The Vikings

In 793, a party of raiding seamen attacked Lindisfarne, a monastery off the coast of northwest England. The sack of Lindisfarne was the first significant episode of two centuries of warfare that we now call the Viking Age. The Vikings were Norsemen, or “people from the north.” They came from Scandinavia, land that includes the present-day nations of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark in northern Europe. The cold climate of Scandinavia allowed for a short growing season. So as the population became too large to feed, some Scandinavian warriors turned to the sea to find their fortune. They used their seafaring abilities to plunder and terrorize people of the Middle Ages throughout Europe and as far away as Egypt.

Viking Ships

Viking ships were narrow and built of thin overlapping oak planks. They could bend and flex to absorb the impact of waves without breaking apart. A depth of three feet of water was all most Viking ships—even those carrying as many as fifty men—needed to move through the water.

Viking ships could travel quickly under sail or glide silently through the seas propelled by teams of strong rowers. The ships were light enough to be carried overland when rivers became impassable. Vikings often had the element of surprise on their side, as their ships could seem to appear from nowhere.

Viking Raids and Settlements

For the next 250 years, Viking warriors plagued England and the coast of continental Europe. King Alfred the Great of England made peace by surrendering a portion of Britain to the Vikings. This land became known as the Danelaw—the part of Britain where the laws of the Danes were in effect. The Viking-controlled English city of York became a thriving trading center.

The Vikings explored lands both east and west of their homeland. The Rus’ were fierce fighters who controlled a swath of eastern Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Many scholars believe Rus’ derives from an Old Norse term meaning “men who row.” Present-day Russia takes its name from the Rus’.

Across the Western Seas

Other Vikings sailed west and discovered Iceland. In about 980, Erik the Red sailed farther west with about 300 settlers to begin a colony on ice-covered land he called Greenland. The Vikings remained there for more than four hundred years until the climate turned colder. When the land could no longer produce food, the Vikings abandoned their settlements and returned home.

Viking legends tell that Erik’s son, Leif Eriksson, sailed farther west and reached North America. The Vikings called their North American settlement Vinland, or “land of the grapes.” Archaeological evidence from a site in Newfoundland, Canada, known as L’Anse aux Meadows shows traces of a Scandinavian settlement. Evidence suggests the Vikings abandoned Vinland after about 35 years. Many historians believe Christopher Columbus heard Viking legends and knew of the possibility of a “New World” when he set sail to find Asia in 1492.