When were the Vikings active?
Early Scandinavian Dublin
In the year 795 Vikings (probably of Norwegian origin) raided islands off the coast of Ireland for the first time. This was the beginning of a new phase of Irish history, which saw many native communities – particularly ecclesiastical ones – relocate themselves on the continent, or further afield in places like Iceland and the Faroe Islands, to escape the pagan marauders. For about two decades the invaders confined their activities to coastal settlements; raiding parties were generally small and there is no evidence that any of them wintered in Ireland during this early phase of "hit-and-run" activity. Typically the Vikings would arrive at a settlement without warning, plunder what goods and people they could – the people were usually sold as slaves, though notable personages were often held for ransom – before retreating to their Scandinavian or British bases. This period lasted from 795 until 813, after which there occurred a hiatus of eight years.
It is now thought that these early raids were launched directly from southwest Norway, and that during the period of calm (814–820) the Norwegian Vikings were occupied in northern Britain, laying the foundations of a new kingdom referred to in Irish sources as Laithlind (later Lochlainn). Laithlind was once thought to be in Norway but it is now identified with Viking settlements in the British Isles, especially those in Scotland and the Isle of Man.
Viking raids in the Rhineland
During this time, the Vikings attacked the Frankish Empire sailing their ships up the big rivers from the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Such raids mainly affected areas on the Seine and in modern-day Netherlands and Belgium. Previously, the Vikings had raided England (Lindisfarne, 793) and Ireland (Dublin, 795). In 820, the first major attack by Vikings on the Frankish Empire was recorded, taking place around the mouth of the river Seine, and at the same time other Vikings probably invaded Flanders. In 845, Paris was attacked for the first time with about 700 longships up the Seine. The Parisians bought the raiders off with 7,000 pounds of silver. By 926, thirteen of these payments have been documented in the Frankish Empire. The Elbe estuary and the already fortified city of Hamburg were attacked by Danish warriors in 845.
Viking expansion
Viking raids of the Low Countries continued for over a century. Remains of Viking attacks dating from 880 to 890 have been found in Zutphen and Deventer. The last attacks took place in Tiel in 1006 and Utrecht in 1007.
Viking raid warfare and tactics
Vikings, according to Clare Downham in "Viking Kings of Britain in Ireland", are "people of Scandinavian culture who were active outside Scandinavia... Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Hiberno-Scandinavians, Anglo-Scandinavians, or the inhabitants of any Scandinavian colony who affiliated themselves more strongly with the culture of the coloniser than with that of the indigenous population."
History of Normandy
The first Viking raids began between 790 and 800 on the coasts of western France. Several coastal areas were lost during the reign of Louis the Pious (814–840). The incursions in 841 caused severe damage to Rouen and Jumièges. The Viking attackers sought to capture the treasures stored at monasteries - easy prey considering the helplessness of the monks to defend themselves. An expedition in 845 went up the Seine and reached Paris. The raids took place primarily in the summers, the Vikings spending the winters in Scandinavia.
Ólchobar mac Cináeda
Late in 848 Ólchobar is said to have set up a camp from which the Vikings at Cork were blockaded. The result of this siege is nowhere recorded. This is the first mention of the Vikings at Cork. They are not heard of again until 865. It has been suggested that these several campaigns against Vikings were a coordinated effort by the chief Irish kings.
Vikings
The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history. Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The Normans were descended from Vikings who were given feudal overlordship of areas in northern France—the Duchy of Normandy—in the 10th century. In that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe. Likewise, King Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, had Danish ancestors. Two Vikings even ascended to the throne of England, with Sweyn Forkbeard claiming the English throne in 1013–1014 and his son Cnut the Great becoming king of England 1016–1035.
Vikings (2013 TV series)
"Vikings" is inspired by the sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known legendary Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of England and France. The show portrays Ragnar as a farmer who rises to fame by successful raids into England, and eventually becomes a Scandinavian King, with the support of his family and fellow warriors. After Ragnar's death, the later seasons follow the fortunes of his sons, and their adventures in England, Scandinavia and the Mediterranean.
Viking Age
In 884, an army of Danish Vikings was defeated at the Battle of Norditi (also called the Battle of Hilgenried Bay) on the Germanic North Sea coast by a Frisian army under Archbishop Rimbert of Bremen-Hamburg, which precipitated the complete and permanent withdrawal of the Vikings from East Frisia.
Viking expansion
Viking expansion is the process by which Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, sailed most of the North Atlantic, reaching south to North Africa and east to Russia, Constantinople and the Middle East as looters, traders, colonists and mercenaries. Vikings under Leif Erikson, the heir to Erik the Red, reached North America and set up a short-lived settlement in present-day L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada. Longer lasting and more established settlements were formed in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Great Britain, Ireland and Normandy.
Kingdom of the Isles
Prior to the Viking incursions the southern Hebrides formed part of the Gaelic kingdom of (or Dalriada). North of , the Inner and Outer Hebrides were nominally under Pictish control although the historical record is sparse. According to Ó Corráin (1998) "when and how the Vikings conquered and occupied the Isles is unknown, perhaps unknowable", although from 793 onwards repeated raids by Vikings on the British Isles are recorded. "All the islands of Britain" were devastated in 794 with Iona being sacked in 802 and 806. Various named Viking leaders, who were probably based in Scotland, appear in the Irish annals: in 837, in 845 and in 847. Another early reference to the Norse presence in the Irish records is that there was a king of "Viking Scotland" whose heir, , took an army to Ireland in 848.
Salme ships
According to an early interpretation offered by Jüri Peets, the lead archaeologist at the site, the ships and the dead are of Scandinavian origin. According to the most likely scenario, a war party of Scandinavians attempted to carry out a raid against the Oeselians (Estonian inhabitants of the island of Saaremaa), but were attacked by Oeselian ships. The sides of the two ships contain numerous embedded arrowheads, some of which are of the three-pointed type used to carry burning materials to set enemy ships aflame. After losing too many oarsmen to the Estonian archers, the raiders pulled their ships aground and tried to defend themselves behind them. It appears that after the battle, the Oeselians allowed either the survivors or some other group of Scandinavians to ritually bury their dead. The burial is unusual because the ships were not covered with earth mounds. The site was eventually forgotten by the local inhabitants after it had become overblown by sand and covered with vegetation. The raid-hypothesis has led to a questioning of when the Viking Age began exactly. The Salme event took place 50-100 years earlier than the infamous Lindisfarne Viking raid in England in the summer of AD 793.
History of Norway
The Viking Age was a period of Scandinavian expansion through trade, colonization and raids. One of the first raid was against Lindisfarne in 793 and is considered the beginning of the Viking Age. This was possible because of the development of the longship, suitable for travel across the sea, and advanced navigation techniques.
