North Germanic peoples
Vikings were also active in Francia. Some of these Vikings would sail through the Strait of Gibraltar and pillage the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. In the early 10th century, a group of Vikings under the leadership of Rollo settled in Rouen, France, and established the Duchy of Normandy. The descendants of these Vikings, known as the "Normans", would in the 11th century conquer England, Southern Italy, and North Africa, and play a leading role in launching the Crusades. Sub-groups of the Normans include Anglo-Normans, Scoto-Normans, Cambro-Normans, Hiberno-Normans and Italo-Normans.
The Vikings (reenactment)
The Vikings, previously known as the Norse Film and Pageant Society (NFPS), which was founded in 1971 by Peter Seymour and Alan Jeffery, initially as an extension to their 'Central Focus' WWII film club, with the purpose of bringing an awareness of the Norse Myths and the Viking culture to the public through dramatic entertainment. They are the oldest and largest Dark Ages society in the UK. They are a founding member of the National Association of Re-enactment Societies. In its N.F.P.S days, the society consisted of some thirty core members, including the 'Odin Guard' an elite combat group maintaining Norse Heathen religious practices and values, but which eventually left the society during the leadership of Gerry East, whose recruitment tactics eventually took the membership into the three hundred plus bracket. The Society now has over 1100 members throughout Britain, Europe and North America. While the Society concentrates mainly on the 10th Century, events are often set in the wider period from 790 to 1066, with the appropriate modifications to dress and equipment used.