Essay on the vikings

The most common consensus was that though the time period of 800 AD to the 11th century (1066 AD), the Vikings did not last long enough, but within that time period, they had some major impacts on the European civilizations.

The Norse tale of Ragnarok presents an interesting example of apocalyptic literature by providing both an end and a unique beginning. The world which rises from the cosmic rubble seems to be essentially equivalent to that which the apocalypse destroyed, possessing the same creatures, features and Gods of times past. This considered, and by incorporating themes of time and fate, Snorri challenges the concepts of the past, present and future of Norse lore by providing a framework which allows for the potential reiteration of history. By reviewing The Prose Edda’s telling of the events surrounding Ragnarok, the relationship between fate, time and history provide a unique alternative to the standard eschatological timeline.

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.

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

Cbox 473, HCR 33, Spruce Head, ME 04859 reative Consensus, Inc. phone: 207-596-6373 fax: 207-596-0538 email: cci@midcoast.com VIKING INVESTMENTS (Principals) Leonard Greenhalgh Dartmouth College ROLE FOR PAT OLAFSON You run Viking Investments, a U.S. corporation that has been primarily involved in real estate development.

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)

Primarily, Vikings changed Europe from atrocity to pleasantry through the use of commerce and trade. Europe’s economy was transformed from an exchange system into a commercial trade economy. During the Viking Age, the Scandinavian economy was primarily a subsistence economy. Many families lived on small farmsteads, producing only enough to sustain that one family’s needs. The average citizens owned little to any luxury items. Men were usually in charge of the trading and marketing. Trading could be perilous due to the sea or vast land along with interactions with people whom are aliens, one must always be cautious. It is key to be agreeable to maintain friendship with all merchant men. Many use witnesses during purchases in case something goes wrong. It was ordinary for the men to occupy their merchant areas until about lunch, keeping all prices reasonable so they would be valued in the market. Learning laws came in handy when

Vikings come from their own country, and they anchor their ships on the River Volga where they build large wooden houses. In every house lives ten to twenty people, give or take. When a poor Viking dies, they build him a boat, place him in it, and consume

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)

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.

This prolonged period of contact between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons, which lasted over several centuries, resulted in many personal surnames, general words and English place names, being able to be traced to Scandinavian origins. Statistics show that, in Yorkshire, over 60 percent of personal names in early Middle English had some Scandinavian influence. It is also thought that nearly 1000 general words used in Standard English today such as give, anger and husband, all owe their modern meanings to the Viking settlers in England. Examples of Scandinavian place names in England are also evident. They can be easily detected by suffixes.

Similar to Minnesotans, the weather conditions strengthened this group of people. Many farmers ha to make sure they had enough food stored away to last them through to the spring. If these crops were to fail, the threat of starvation would soon loom over them. Adding to that, these regions of the planet helped the Vikings in their powers and successes in raiding. Most Viking movements resulted in trade and a more prosperous economy.

They soon heard of how successful and rich they had became and how easy it was to do it, so many Vikings joined together to invade many different countries. Some Vikings decided to stay in the area they conquered and expand in the places they had taken. The Vikings invaded many places along the north sea and Atlantic sea of Europe including, the Netherlands, France and Spain. They also sailed the rivers of Germany to invade settlements along the rivers. The Vikings traveled the sea in ships called longships.

Even before the earliest Viking raids on the monasteries, the Anglo-Saxons used an Old English word 'wicing'. The word Viking comes from the word Viking comes from the Icelandic “vikingr” which means pirate. The Viking age is generally accepted to have lasted from the first Viking raid on

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