List of Viking FK seasons
Viking Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It has played in the top division since the league was established in 1937, except for the years 1966–67, 1987–88 and 2018. Viking have played 68 seasons in the first tier and 5 seasons in the second tier of Norwegian football. No other clubs have played more seasons in the top flight. The club has never played lower than the second tier. The 2019 season will be Viking's 69th season in the top flight.
History of Scandinavia
During the Viking Age, the Vikings (Scandinavian warriors and traders) raided, colonized and explored large parts of Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa, as far west as Newfoundland.
Viking revival
Danish antiquarian Carl Christian Rafn was noted for his early advocacy of the theory that the Vikings had explored North America centuries before Christopher Columbus's and John Cabot's voyages. Rafn published much of his work in 1837 in the "Antiquitates Americanæ", considered the first scholarly exposition of the Old Norse exploration period.
Vikings (season 4)
The fourth season consists of a double order of twenty episodes, split into two parts of ten episodes; the second half premiered on November 30, 2016. The season follows the battles between Ragnar and Rollo in Francia, Bjorn's raid into the Mediterranean, and the Viking invasion of England. It concluded in its entirety on February 1, 2017."Vikings" is an Irish-Canadian co-production presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The fourth season was developed and produced by Octagon Films for the first sixteen episodes, TM Productions for the last four episodes, and Take 5 Productions. Morgan O'Sullivan, Sheila Hockin, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, James Flynn, John Weber, and Michael Hirst are credited as executive producers. This season was produced by Keith Thompson for the first eight and for the last four episodes, and Sanne Wohlenberg for the ninth to sixteenth episodes. Bill Goddard and Séamus McInerney act as co-producers.
Viking expansion
Quite extensive evidence for minor Viking raids in Iberia continues for the early eleventh century in later narratives (including some Icelandic sagas) and in northern Iberian charters. As the Viking Age drew to a close, Scandinavians and Normans continued to have opportunities to visit and raid Iberia while on their way to the Holy Land for pilgrimage or crusade, or in connection with Norman conquests in the Mediterranean. Key examples in the saga literature are Sigurðr Jórsalafari (king of Norway 1103-1130) and Røgnvaldr kali Kolsson (d. 1158).
Los Vikings
Los Vikings (also known as Los Vikings de Usulután) are a rock group from Usulután, El Salvador, formed in the 1960s, and are often cited as the exemplary group of the "golden age of Salvadoran rock". Members included Remberto Trejo (lead singer), Gustavo Larreinaga (drums), Juan López Gonzáles (organ), Víctor Moreno (bass) Payín Moreno (lead guitar), and Armando Martínez (rhythm guitar, background vocals). Group hits include, "Tu Crees En Mi", "Y En Cambio Tu", and "Cien Mujeres". After much success during the Latin American Nueva Ola scene, the group became inactive in 1973. Los Vikings reunited in 2002 for at least one show.
Vikings (2013 TV series)
The series is inspired by the tales of the Norsemen of early medieval Scandinavia. It broadly follows the exploits of the legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok and his crew, family and descendants, as notably laid down in the 13th-century sagas "Ragnars saga Loðbrókar" and "Ragnarssona þáttr", as well as in Saxo Grammaticus's 12th-century work "Gesta Danorum". Norse legendary sagas were partially fictional tales based in the Norse oral tradition, written down about 200 to 400 years after the events they describe. Further inspiration is taken from historical sources of the period, such as records of the Viking raid on Lindisfarne depicted in the second episode, or Ahmad ibn Fadlan's 10th-century account of the Varangians. The series begins at the start of the Viking Age, marked by the Lindisfarne raid in 793.
Western Norway
Historically Vikings are often introduced with the Viking attack on Lindisfarne in 793, when they really made their mark in European history. The era ends with the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Vikings' seaworthiness and wanderlust resulted in new areas being developed. Norwegian settlers moved into the North Sea westward to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Shetland, Orkney, Isle of Mann and the Hebrides.
Settlements were established in the southeast corner of Ireland including in Dublin, Waterford and Wexford. Norwegians settled along the northwest area of England, principally in the area of modern-day Cumbria. The Norwegian Vikings also discovered Vinland, present-day America, long before Christopher Columbus.
Vikings
In Scandinavia, the 17th-century Danish scholars Thomas Bartholin and Ole Worm and the Swede Olaus Rudbeck used runic inscriptions and Icelandic sagas as historical sources. An important early British contributor to the study of the Vikings was George Hicke, who published his "Linguarum vett. septentrionalium thesaurus" in 1703–05. During the 18th century, British interest and enthusiasm for Iceland and early Scandinavian culture grew dramatically, expressed in English translations of Old Norse texts and in original poems that extolled the supposed Viking virtues.
Vikings
The motives driving the Viking expansion are a topic of much debate in Nordic history. One common theory posits that Charlemagne "used force and terror to Christianise all pagans", leading to baptism, conversion or execution, and as a result, Vikings and other pagans resisted and wanted revenge. Professor Rudolf Simek states that "it is not a coincidence if the early Viking activity occurred during the reign of Charlemagne". The penetration of Christianity into Scandinavia led to serious conflict dividing Norway for almost a century.
Viking art
Viking raiders attacked wealthy targets on the north-western coasts of Europe from the late 8th until the mid-11th century CE. Pre-Christian traders and sea raiders, the Vikings first enter recorded history with their attack on the Christian monastic community on Lindisfarne Island in 793.
Viking art
The Vikings initially employed their longships to invade and attack European coasts, harbours and river settlements on a seasonal basis. Subsequently, Viking activities diversified to include trading voyages to the east, west and south of their Scandinavian homelands, with repeated and regular voyages following river systems east into Russia and the Black and Caspian Sea regions, and west to the coastlines of the British Isles, Iceland and Greenland. Evidence exists for Vikings reaching Newfoundland well before the later voyages of Christopher Columbus discovered the New World.
Viking raid on Seville
Accounts of the Viking raid appeared in the works of Muslim historians, including Ibn al-Qūṭiyya of Córdoba (d. 977), Ibn Idhari (wrote , copying 10th-century sources), and al-Nuwayri (1284–1332). In the Islamic calendar, the attack took place in the "hijri" year 230. In the Muslim sources, the Vikings were referred with the epithet the "Majus" ("fire-worshipper": a term initially used for Zoroastrians in the East). Since the Viking fleet attacked the Christian Kingdom of Asturias before raiding Seville, Spanish chronicles also contain records of the Viking raid.
Viking raid warfare and tactics
The Vikings were also able to establish an extended period of economic and political rule of much of Ireland, England, and Scotland during the Norse Ivarr Dynasty that started in the late 9th century and lasted until 1094. In Ireland, coastal fortifications known as longphorts were established in many places after initial raidings, and they developed into trading posts and settlements over time. Quite a few modern towns in Ireland were founded in this way, including Dublin.
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.
