The Vikings

Around the year 1000 A.D., a tribe called the Vikings, or sometimes the Norsemen, had colonies from Canada to Russia and as far south as Turkey. People everywhere were scared of them. They were very good soldiers and sailors too. They were not Christians; they had their own religion with many gods. Often, they attacked and robbed churches, killing the priests.

The first raids started in the 790s C. E. as the Vikings in their famous long-ships went up and down the coast of Europe, attacking villages and ports. The word 'Viking' means 'travelling around without a plan but ready for anything'. It all ended about three hundred years later when the Viking Normans invaded England and stayed. The time from 790 A.D. to 1066 A.D. is called the Viking Age.

But, where did these Vikings come from? They were farmers from all the countries of Scandinavia, but especially Norway and Denmark. The land in Scandinavia is not the best for growing crops and keeping animals so these farmers needed to go fishing as well. They soon became expert sailors, the best in the world in those days. Their ships were long and were built so they were very difficult to sink. They had oars but soon the Vikings added a sail and, with this, they could go anywhere the wind took them. They knew where they were at sea and used methods that modern scientists are just beginning to understand.

In their own countries, there was not enough land to feed everyone and, even when there was, the farms could grow nothing in the winter. So, it was a good time to get into their fishing boats and go and see what was out there.

Trade? Piracy? Colonies? Explorers? New ideas? The Vikings searched for all these things and found them all. As pirates, they took women and gold from the other Europeans who lived by the sea; as businessmen they set up trade routes across the known and unknown world; as colonisers, they started farms as far away as Greenland in the West and Russia in the East. As explorers, they went as far as North America, travelling a long way inland. In their colonies in Constantinople and elsewhere, they learned about other ideas and cultures. They were opportunists, first and last.

They travelled far and wide but did most of their war-making and raiding in Northern Europe, close to their Scandinavian homes. They set up new villages all across Britain and Ireland and they even took a piece of Northern France that they called Normandy. In 1066, these French-speaking Vikings, now called Normans, invaded England and colonised it.

But this was the last big Viking victory. After this, the Viking Age ended. The different parts of the Viking/Norman empire were too far apart for it to stay whole and most Vikings were now Christians and followed the rules of the Church.

So, the Viking Age ended but they left pieces of their culture everywhere they went. The beautiful, wooden buildings of Normandy; the long-ship; strong democratic traditions in public life; and, let's not forget that, in English, at least five days of the week are named after Norse (or Viking) gods. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are weekly reminders of how the Vikings changed our lives.