Why Were The Vikings Successful

“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

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 are not guilty of being bloodthirsty pillagers because like any other civilization, they were just overcoming a harsh environment. First, in document 4, the ship-graves that the Vikings built show that “the Vikings were not barbarians, though they are frequently depicted that way” (Document 4). The ship-grave that was discovered contained the imprint of a huge wooden ship and a cast treasure trove, which had been buried with a king or noble warrior. The remains of the man were not there, but his belongings lay there, along with other treasures. This shows that the Vikings were not aggressive people, but instead they were innovative and cared for their dead and respected them as well. Another reason of why the Vikings were not bloodthirsty

Viking raids were not gigantic wars, they were small, lightning-quick hit and run smash and grab raids. They did not attack in the center of kingdoms, they instead attacked the outer rim of kingdoms, usually small villages or monasteries. They did this because it was simply easier. These attacks, however while looking like they only benefitted the Vikings, actually changed medieval life for hundreds of years to come. That change is feudalism. The kingdoms were very large, with the king somewhere in the middle of it. When Vikings would make these, to a king’s perspective, small attacks, it would take more than a week to

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.

Much of Old Norse relates to languages used today, such as Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese, and Icelandic. Vikings were also culturally rich, as they provided knowledge on crafts, production, ships, military equipment, trading, and their practices. The religion of the Vikings was pagan during the beginning of the Viking Age, but they later also added Christianity to their religion. Vikings also economically impacted their region by trading.

Women have always had some role in societies, even those engulfed by misogyny. Despite misogynistic points of views, many women have rose above the negative perceptions placed on them and made history. However, the history of Scandinavian women seemingly took a different turn compared to other misogynistic societies. The perception of women within medieval Scandinavia has garnered the attention of Countless countless historians and authors scholars have been intrigued with Scandinavian women throughout history.

The Vikings were well-known for their creation which integrated metal works, woodcrafts, figurines, tusk, earthenware, crystal, as well as books. In Zemljanoe Gorodishche, there are many specimens of trinket, adornment, apparel, comb, recreation collections, sacred objects, stallion harnesses, armaments and objects with decay, which contain the legendary dragon head, a diminutive statue of a female, as well as two charms with mysterious engraving. Parallel discoveries happened at Jorvik which produced kitchenware, basins, recreational fragments, adornment also horn combs. Archaeological site of Viking Dublin consist of timber mixer, trowels, cords of tree twigs, barriers of thicket fences, blades of lumber, intertwining slabs of ivory, in addition

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 organized attacks very well, they set more and more extravagant goals, and soon met them. Their attacks on England were successful mostly because no one expected them. In May of 841, Danish Vikings led by a man named Asgeir sailed the River Seine, and they burnt the city Rouen to the ground. Next they moved into St. Denis, but decided that it was in their best interest not to provoke the passing Frankish army. But they went right back at it again in 842 they destroyed Quenstovic, the Frisian harbor town. In 845 they attacked the tri-divided Holy Roman Empire, all at the same time!

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 strengths of the Vikings surely was the most significant factor in enabling them to be successful in terms of their strategies and tactics. Their strategies for example included the ‘Great Army’ which consisted of small forces therefore allowing them to use the element of surprise to their advantage and so raid completely undetected. They first gathered in East Anglia (866/7) and were skillfully able to live of this land by taking horses and supplies from the locals. The success of these Great Armies is clearly represented by their ability to destroy 3 kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. The Great Army was certainly key as it was believed to have been able to ‘dramatically change the political and demographic