Vikings
Early modern publications, dealing with what is now called Viking culture, appeared in the 16th century, e.g. "Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus" (Olaus Magnus, 1555), and the first edition of the 13th-century "Gesta Danorum" of Saxo Grammaticus in 1514. The pace of publication increased during the 17th century with Latin translations of the Edda (notably Peder Resen's "Edda Islandorum" of 1665).
Viking metal
Viking metal features the Vikings as its subject matter and for evocative imagery. The Vikings were Northern European seafarers and adventurers who, during the Middle Ages, relied on sailing vessels such as longships, "knerrir", and "karvi" to explore, raid, pirate, trade, and settle along the North Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caspian coasts and Eastern European river systems. The Viking Age is generally cited as beginning in 793, when a Viking raid struck Lindisfarne, and concluding in 1066, with the death of Harald Hardrada and the Norman conquest of England. During this two-hundred-year period, the Vikings ventured west as far as Ireland and Iceland in the North Atlantic and Greenland and what is now Newfoundland in North America, south as far as the Kingdom of Nekor (Morocco), Italy, Sicily, and Constantinople in the Mediterranean, and southeast as far as what are now Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine in Eastern Europe, Georgia in the Caucasus, and Baghdad in the Middle East.
List of Vikings episodes
"Vikings" is a historical drama television series written and created by Michael Hirst for the channel History. Filmed in Ireland, it premiered on March 3, 2013 in Canada. "Vikings" is inspired by the sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known legendary Norse heroes. The series portrays Ragnar's and his family's rise from serfdom to nobility and fame through successful raids into Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Francia. The series is also inspired by, and loosely adapts, various historical events from European history during the Early Middle Ages.
A series of thirteen webisodes known as "Vikings: Athelstan's Journal" was released by the History Channel. Each webisode serves as a journal entry for the "Vikings" character Athelstan. The webisodes were released prior to and in conjunction with the beginning of the third season of "Vikings", and are available on the History Channel's website. The webisodes have a running time of 1:45 to 5:01 minutes.
History of Europe
The Viking Age, a period of migrations of Scandinavian peoples, occurred from the late 8th century to the middle 11th century. The Normans, descendants of the Vikings who settled in Northern France, had a significant impact on many parts of Europe, from the Norman conquest of England to Southern Italy and Sicily. The Rus' people founded Kievan Rus', which evolved into Russia. After 1000 the Crusades were a series of religiously motivated military expeditions originally intended to bring the Levant back under Christian rule. The Crusaders opened trade routes which enabled the merchant republics of Genoa and Venice to become major economic powers. The Reconquista, a related movement, worked to reconquer Iberia for Christendom.
Kingdom of Dublin
Vikings invaded the territory around Dublin in the 9th century, establishing the Norse Kingdom of Dublin, the earliest and longest-lasting Norse kingdom in Ireland. Its territory corresponded to most of present-day County Dublin. The Norse referred to the kingdom as "Dyflin", which is derived . The first reference to the Vikings comes from the "Annals of Ulster" and the first entry for 841 CE reads: "Pagans still on Lough Neagh". It is from this date onward that historians get references to ship fortresses or longphorts being established in Ireland. It may be safe to assume that the Vikings first over-wintered in 840–841 CE. The actual location of the longphort of Dublin is still a hotly debated issue. Norse rulers of Dublin were often co-kings, and occasionally also Kings of Jórvík in what is now Yorkshire. Under their rule, Dublin became the biggest slave port in Western Europe.
Vikings
A consequence of the available written sources, which may have coloured how the Viking age is perceived as a historical period, is that much more is known of the Vikings' activities in western Europe than in the East. One reason is that the cultures of north-eastern Europe at the time were non-literate, and did not produce a legacy of literature. Another is that the vast majority of written sources on Scandinavia in the Viking Age come from Iceland, a nation originally settled by Norwegian colonists. As a result, there is much more material from the Viking Age about Norway than Sweden, which apart from many runic inscriptions, has almost no written sources from the early Middle Ages.
Viking Cruises
The company was established by Torstein Hagen in Leningrad as Viking River Cruises in 1997. Hagen had become involved in cruising as a McKinsey and Co. consultant who helped the Holland America Line survive the 1973 oil crisis, then was briefly CEO of Royal Viking Line in the early 1980s, made money in the Russian private equity markets, then bought a controlling stake in a Dutch shipping company that failed in the mid-1990s, leaving him almost bankrupt. Around that time he helped some Russian oligarchs buy a shipping company, and in exchange they sold him four river cruise ships cheaply, which were the founding fleet of Viking.
Ímar
Norse contact with Scotland predates the first written records in the 8th century, although the nature and frequency of these contacts is unknown. Excavations on the island of Unst in Shetland indicate that Scandinavian settlers had reached there perhaps as early as the mid-7th century and from 793 onwards repeated raids by Vikings on the British Isles are recorded. "All the islands of Britain" were devastated in 794 with Iona being sacked in 802 and 806. The Frankish "" may record the conquest of the Inner Hebrides by Vikings in 847. Scholarly interpretations of the period "have led to widely divergent reconstructions of Viking Age Scotland", especially in the early period, and Barrett has identified several competing theories, none of which he regards as proven. Ó Corráin notes: "when and how the Vikings conquered and occupied the Isles is unknown, perhaps unknowable".
Viking Age
The term Varangian remained in usage in the Byzantine Empire until the 13th century, largely disconnected from its Scandinavian roots by then.
Having settled Aldeigja (Ladoga) in the 750s, Scandinavian colonists were probably an element in the early ethnogenesis of the Rus' people, and likely played a role in the formation of the Rus' Khaganate. The Varangians (Varyags, in Old East Slavic) are first mentioned by the Primary Chronicle as having exacted tribute from the Slavic and Finnic tribes in 859. It was the time of rapid expansion of the Vikings in Northern Europe; England began to pay Danegeld in 859, and the Curonians of Grobin faced an invasion by the Swedes at about the same date.
In 862, the Finnic and Slavic tribes rebelled against the Varangian Rus, driving them overseas back to Scandinavia, but soon started to conflict with each other. The disorder prompted the tribes to invite back the Varangian Rus "to come and rule them" and bring peace to the region. This was a somewhat bilateral relation with the Varagians defending the cities that they ruled. Led by Rurik and his brothers Truvor and Sineus, the invited Varangians (called Rus') settled around the town of Novgorod (Holmgard).
TIF Viking
It was founded on 17 May 1892 as "IK Viking", but later changed their name. The club had its heyday before and around World War II. Its indoor arena, Vikinghallen, was erected in 1935 and to this day generates most of the club's income. Its outdoor arena and home ground is Skansemyren. Many international athletes represented the club, including Harald Stenerud, Olaf Strand, John Systad and Odd Rasdal. In the 2000s, race walker Trond Nymark became the club's most prominent member.
