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SECTION 1The Land
SECTION 2
Daily Life
SECTION 3Raiders and Adventurers
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• berserkers • Eddas
• runes
Terms to Learn
Places to Locate
People to Know (cont.)
• jarls • Leif Eriksson
• Canute
• Rollo
• Scandinavia
• Jutland
• Vinland
• Norselaw
People to Know
• Rurik
• Erik the Red
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The Land• Scandinavia, the Viking homeland, was
mostly forests and long, rugged coastlines.
• The southern part, known as Jutland, or Denmark, had many natural harbors and was well suited for farming grains and pasturing cattle, sheep, and pigs.
• As the rest of Scandinavia had rocky soil, a short growing season, and many fjords, or narrow bays, the people turned to the sea to make a living.
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Ships and Trade• The Vikings built large, long, and narrow
ships with timber from the dense forests.
• The Vikings plotted their search of good fishing areas and trade by the positions of the sun and the stars.
• They carried furs, hides, fish, and enslaved people to western Europe and the Mediterranean; they returned with silk, wine, wheat, and silver.
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• Trade led to the growth of market towns in Scandinavia.
• Most Vikings lived in log or board houses in villages scattered all through the country.
• There was no central government as distance and cold winters isolated the villages.
• The people were divided into groups ruled by elected or inherited military chiefs called jarls.
• When a jarl had enough land under his rule, he was looked upon as a king.
Towns, Villages, and Jarls
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Daily Life• Vikings valued family life, and most
households had 20 to 30 members, including parents, grandparents, married children, and grandchildren.
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The People• Viking warriors were called berserkers.
• They fought to gain wealth, honor, and fame, believing that a liking for war brought special honors from the gods.
• To call their warriors to battle, the Vikings lit bonfires on mountaintops.
• The women encouraged their men to fight, took complete charge of the home, and could own property and get a divorce.
• The Vikings had no schools.
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• The Vikings worshiped many gods at first that were similar to the Germanic gods, and then they changed their gods to suit the hard life of Scandinavia.
• The Vikings offered sacrifices and prayed to their gods to get what they wanted.
• The Vikings told proud stories of the gods' great deeds that later became written poems called Eddas.
• Over time, the Vikings’ language developed into four–Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic.
Religion
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• These languages were written with letters called runes, which few people except priests could understand or use.
• When the Vikings accepted Christianity, they began to write their languages with Roman letters.
Religion (cont.)
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Raiders and Adventurers• By the end of the 800s, many Viking
villages were overcrowded, food was in short supply, there was no central government, and the kings constantly fought one another.
• Viking warriors began to set sail to seek their fortunes in other lands.
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From East Europe to North America• Viking adventurers traveled to and raided
areas from east Europe to North America.
• Swedish Vikings crossed the Baltic Sea and traveled down the rivers toward what is now Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.
• In 862, a Swedish chief named Rurik founded a Viking settlement that became the Kievan Rus state.
• Norwegian Vikings set up trading towns in Ireland, explored the North Atlantic, and founded a colony on Iceland.
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• Led by Erik the Red, they founded a colony on the island of Greenland in 986.
• Erik’s son, Leif Eriksson, landed on the northeast coast of North America and named the spot Vinland because of the wild grapes growing there.
• Viking adventurers went to western and southern Europe in search of food and valuables.
From East Europe to North America (cont.)
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• Because they stole, destroyed homes, burned churches, and killed or enslaved people, all of Europe feared the Vikings.
From East Europe to North America (cont.)
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• The Danes were among those Vikings who raided western and southern Europe.
• In 1016, a powerful Danish king called Knut, or Canute, conquered England and made it part of his North Sea Empire.
• Led by a warrior named Rollo, the Danes began settling along the French coast opposite England.
• In 911, the French king signed a treaty with Rollo to give the Danes this land.
The Danes
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• The region in which the Danes settled became known first as the Norselaw and then as Normandy; the people became known as Normans.
The Danes (cont.)
