The Genius of THE VIKINGS INNOVATIONS FROM PAST CIVILIZATIONS SONYA NEWLAND CRABTREE PUBLISHING COMPANY WWW.CRABTREEBOOKS.COM
the VIKINGS Who The people from the north came from the part of northern Europe we call Scandinavia which includes Denmark Norway and Sweden Known as Norse people norse being the Norwegian word for north they were farmers fishers and skilled sailors In the 700s they began sailing along the coast of Europe raiding and stealing from many settlements This behavior may have earned them the nickname vikingr which means pirate in the Old Norse language Today we refer to them as Vikings Viking helmets did not have horns although they are often shown with horns in modern pictures 4
king alfred's What happened The Vikings began raiding coastal villages in England in the late 700s At first they simply took what they wanted and sailed away But by around 850 Vikings were settling in England In 886 the English king Alfred reached an agreement with the Vikings They would be allowed to live in a certain part of the country This large area under Viking influence became known as the Danelaw Despite this early agreement over the next 200 years there were many shifts in power as the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings fought fiercely over control of England The Viking Age is considered to have ended in 1066 when the French duke William of Normandy invaded and conquered England During this time the Vikings were also raiding trading and settling in other parts of the world Their legacy can be seen far and wide This picture shows fighting the Vikings The two sides at sea ships reached eventually an agreement 5
