Jump to content

Vikings

Change links
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Viking towns in Scandinavia
Vikings ready to attack

TheVikingswereScandinavianpeople from NorthernEuropewho were known as greatseamenandwarriors. From the 8th to the 11th centuries they travelled to Europe in theirlong ships.They attacked and latersettledin areas that are nowmodern Great Britain,Germany,France,Spain,andItaly.[1]

Background[change|change source]

The people of the farnorth,later called Vikings, were first noticed by theRomansaround the year 100BC.[a][6]This is when theCimbriand theTeutonsmoved intosouthernGaul.[6]The Romans believed thesewar-like tribes came fromJutland.But the Romans suspected they were only a part of a greaterthreatlocated further north.[6]The Roman historiansJordanesdescribed thedestructiveOstrogothsandVisigothsas having come fromGotland.[6]

TheFrankish Empirethat came after them in Gaul became more and more aware of the northern threat.[6]As the laterCarolingian Empireexpanded into northernGermanythey came into contact with theDanish people.This is when the Vikings appear inwrittenhistory.[6]The first recordedraidinBritainwas atLindisfarnein 793.[7]Why the Vikings began raiding is not clear. A populartheoryis thepopulationshad grown to the point there was not enoughfoodto feed everyone.[8]The earliest raiders did not seem to want to move out ofScandinavia.They turned tolooting,then returning home. These raids were possible because the Vikings were masterboat builders.They made flat bottomed boats ideal for journeys uprivers. Many monasteries were on the rivers and were raided.[9]Raiding was easy. It became more and more popular among the Vikings.[8]

Three different groups of Vikings took different, sometimesoverlapping,routes.[8]

Vikings in Europe[change|change source]

Ahelmetthat the Vikings wore

Europeans were scared of the Vikings because of their strongweapons,swiftattacks,and cruel fighting tactics. They were known for their bad treatment ofwomen,childrenandmonksin the places where they fought. When the Vikings came to England, the English kings paid them to leave thecountry.The Vikings took their money and sometimes fought them anyway. These payments were calledDanegeld.From the9th centuryto1066,when theDuke of Normandy,who becameKing William Iof England,conqueredit, Danish and Norwegian Vikings ruled large parts of England.

Because of theirlongships,which could float in 4 feet (1.3m) of water, the Vikings were able to make their way upriversand land deep inside a country. They sailed up theRiver Shannonin Ireland and built aharbour60 miles (100 km) from thecoast.

There was a difference in who led Viking raids. In the 9th century, Viking Age raids were led by men who may have beenexilesin their own countries.[10]The later Viking raids in the late10th centuryand early11th centuryand were led byKings.[10]Some of the early leaders tried to become kings with the riches they plundered from Europe and Russia. Some were successful but most were not.[10]

In Russia and the Mediterranean[change|change source]

See also:Kievan Rus'andVarangians

The Vikings were called Rus' by the peopleseastof theBaltic Sea.[11]The Vikings who settled inKievformed the first Russian state.[11]The Vikings (Rus') who served theByzantineEmperorswere calledVarangians.They became the personalbodyguardsto the Emperor and were called theVarangian Guard.[12]

Exploration[change|change source]

The Vikings travelled throughRussia,theMediterranean Sea,southern Europe, northernAfricaand south-westernAsia.Some Vikings sailed across theAtlantic OceanviaIcelandandGreenlandand may have explored places inNorth America.The ruins of a Viking settlement have been found atL'Anse-aux-Meadows,Newfoundland.[13][14]

Archaeologistsusedradiocarbon datingto find out how old the settlement was. Their tests gave them a range of dates from about AD 700 to about AD 1000.[15]

Language[change|change source]

Some English words, and many place names, come from the Scandinavian and Viking language (Norse). For example, the wordsskirtandshirtcame from the wordskyrta,meaning atunic.As English changed, thesemanticsaltered to give us the separate words 'skirt' and 'shirt' we know today.Skincame from the Norse wordskinn(which meant to strip the meat off something). Some place-names in the areas the Vikings conquered are still in use.[16]For example, inYorkshireplaces ending withthwaitemeant aclearing[17]anddalemeant avalley.The wordthorpemeantnew village,such asScunthorpe.[18]

Religion[change|change source]

See also:List of Norse gods and goddesses
Odin (also called Woden) the god ofwarand death. The dayWednesdayis named for him

TheAnglo-Saxonscalled the Vikingspagans.They worshiped many gods. Viking gods belonged to two groups of gods in Norsemythology,theAesirand theVanir.[19]

The pagan Vikings were exposed toChristianityfrom the beginning of theViking Age.[20]They were surrounded by Christian countries. Early Christianmissionarieswere either enslavedor put to death.[21]The Vikings came into contact with Christianity when they raided other areas around them.[20]Viking raids produced many Christian slaves who were brought back to Scandinavia. They called Christians "Cross-men" because of thecrossin their worship.[22]Many Vikings usedThorshammer as their religious symbol. When Vikings settled in Christian areas theyconvertedto Christianity. There are stillheadstonesin England with both acrossand a hammer. Perhaps they thought it was better to be safe than sorry.[20]That, or the more gods the better. As some Vikings turned from raiding totradingthey found a nominal (in name only) profession of Christianity to be helpful.[23]Scandinavia, theirhomeland,was slower to change to the Christian religion. By the mid-11th centurymost of Norway and Denmark had converted. Sweden was converted by the mid-12th century.[20]