History of Ireland
The Vikings were expert sailors, who travelled in longships, and by the early 840s, had begun to establish settlements along the Irish coasts and to spend the winter months there. The longships were technologically advanced, allowing them to travel faster through the narrow rivers. Vikings founded settlements in several places; most famously in Dublin. Most of the settlements were near the water, allowing the Vikings to trade using their longships. Written accounts from this time (early to mid 840s) show that the Vikings were moving further inland to attack (often using rivers) and then retreating to their coastal headquarters.
Viking Age
The first Viking raids began between 790 and 800 along the coasts of western France. They were carried out primarily in the summer, as the Vikings wintered in Scandinavia. Several coastal areas were lost to Francia during the reign of Louis the Pious (814–840). But the Vikings took advantage of the quarrels in the royal family caused after the death of Louis the Pious to settle their first colony in the south-west (Gascony) of the kingdom of Francia, which was more or less abandoned by the Frankish kings after their two defeats at Roncevaux. The incursions in 841 caused severe damage to Rouen and Jumièges. The Viking attackers sought to capture the treasures stored at monasteries, easy prey given the monks' lack of defensive capacity. In 845 an expedition up the Seine reached Paris. The presence of Carolingian "deniers" of "ca" 847, found in 1871 among a hoard at Mullaghboden, County Limerick, where coins were neither minted nor normally used in trade, probably represents booty from the raids of 843–846. After 851, Vikings began to stay in the lower Seine valley for the winter. Twice more in the 860s Vikings rowed to Paris, leaving only when they acquired sufficient loot or bribes from the Carolingian rulers.
Viking (satellite)
Viking was Sweden's first satellite. It was launched on an Ariane 1 rocket as a piggyback payload together with the French satellite SPOT 1, on February 22, 1986. Operations ended on May 12, 1987. Viking was used to explore plasma processes in the magnetosphere and the ionosphere.
Vikings
Led by the operas of German composer Richard Wagner, such as "Der Ring des Nibelungen", Vikings and the Romanticist Viking Revival have inspired many creative works. These have included novels directly based on historical events, such as Frans Gunnar Bengtsson's "The Long Ships" (which was also released as a 1963 film), and historical fantasies such as the film "The Vikings", Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead" (movie version called "The 13th Warrior"), and the comedy film "Erik the Viking". The vampire Eric Northman, in the HBO TV series "True Blood", was a Viking prince before being turned into a vampire. Vikings appear in several books by the Danish American writer Poul Anderson, while British explorer, historian, and writer Tim Severin authored a trilogy of novels in 2005 about a young Viking adventurer Thorgils Leifsson, who travels around the world.
Helge Ingstad
Helge Marcus Ingstad (30 December 1899 – 29 March 2001) was a Norwegian explorer. After mapping some Norse settlements, Ingstad and his wife Anne Stine, an archaeologist, in 1960 found remnants of a Viking settlement in L'Anse aux Meadows in the province of Newfoundland in Canada. They were thus the first to prove conclusively that the Icelandic Norsemen such as Leif Erickson had found a way across the Atlantic Ocean to North America, roughly 500 years before Christopher Columbus and John Cabot. He also thought that the mysterious disappearance of the Greenland Viking settlement in the 14/15th century could be explained by their emigration to North America.
Vikings
The most important primary sources on the Vikings are contemporary texts from Scandinavia and regions where the Vikings were active. Writing in Latin letters was introduced to Scandinavia with Christianity, so there are few native documentary sources from Scandinavia before the late 11th and early 12th centuries. The Scandinavians did write inscriptions in runes, but these are usually very short and formulaic. Most contemporary documentary sources consist of texts written in Christian and Islamic communities outside Scandinavia, often by authors who had been negatively affected by Viking activity.
History of art
Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th–11th centuries CE. Viking art has many design elements in common with Celtic, Germanic, the later Romanesque and Eastern European art, sharing many influences with each of these traditions.
Ímar
The earliest recorded Viking raids in Ireland occurred in 795. Over time, these raids increased in intensity, and they overwintered in Ireland for the first time in 840–841. In 841 a longphort was constructed at (Irish for "hurdled ford"), a site which would later develop into the city of Dublin. Longphorts were also established at other sites around Ireland, some of which developed into larger Viking settlements over time. The Viking population in Ireland was boosted in 851 with the arrival of a large group known as "dark foreigners" – a contentious term used to refer to the newly arrived Vikings, as opposed to the "fair foreigners", i.e. the Viking population which was resident in arrival prior to this influx. A kingdom in Viking Scotland was established by the mid ninth-century, and it exerted control over some of the Vikings in Ireland. By 853 a separate kingdom of Dublin had been set up which claimed control over all the Vikings in Ireland.
Viking FK
Viking was founded in Stavanger in 1899 and played mainly local games in the early years. From the 1930s, the club established itself at the national level, playing in the 1933 cup final, which it lost to Mjøndalen. During the 1930s the club produced several of its best known players, most prominently Reidar Kvammen, who played in Norway's bronze medal winning 1936 olympic team. His brother Arthur Kvammen was also capped for Norway, while Bernhard Lund later went on to write the club anthem.
Vikings
The majority of runic inscriptions from the Viking period are found in Sweden and date from the 11th century. The oldest stone with runic inscriptions was found in Norway and dates to the 4th century, suggesting that runic inscriptions pre-date the Viking period. Many runestones in Scandinavia record the names of participants in Viking expeditions, such as the Kjula runestone that tells of extensive warfare in Western Europe and the Turinge Runestone, which tells of a war band in Eastern Europe. Other runestones mention men who died on Viking expeditions. Among them are around 25 Ingvar runestones in the Mälardalen district of Sweden, erected to commemorate members of a disastrous expedition into present-day Russia in the early 11th century. Runestones are important sources in the study of Norse society and early medieval Scandinavia, not only of the Viking segment of the population.
Denmark
From the 8th to the 10th century the wider Scandinavian region was the source of Vikings. They colonised, raided, and traded in all parts of Europe. The Danish Vikings were most active in the eastern and southern British Isles and Western Europe. They conquered and settled parts of England (known as the Danelaw) under King Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013, and France where Danes and Norwegians founded Normandy with Rollo as head of state. More Anglo-Saxon pence of this period have been found in Denmark than in England.
Denmark was largely consolidated by the late 8th century and its rulers are consistently referred to in Frankish sources as kings ("reges"). Under the reign of Gudfred in 804 the Danish kingdom may have included all the lands of Jutland, Scania and the Danish islands, excluding Bornholm.
The extant Danish monarchy traces its roots back to Gorm the Old, who established his reign in the early 10th century. As attested by the Jelling stones, the Danes were Christianised around 965 by Harald Bluetooth, the son of Gorm. It is believed that Denmark became Christian for political reasons so as not to get invaded by the rising Christian power in Europe, the Holy Roman Empire, which was an important trading area for the Danes. In that case, Harald built six fortresses around Denmark called Trelleborg and built a further Danevirke. In the early 11th century, Canute the Great won and united Denmark, England, and Norway for almost 30 years with a Scandinavian army.
