INTRODUCTION Vikings were seafaring warriors who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the ninth to the eleventh centuries burning plundering and killing as they went These marauders came from Scandinavia what is now Denmark Norway and Sweden The Vikings were made up of landowning chieftains and clan heads their followers freemen and any ener getic young clan members who sought adventure and booty over seas Some were part-time raiders and pillagers spending part of the year farming or fishing at home Vikings were never a unified group Rather the Viking trait of seeking riches outside their homeland was one shared by many peoples who dwelt in Scandinavia The exact ethnic composition of the Viking armies is unknown in particular cases but the Vi kings expansion in the Baltic lands and in Russia can probably be attributed to the Swedes However the nonmilitary colonization of the Orkney Islands Faroe Islands and Iceland was clearly accom plished by the Norwegians The Vikings disruptive influence profoundly affected European history Their name was given to the era that dated from about 740 CE to about 1050 the Viking Age During that time the Scandi navian countries seem to have possessed a practically inexhaust ible surplus of manpower Leaders of ability who could organize groups of warriors into conquering bands and armies were seldom 6
This tenth-century illustration depicts Vikings leaving their ships to explore their fortunes in England The image was created on vellum which is parchment made from calfskin 7
VIKINGS lacking These bands would negotiate the seas in their longships and mount hit-and-run raids on cities and towns along the coasts of Europe Their burning plundering and killing earned them the name vikingr meaning pirate in the early Scandinavian languages Their expression for these campaigns of swift cruel attacks was to go a-viking The fierce reputation of the Viking warrior has survived the centuries Some attributes are myths such as their nonexistent horned helmets However some truths are more bizarre than any thing that could be fabricated such as the berserkers the Viking warriors who put themselves in a trance of rage before battle biting their shields and howling like animals Besides warriors Vikings were artisans craftsmen and traders Vikings were some of the earliest pioneers trekking across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland Green land and North America They traveled throughout Europe and as far east as Central Asia They ex changed their goods such as honey tin wheat wool wood iron fur walrus ivory and fish for silver silk spices glass jewelry and more Slaves were also a part of the Viking trade Much of our understanding of the Vikings comes from accounts from cul tures other than the Scandinavians often cultures that have been raided or con quered Some of these biased reports understandably paint Viking warriors as violent brutal aggressors The 8
INTRODUCTION English cleric and scholar Alcuin the Elder wrote of the Vikings in the late 700s Never before has such terror appeared in Brit ain as we have now suffered from a pagan race While formi dable the people known as Vikings were a complex civilization who contributed much to European society even while spreading terror and chaos Through travels and trade they helped connect distant cultures spreading goods as well as ideas 9
