The Vikings

In the Stlt-70tlt cetúuries, bands of people from } The Vikings had

a form of writing
Scnndinnvin le_í't tlrcir /tolltes to search for land and made up of signs,
u,ealth. 11p cn11 tltettt I,/ikings. Some of them were or letters, called
runes, The families
robbers, IltLt otlrcrs ll,ere traders or colonists, of famous people
made rune stones like
Raiders this one to describe
their deeds. This one
Tlre \-ikings carrle 1iom Denmarlr, in sweden was
written in memory
\orrr-at- and Sit,eden. They were a of a dead son.
farnring people but, because they lived
close to the sea, they were also skilful ;1,..rj
i,
sailors. They may have decided
to leave their homes because
good farming land was scarce.
The Vikings first attacked
northern Europe as raiders.
As fierce fighters and non-
Christians, they terrified
peaceful people, killing
some and capturing others
to sell as slaves. They olten l
attacked monasteries,
which were not well-
protected, and carried
off valuable objects such
as gold crosses, Other
Vikings sailed up rivers
to attack inland cities.
In B45, 100 ships
sailed up the Seine to l
Paris. The lting gave l
l
them 3,000 kg of /
silver to go away.

{ Viking longshic,
were the finest shic,
in Europe. They lve,:
light but strong, made of oak:-
pinewood, and cou|d bend a Iitt =
which allowed them to survive lr=
rough northern seas. They were mair ,

powered by oars, but also had a sail and could

go as fast as 10 knots (20 kph). Longships were
warships, and perfect for surprise attacks. They
could sail in shallow water and land on a beach.

58

}*
 700 - 1000
' Greenland
Crpenland as
_ aders and travellers {'l
f
betdnd .
ö§

\*-,"+E
lceland ö-

:,_]l9 tn€fchants from Sweden :^xi;sji:í

\ '' ,rr,r i,ic {
::cd the Baltic Sea to Russia
, ::le 9th century. 'l'hey
They set up
,.-1itlg posts there among the Slav
-._,.s. They played some part in

. -_.1tir]g Novgorod and the first

_,>sian state. Some Swedish 4TLANTIC Caspia n

:rclrants travelled by boat, dorrt,n oCEAN

. _lssian rivers to the Black Sea and

_l Caspian. Riding camels, they Consta ntinople!
:.l.,-eIl€d to Constantinople, r,t here
BYZANTl NE
, tlle found work and settled. Many E N,l PlRE

. ,,, cdes joined the Bvzantine

:l11perof 'S personal guard, other
_< ,;eclish merchants travelled as
,:-r as Baghdad in Persia.
A The Vikings travelled as far as
Baghdad and Newfoundland. ln c important Viking settlement
lceland, the Norwegians founded a
new European nation. At first it was + Viking routes
governed by an assembly of chiefs,
Europe's first'parliament'.

Settlers
Áfter the early raids on northern
Europe, the Vikings left Scandinavia in
larger numbers. They were looking for
land where they could live, farm and
trade. They cdnquered half of England,
and almost destroyed the Celtic
civilisation of Ireland, founding new
kingdoms in York, Dublin and other
places. The French king gave
Everyilag lífe
In most of Scandinavia, the Vikings built houses of v,ood, ln
lceland and Greenland, which had fetl, trees, they used, stone
and chunks of turf , Houses had no chimney nor vtind,ows, f usí
a door. Inside w&s one large room where people Lived and
worked and children played ganles (until told to play outside).
Sometimes they slept here too, on the raised parts at the sides
of the room, Women cooked on an open fire, and a ho]e in the

Normandy to a large group of Vikings, roof let out the smoke,

who promised to defend his kingdom
against other Vikings. The descendants
of this group were the Normans, who
became a great power in Europe
in the 11th century.

Vikings from Norway sailed far into the

Atlantic. They found lands where no
one lived, and settled in the Faroe
Islands and Iceland. From here, they
explored further west and settled in
Greenland. They even sailed to North
America, but did not settle there
because the local people drove them off.

..*P+.
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