North Germanic peoples
In the early Medieval period, as today, "Vikings" was a common term for attacking Norsemen, especially in connection with raids and monastic plundering by Norsemen in the British Isles. The word Vikings: "Vikinger" in Danish and Norwegian Bokmål, and "Vikingar" in Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk is not used as a word for Norsemen by natives, as "Viking" is the name for a specific occupation or activity (a "raid"), and not a demographic group. The Vikings were simply people (of any ethnicity, or origin) partaking in the raid (known as "going viking").
Glensanda
Glensanda was a Viking settlement at the mouth of Glen Sanda The Vikings are thought to have led their first raids on what is now modern Scotland by the early 8th century AD. Their first known attack was on the holy island of Iona in 794, just 40 miles west. The end of the Viking Age proper in Scotland is generally considered to be in 1266.
Medieval warfare
The Vikings were a feared force in Europe because of their savagery and speed of their attacks. Whilst seaborne raids were nothing new at the time, the Vikings refined the practice to a science through their shipbuilding, tactics and training. Unlike other raiders, the Vikings made a lasting impact on the face of Europe. During the Viking age, their expeditions, frequently combining raiding and trading, penetrated most of the old Frankish empire, the British Isles, the Baltic region, Russia, and both Muslim and Christian Iberia. Many served as mercenaries, and the famed Varangian Guard, serving the Emperor of Constantinople, was drawn principally of Scandinavian warriors.
North Germanic peoples
In the late 8th century North Germanic tribes embarked on a massive expansion in all the directions. This was the start of the Viking Age, which lasted until 1066 AD. This expansion is considered the last of the great North Germanic migrations. These seafaring traders, settlers and warriors are commonly referred to as "Vikings". The North Germanic peoples of the Viking Age as a whole were typically referred to as Norsemen.
Medieval: Total War
The Creative Assembly announced the development of an expansion pack, "Medieval: Total War – Viking Invasion", on 7 January 2003. The "Viking Invasion" expansion pack adds a Viking campaign taking place from 793 to 1066, set upon an expanded map of the British Isles and western Scandinavia. The campaign replaces the original factions with earlier Anglo-Saxon and Celtic kingdoms such as Wessex, Mercia, Wales and Scotland, as well as the Vikings. The Viking faction is designed to raid the British Isles; to achieve this the faction has access to faster ships and gains money for every building destroyed upon the battle map. The Anglo-Saxon and Celtic factions have the goal of repelling the Vikings and ultimately controlling the British Isles. New historical units were included with the expansion pack, such as the huskarls. "Medieval: Total War: Viking Invasion" brought several enhancements that were also added to the original campaign: flaming ammunition giving the player an option to set alight enemy castles, and a pre-battle deployment screen, allowing the player to organise their forces and view the terrain and opposing forces before the battle begins. In addition, three new factions were added to the main "Medieval: Total War" campaign, along with ribauldequin artillery and the game's patch. The expansion pack was released on 7 May 2003 in the United States and on 9 May in the United Kingdom.
History of the Netherlands
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Vikings raided the largely defenceless Frisian and Frankish towns lying on the coast and along the rivers of the Low Countries. Although Vikings never settled in large numbers in those areas, they did set up long-term bases and were even acknowledged as lords in a few cases. In Dutch and Frisian historical tradition, the trading centre of Dorestad declined after Viking raids from 834 to 863; however, since no convincing Viking archaeological evidence has been found at the site (as of 2007), doubts about this have grown in recent years.
History of Finland
Contact between Sweden and what is now Finland was considerable even during pre-Christian times; the Vikings were known to the Finns due to their participation in both commerce and plundering. There is possible evidence of Viking settlement in the Finnish mainland. The Åland Islands probably had Swedish settlement during the Viking Period. However, some scholars claim that the archipelago was deserted during the 11th century.
According to the archaeological finds, Christianity gained a foothold in Finland during the 11th century. According to the very few written documents that have survived, the church in Finland was still in its early development in the 12th century. Later medieval legends from late 13th century describe Swedish attempts to conquer and Christianize Finland sometime in the mid-1150s.
The Vikings (British band)
The Vikings started as a skiffle group in the Nechells district of Birmingham in the spring of 1957, formed by Terry Wallace and his friends George Jenkins, John "Bango" Badrick,Allan Compton and Terry Smith, with their first gig being at the local Cromwell Street Working Men's Club.
Timeline (TV series)
"Vikings" was the third of the six 'history as news' episodes to be shown by PBS in 1989, focusing on 1066AD when William the Conqueror was preparing to invade England, just as the Norse invasion of England by Harald Hardradi had been defeated by England's Saxon King Harold. Reporters Owen of Canarfon (Robert Bathurst), Siboletto of Zimbabwe (Fran Dorn), Louis de Jaen (Inaqui Aierra) & Selim Karasi (Engin Cezzar) report from Normandy, England and from Iceland as they look at how the Vikings have developed from their initial pirate raids on England and Europe to become a major European power; the Normans are Viking descendants. With the future of England hanging in the balance, anchorman Steve Bell reveals the events that have led to this watershed moment in European history.
Viking Age
In Scandinavia, the Viking age is considered to have ended with the establishment of royal authority in the Scandinavian countries and the establishment of Christianity as the dominant religion. The date is usually put somewhere in the early 11th century in all three Scandinavian countries. The end of the Viking era in Norway is marked by the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. Although Olafr Haraldsson's (later known as Olav the Holy) army lost the battle, Christianity spread, partly on the strength of rumours of miraculous signs after his death. Norwegians would no longer be called Vikings. In Sweden, the reign of king Olov Skötkonung ( 995–1020) is considered to be the transition from the Viking age to the Middle Ages, because he was the first Christian king of the Swedes, and he is associated with a growing influence of the church in what is today southwestern and central Sweden.
Vikings
The 200-year Viking influence on European history is filled with tales of plunder and colonisation, and the majority of these chronicles came from western witnesses and their descendants. Less common, though equally relevant, are the Viking chronicles that originated in the east, including the Nestor chronicles, Novgorod chronicles, Ibn Fadlan chronicles, Ibn Rusta chronicles, and brief mentions by Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, regarding their first attack on the Byzantine Empire. Other chroniclers of Viking history include Adam of Bremen, who wrote, in the fourth volume of his "Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum", "[t]here is much gold here (in Zealand), accumulated by piracy. These pirates, which are called "wichingi" by their own people, and "Ascomanni" by our own people, pay tribute to the Danish king." In 991, the Battle of Maldon between Viking raiders and the inhabitants of Maldon in Essex was commemorated with a poem of the same name.
