harbor", "little bay". The 9th century Scandinavian used the word, meaning "sea expedition". In some parts of Europe, the Viking period of the