The Viking's religion affected Christianity as well. The pagan celebration ofYuletidebecameChristmas.[22]Priestsblessing the fields took the place of paganfertility ritesofspringheld to make sure there was a goodharvest.[22]Norse kept their "farm gods" well after Christianity just to make sure they were protected.Santa Clausowes much of his legend to the Norse godOdin.With his snow-white beard he traveled the midwintersky on his eight-footedsteedSleipnirvisiting his people with gifts. He becameFather Christmas.Blended with the ChristianSaint Nicholashe becameSanta Claus.[22]

In fiction and theater[change|change source]

In the late19th centuryRichard Wagnerand other artists in theRomantic periodmadeoperasand other artwork about ancientGermanic culture.They liked the Vikings because they were not Greeks or Romans. They came up with the idea of Vikings wearingfurclothes andhelmetswith wings or horns on them and drinking out of hollowed-out animalhorns.Some ancient Germans wore helmets with horns on them, but real Vikings did not. Wagner and his partners dressed theactorsin the operaRing des Nibelungenso they would look like ancient Germans and so the audience would feel like modern Germans came from medieval Vikings.[24][25]

Related pages[change|change source]

Notes[change|change source]

  1. ↑The Romans of the time believed the Baltic sea was a part of the ocean and lands north of the Baltic wereislands.[2]Early writers mentioned an island calledThule.[3]It lay beyond the known world of the time but it is thought now to beNorway.[4]They did not come into contact with Germanic tribes north of theDanubeuntil the1st centuryAD.About 98 AD,TacituswroteGermaniawhich was an account of the German peoples.[5].

References[change|change source]

  1. ↑Colin Hynson,How People Lived in Viking Times(New York: Rosen Group Publishing, Inc., 2009), p. 6
  2. ↑James Oliver Thomson,History of Ancient Geography(New York: Bilbo & Tannen, 1965), p. 241
  3. ↑Barry Cunliffe, The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek: The Man Who Discovered Britain(New York: Walker & Company, 2002), p. 126
  4. ↑"Thule".Oxford Dictionaries. Archived fromthe originalon 9 October 2015.Retrieved8 December2015.
  5. ↑Graeme Davis,Thor: The Viking God of Thunder(Long Island City, NY: Osprey Publishing, 2013), p. 60
  6. ↑6.06.16.26.36.46.5René Chartrand; et al.,The Vikings: Voyagers of Discovery and Plunder(Oxford: Osprey, 2006), pp. 10–11
  7. ↑Bonnie G Smith; Richard Von Glahn; Kris E Lane; et al,Crossroads and Cultures,Volume B: 500-1750 (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012), p. 298
  8. ↑8.08.18.28.38.48.5Jill N. Claster,The Medieval Experience, 300-1400(New York: New York University Press, 1982), pp. 138–140
  9. ↑Sawyer, P.H. (1997) (1997).The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings.Oxford University Press. Oxford, New York.ISBN978-0-19-820526-5.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑10.010.110.2P.H. Sawyer,Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700–1100(London; New York: Methuen, 1982), p. 145
  11. ↑11.011.1Martina Sprague,Sweden: An Illustrated History(New York: Hippocrene Books, 2005), p. 37
  12. ↑William L. Urban,Medieval Mercenaries: The Business of War(London: Greenhill Books, 2006), pp. 23–24
  13. ↑F. Donald Logan,The Vikings in History(Oxford; New York: Routledge, 2006), pp. 82–84
  14. ↑Craig Cippola (October 18, 2017)."Vikings in Canada".Royal Ontario Museum.RetrievedJanuary 4,2020.
  15. ↑F. Donald Logan,The Vikings in History(Oxford; New York: Routledge, 2006), p. 86
  16. ↑"Place-names in The Danelaw".viking.no.2004.Retrieved26 June2011.
  17. ↑"Thwaite Meaning and Definition".thinkexist.com.2011.Retrieved26 June2011.[permanent dead link]
  18. ↑"BBC - History - Legacy of the Vikings".bbc.co.uk.2011.Retrieved26 June2011.
  19. ↑Yves Bonnefoy,American, African, and Old European Mythologies(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), p. 237
  20. ↑20.020.120.220.3Gareth Williams (17 Feb 2011)."Viking Religion".BBC.Retrieved23 June2015.
  21. ↑Tracey Ann Schofield,Vikings(Carthage, IL: Teaching & Learning Co, 2002), p. 26
  22. ↑22.022.122.222.3"The Vikings meet Christianity".The Viking Network.Retrieved23 June2015.
  23. ↑Raymond Ian Page, 'Chronicles of the Vikings: Records, Memorials, and Myths(Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1995), p. 222
  24. ↑Phil Edwards; Christophe Haubersin (April 29, 2016)."Vikings never wore horned helmets. Here's why people thought they did".Vox.RetrievedJanuary 4,2020.
  25. ↑Roberta Frank."The Invention of the Viking Horned Helmet".RetrievedJanuary 4,2020.

Other websites[change|change source]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toVikings.
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vikings&oldid=9645985"