Vikings
As early as 839, when Swedish emissaries are first known to have visited Byzantium, Scandinavians served as mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine Empire. In the late 10th century, a new unit of the imperial bodyguard formed. Traditionally containing large numbers of Scandinavians, it was known as the Varangian Guard. The word "Varangian" may have originated in Old Norse, but in Slavic and Greek it could refer either to Scandinavians or Franks. The most eminent Scandinavian to serve in the Varangian Guard was Harald Hardrada, who subsequently established himself as king of Norway (1047–1066).
History of Limerick
The earliest record of vikings at Limerick is in 845, reported by the "Annals of Ulster", and there are intermittent reports of vikings in the region later in the 9th century. Permanent settlement on the site of modern Limerick had begun by 922. In that year a Viking jarl or prince called Tomrair mac Ailchi—Thórir Helgason—led the Limerick fleet on raids along the River Shannon, from the lake of Lough Derg to the lake of Lough Ree, pillaging ecclesiastical settlements. Two years later, the Dublin vikings led by Gofraid ua Ímair attacked Limerick, but were driven off. The war between Dublin and Limerick continued until 937 when the Dubliners, now led by Gofraid's son Amlaíb, captured Limerick's king Amlaíb Cenncairech and for some reason destroyed his fleet. However, no battle is actually recorded and so a traditional interpretation has been that Amlaíb mac Gofraid was actually recruiting Amlaíb of Limerick for his upcoming conflict with Athelstan of England, which would turn out be the famous Battle of Brunanburh. The 920s and 930s are regarded as the height of Norse power in Ireland and only Limerick rivalled Dublin during this time.
Vikings
Anglo-Scandinavian is an academic term referring to the people, and archaeological and historical periods during the 8th to 13th centuries in which there was migration to—and occupation of—the British Isles by Scandinavian peoples generally known in English as Vikings. It is used in distinction from Anglo-Saxon. Similar terms exist for other areas, such as Hiberno-Norse for Ireland and Scotland.
List of Minnesota Vikings seasons
The Minnesota Vikings are an American football team playing in the National Football League (NFL). The Vikings compete in the NFL as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The team was established in 1959, when three Minneapolis businessmen – Bill Boyer, H. P. Skoglund and Max Winter – were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League (AFL). In January 1960, the ownership group, along with Bernie Ridder, forfeited its AFL membership and was awarded the NFL's 14th franchise, with play to begin in 1961.
Viking Age
The end of the Viking Age is traditionally marked in England by the failed invasion attempted by the Norwegian king Harald III (Haraldr Harðráði), who was defeated by Saxon King Harold Godwinson in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; in Ireland, the capture of Dublin by Strongbow and his Hiberno-Norman forces in 1171; and 1263 in Scotland by the defeat of King Hákon Hákonarson at the Battle of Largs by troops loyal to Alexander III. Godwinson was subsequently defeated within a month by another Viking descendant, William, Duke of Normandy. Scotland took its present form when it regained territory from the Norse between the 13th and the 15th centuries; the Western Isles and the Isle of Man remained under Scandinavian authority until 1266. Orkney and Shetland belonged to the king of Norway as late as 1469.
Vikings
Geographically, a Viking Age may be assigned to not only Scandinavian lands (modern Denmark, Norway and Sweden), but also territories under North Germanic dominance, mainly the Danelaw, including Scandinavian York, the administrative centre of the remains of the Kingdom of Northumbria, parts of Mercia, and East Anglia. Viking navigators opened the road to new lands to the north, west and east, resulting in the foundation of independent settlements in the Shetland, Orkney, and Faroe Islands; Iceland; Greenland; and L'Anse aux Meadows, a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland, circa 1000. The Greenland settlement was established around 980, during the Medieval Warm Period, and its demise by the mid-15th century may have been partly due to climate change. The Viking Rurik dynasty took control of territories in Slavic and Finno-Ugric-dominated areas of Eastern Europe; they annexed Kiev in 882 to serve as the capital of the Kievan Rus'.
Viking expansion
The Vikings pillaged monasteries on Ireland's west coast in 795, and then spread out to cover the rest of the coastline. The north and east of the island were most affected. During the first 40 years, the raids were conducted by small, mobile Viking groups. From 830 on, the groups consisted of large fleets of Viking ships. From 840, the Vikings began establishing permanent bases at the coasts. Dublin was the most significant settlement in the long term. The Irish became accustomed to the Viking presence and culture. In some cases they became allies and also intermarried.
Great Heathen Army
Viking raids began in England in the late 8th century, primarily on monasteries.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for AD 787 reports the first confrontation with the Vikings in England.
The Lost Vikings (series)
Their most recent appearance is as playable heroes in Blizzard's crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game, "Heroes of the Storm" (2015). Unlike other heroes in the game, who are played as a single unit, selecting the Lost Vikings gives the player control over all three Vikings, allowing them to control them as individuals or to issue commands to all three at once. Erik is faster than most other heroes, and attacks from range with a slingshot. Baleog has the greatest attack power of the three, and throws swords from a medium range, dealing area damage to enemies near his target. Olaf has the highest health pool, and recovers quickly when out of combat.
Vikings
Popular, modern conceptions of the Vikings—the term frequently applied casually to their modern descendants and the inhabitants of modern Scandinavia—often strongly differ from the complex picture that emerges from archaeology and historical sources. A romanticised picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century; this developed and became widely propagated during the 19th-century Viking revival. Perceived views of the Vikings as alternatively violent, piratical heathens or as intrepid adventurers owe much to conflicting varieties of the modern Viking myth that had taken shape by the early 20th century. Current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. These representations are not always accurate — for example, there is no evidence that they wore horned helmets.
Ancient history
Viking refers to a member of the Norse (Scandinavian) peoples, famous as explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates, who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe beginning in the late 8th. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel. The Viking Age forms a major part of Scandinavian history, with a minor, yet significant part in European history.
Norse activity in the British Isles
Society in 8th century Scandinavia was, unlike parts of the British Isles, still pre-literate, existing in the final stages of European prehistory, known to archaeologists as the Iron Age. In Scandinavia, the 8th century proved to be "a period of rapid technological, economic and social development" which would lead the region out of the Iron Age and into what has come to be known as the Viking Age.
Vikings
Raids in Europe, including raids and settlements from Scandinavia, were not unprecedented and had occurred long before the Vikings arrived. The Jutes invaded the British Isles three centuries earlier, pouring out from Jutland during the Age of Migrations, before the Danes settled there. The Saxons and the Angles did the same, embarking from mainland Europe. The Viking raids were, however, the first to be documented in writing by eyewitnesses, and they were much larger in scale and frequency than in previous times.
Vikings (season 1)
"Vikings" is a historical drama television series, written and created by Michael Hirst for the television channel History. The series broadly follows the exploits of the legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok and his crew, and later those of his sons. The first season premiered on March 3, 2013 in Canada and concluded on April 28, 2013, consisting of nine episodes. It begins at the start of the Viking Age, marked by the Lindisfarne raid in 793, and follows Ragnar's quest to become Earl, and his desire to raid England.
An Irish-Canadian co-production presented by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, "Vikings" was developed and produced by Octagon Films and Take 5 Productions. Morgan O'Sullivan, Sheila Hockin, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, James Flynn, John Weber, and Michael Hirst are credited as executive producers. This season was produced by Steve Wakefield and Keith Thompson. Bill Goddard and Séamus McInerney act as co-producers.
Viking expansion
Our knowledge of Vikings in Iberia is mainly based on written accounts, many of which are much later than the events they purport to describe, and often also ambiguous about the origins or ethnicity of the raiders they mention. A little possible archaeological evidence has come to light, but research in this area is ongoing. Viking activity in the Iberian peninsula seems to have begun around the mid-ninth century as an extension of their raids on and establishment of bases in Frankia in the earlier ninth century, but although Vikings may have over-wintered there, there is as yet no evidence for trading or settlement.
The Vikings (reenactment)
"The Vikings" is a British-based society of re-enactors, dedicated to the study and re-enactment of the culture of the Viking Age (790–1066) and the display of authentic Dark Ages living history and combat.
History of Denmark
With the beginning of the Viking Age in the 9th century, the prehistoric period in Denmark ends. The Danish people were among those known as Vikings, during the 8th–11th centuries. Viking explorers first discovered and settled in Iceland in the 9th century, on their way from the Faroe Islands. From there, Greenland and Vinland (probably Newfoundland) were also settled. Utilizing their great skills in shipbuilding and navigation they raided and conquered parts of France and the British Isles.
They also excelled in trading along the coasts and rivers of Europe, running trade routes from Greenland in the north to Constantinople in the south via Russian and Ukrainian rivers, most notably along the River Dnieper and via Kiev, then being the capital of Kiev Rus. The Danish Vikings were most active in Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy where they raided, conquered and settled (their earliest settlements included sites in the Danelaw, Ireland and Normandy). The Danelaw encompassed the Northeastern half of what now constitutes England, where Danes settled and Danish law and rule prevailed. Prior to this time, England consisted of approximately seven independent Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Danes conquered (terminated) all of these except for the kingdom of Wessex. Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, emerged from these trials as the sole remaining English king, and thereby as the first English Monarch.
Viking Age
In England, the beginning of the Viking Age is dated to 8 June 793, when Vikings destroyed the abbey on Lindisfarne, a centre of learning on an island off the northeast coast of England in Northumberland. Monks were killed in the abbey, thrown into the sea to drown, or carried away as slaves along with the church treasures, giving rise to the traditional (but unattested) prayer—"A furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine", "Free us from the fury of the Northmen, Lord."
Swedes in the United Kingdom
The earliest wave of migration from modern day Sweden, Norway and Denmark came in the form of the Viking invasion of Britain in the year 793. Viking raids occurred up and down the largely undefended east coast of England and Scotland during the eighth and ninth centuries and Scandinavian settlements became established over the entire island of Great Britain, the most important of which was Jórvík (now York). Viking rule came to an end in the 11th century when Normans invaded the shores of Britain. Despite this, Scandinavian influence is evident in the UK even to this day and many millions of Britons have some Viking heritage (especially in Northern England, Eastern England, Scotland and the Shetland Islands).
Horik II
During Horik's reign, Vikings raided England in 855 and 860 with varying success. The Great Heathen Army arrived to East Anglia in 865 and conquered York in Northumbria two years later, starting the Viking conquest and colonization of much of northeast England. While they are expressly called Danes in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the army appears to have been formed by Vikings operating in Francia and Frisia. Whether the royal power in Denmark had part in the planning and organization is unknown. Later sagas assert that this was the case, depicting the leaders of the invasion as sons of the Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok. However, no such king is known in the contemporary sources. The invasion leaders Halfdan and Bagsecg were known as "kings" and may or may not have been related to the kings in the Danish homeland.
Viking Age in Estonia
The Viking Age in Estonia was a period in the history of Estonia, part of the Viking Age (793–1066 AD). It was not a unified country at the time, and the area of Ancient Estonia was divided among loosely allied regions. It was preceded by the Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Estonia, during which an agrarian society had developed, the Migration Period (450–550 AD), and Pre-Viking Age (550–800 AD) with the Viking Age itself lasting between 800–1050 AD. It is often considered to be part of the Iron Age period which started around 400 AD and ended around 1200 AD, soon after Estonian Vikings were recorded in the "Eric Chronicles" to have sacked Sigtuna in 1187.
Viking raids in the Rhineland
The Viking raids in the Rhineland were part of a series of invasions of Francia by the Vikings that took place during the final decades of the 9th century. From the Rhineland, which can be regarded as the nucleus of Frankish culture, the Franks had previously conquered almost the whole of Central Europe and established a great empire.
History of Medieval Cumbria
Vikings were of three types of Scandinavians: Swedes, whose expeditions were mainly eastwards to places such as Russia; Norwegians (Norse), who concentrated on the western seaboard of what is now Scotland, on Ireland, on the Irish Sea coasts including the Dublin area, on the Isle of Man, and on what is now Cumbria; and thirdly, Danes, who were more interested in eastern England and the north-east (including the Northumbrian kingdom), and what is now Yorkshire. The activities of the Vikings included a mix of trading, raiding, settlement and conquest.
Viking Age
In 838, a small Viking fleet entered the River Liffey in eastern Ireland. The Vikings set up a base, which the Irish called a longphort. This longphort eventually became Dublin. After this interaction, the Irish experienced Viking forces for about 40 years. The Vikings also established longphorts in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. The Vikings could sail through on the main river and branch off into different areas of the country.
Sweden
During the early stages of the Scandinavian Viking Age, Ystad in the Danish province Scania and Paviken on Gotland were flourishing centres of trade, but they were not parts of the early Swedish Kingdom. Remains of what is believed to have been a large market dating from 600 to 700 AD have been found in Ystad. In Paviken, an important centre of trade in the Baltic region during the 9th and 10th century, remains have been found of a large Viking Age harbour with shipbuilding yards and handicraft industries. Between 800 and 1000, trade brought an abundance of silver to Gotland, and according to some scholars, the Gotlanders of this era hoarded more silver than the rest of the population of Scandinavia combined.
History of the North Sea
The attack on Lindisfarne in 793 is generally considered the beginning of the Viking Age.
For the next 250 years the Scandinavian raiders of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark dominated the North Sea, raiding monasteries, homes, and towns along the coast and along the rivers that ran inland. According to the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" they began to settle in Britain in 851. They continued to settle in the British Isles and the continent until around 1050.
Viking Age
The earliest date given for a Viking raid is 789, when according to the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", a group of men from Norway sailed to the Isle of Portland in Dorset (it was wrongly recorded as 787). They were mistaken for merchants by a royal official. When asked to come to the king's manor to pay a trading tax on their goods, they murdered the official. The beginning of the Viking Age in the British Isles is often set at 793. It was recorded in the "Anglo–Saxon Chronicle" that the Northmen raided the important island monastery of Lindisfarne (the generally accepted date is actually 8 June, not January):
Naval warfare
In the 8th century the Vikings appeared, although their usual style was to appear quickly, plunder, and disappear, preferably attacking undefended locations. The Vikings raided places along the coastline of England and France, with the greatest threats being in England. They would raid monasteries for their wealth and lack of formidable defenders. They also utilized rivers and other auxiliary waterways to work their way inland in the eventual invasion of Britain. They wreaked havoc in Northumbria and Mercia and the rest of Anglia before being halted by Wessex. King Alfred the Great of England was able to stay the Viking invasions with a pivotal victory at the Battle of Edington. Alfred defeated Guthrum, establishing the boundaries of Danelaw in an 884 treaty. The effectiveness of Alfred's 'fleet' has been debated; Dr. Kenneth Harl has pointed out that as few as eleven ships were sent to combat the Vikings, only two of which were not beaten back or captured.
Viking Age
While few records are known, the Vikings are thought to have led their first raids in Scotland on the holy island of Iona in 794, the year following the raid on the other holy island of Lindisfarne, Northumbria.
Viking art
Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centuries CE. Viking art has many design elements in common with Celtic, Germanic, the later Romanesque and Eastern European art, sharing many influences with each of these traditions.
Auisle
The earliest recorded Viking raids in Ireland occurred in 795. Over time, these raids increased in intensity, and they overwintered in Ireland for the first time in 840–841. Later in 841 a longphort was constructed at Áth Cliath (Irish for "hurdled ford"), a site which would later develop into the city of Dublin. Longphorts were also established at other sites around Ireland, some of which developed into larger Viking settlements over time. The Viking population in Ireland was boosted in 851 with the arrival of a large group known as "dark foreigners" – a contentious term usually considered to mean the newly arrived Vikings, as opposed to the "fair foreigners", i.e. the Viking population which was resident in arrival prior to this influx. A kingdom in Viking Scotland was established by the mid ninth-century, and it exerted control over some of the Vikings in Ireland. By 853 a separate kingdom of Dublin had been set up which claimed control over all the Vikings in Ireland.
Viking raid warfare and tactics
In Northern Europe at the start of the 8th century, Vikings began raiding coasts of the British Isles across the sea from Scandinavia, particularly monasteries, which carried a great deal of valuable treasures. The first known raid was on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne off the English coast in 793. This raid was also the first one that made a lasting impact on the British Isles and made the Anglo-Saxons aware of the Viking threat. A primary source from the raid on Lindisfarne states that there "were immense flashes of lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air". These raids continued for the entirety of the Viking Age. These initial raids had a religious implication to them. Vikings would target monasteries along the coast, raid the towns for their booty, and destroy what was left. This caused mass fear amongst such monks, as they felt that it was punishment from God. There is also the complication of a lack of direct written sources about these raids from the Viking perspective. This leads to biased views of the raiders from Christians who were being attacked in their churches and lands . From their point of view, the Vikings were violent and evil heathens.
Vikings (2013 TV series)
Vikings is a historical drama television series created and written by Michael Hirst for the History channel. Filmed in Ireland, it premiered on March 3, 2013, in Canada.
History of the Minnesota Vikings
The ownership of the Vikings was restructured on December 16, 1991. Irwin Jacobs and Carl Pohlad sold their shares. The team was now owned by ten people: Roger Headrick (CEO and team president), John Skoglund (his family had owned part of the team since it was founded), Jaye Dyer, Philip Maas, Mike Lynn, Wheelock Whitney, James Binger, Bud Grossman, Elizabeth MacMillan and Carol Sperry. On January 10, 1992, Dennis Green was named the fifth head coach in team history. He came to Minnesota after turning around a struggling Stanford University football program as head coach from 1989 to 1991. In his 10 seasons as the coach of the Vikings, Green won four NFC Central division titles, had eight playoff appearances, two NFC Championship game appearances, and an all-time record of 97–62. Max Winter, one of the founders of the team, died on July 26, 1996.
Viking expansion
A new wave of Vikings appeared in England in 947, when Erik Bloodaxe captured York. The Viking presence continued through the reign of the Danish prince Cnut the Great (reigned as King of England: 1016–1035), after which a series of inheritance arguments weakened the hold on power of Cnut's heirs.
Viking Age
After 842, when the Vikings set up a permanent base at the mouth of the Loire river, they could strike as far as northern Spain. They attacked Cádiz in 844. In some of their raids they were crushed either by Kingdom of Asturias or Emirate armies. These Vikings were Hispanicised in all Christian kingdoms, while they kept their ethnic identity and culture in Al-Andalus.
Longship
During the Viking Age (900-1200 AD) Vikings were the dominant seafarers of the North Atlantic. One of the keys to their success was the able to navigate skillfully across the open waters.The Vikings were experts in judging speed and wind direction, and in knowing the current and when to expect high and low tides. Viking navigational techniques are not well understood, but historians postulate that the Vikings probably had some sort of primitive astrolabe and used the stars to plot their course.
Norse activity in the British Isles
The first known account of a Viking raid taking place in Anglo-Saxon England comes from 787, when three ships from Hordaland (in modern Norway) landed in the Isle of Portland on the southern coast of Wessex. They were approached by the royal reeve from Dorchester, whose job it was to identify all foreign merchants entering the kingdom, and they proceeded to kill him. It is likely that other raids (the records for which have since been lost) occurred soon after, for in 792 King Offa of Mercia began to make arrangements for the defence of Kent from raids perpetrated by "pagan peoples".
Viking, Minnesota
A post office called Viking has been in operation since 1890. The city was named after the Vikings.
Viking FK
Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, having won 8 Norwegian top division titles, most recently in 1991, and 5 domestic Norwegian Cup titles, most recently in 2001. The club has played more top-flight league games than any other club. It has played in the top division since the league was established, except for the years 1966–67, 1987–88 and 2018. Notable European successes include knocking English side Chelsea out of the UEFA Cup during the 2002–03 season, knocking out Sporting CP from the same tournament in 1999–2000, and qualifying for the group stages of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup.
Swedes
During the early stages of the Scandinavian Viking Age, Ystad in Scania and Paviken on Gotland, in present-day Sweden, were flourishing trade centres. Remains of what is believed to have been a large market have been found in Ystad dating from 600–700 AD. In Paviken, an important centre of trade in the Baltic region during the 9th and 10th centuries, remains have been found of a large Viking Age harbour with shipbuilding yards and handicraft industries. Between 800 and 1000, trade brought an abundance of silver to Gotland, and according to some scholars, the Gotlanders of this era hoarded more silver than the rest of the population of Scandinavia combined.