THE VIKINGS

Viking age – mid 700 to 1100s CE

The Myth of the Vikings • Victorian Britain responsible for

the modern view of Vikings• Term “viking” virtually

unknown until 19th century • Interest in archeological sites,

sagas translated, searched for Viking bloodlines

• Wrote ballads and illustrated children’s books; envisioned Vikings with long blond locks, decorated horned helmet, flashing sword, and elaborate cross-gartering.

Who Were the Vikings?

• Commonly called the North men or Norsemen• From Scandinavia • Farmers ,traders and colonists • The word “viking “means one who lurks in a ”vik” or

bay, in effect, a pirate.

Who Were the Vikings?

1. Norwegian and Danish Vikings settled Iceland, Greenland and Vineland.

2. Norwegian and Danish Vikings raided then settled in the British Isles and Normandy

3. Swedish Vikings traded and settled

along the Dnieper and Volga rivers.

What made them Successful? 1. Europe was weakened after collapse of

Charlemagne's empire

2. Naval technology • Drekar, or dragon-headed longships, were

stealthy troop-carries. They could cross open seas under sail and then switch to ores for lightning-fast hit-and-run attacks.

• They could achieve speeds for 14 knots, were highly maneuverable and could navigate shallow surf and river estuaries.

• The biggest longship yet found is 119 feet long with room for at least 72 oars and a crew of 100. It had a draft of only about three feet and had a huge 2, 175 square-foot sail.

3. Took advantage of established trade routes

4. They were able to adapt their tactics from raiding to extortion

Figureheads would be raised at stem and stern as a sign of war.

When Thorald was about twenty years old he made up his mind to go on a Viking expedition, so his father gave him a longship. Evind and Obir joined him with another longship and a good number of men, and they spent the summer plundering. There was plenty of loot so each man got a good share. That's how things were for a number of years - every summer they'd go on Viking expeditions and every winter they would stay at home with their families and parents. Thorold brought his parents a lot of valuable things

One of the earliest Icelandic Manuscripts in Old Norse, the Viking language.

How do we know about the Vikings?

1. Ruins of settlements 2. Written accounts by

monks • monastic chronicles

such as the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, Frankish, and Irish Annals.

3. Norse oral stories; “Saga”• voyages to North

America • Family history of Erik

the Red who founded Greenland, and his son Leif Erickson who discovered North America

Rune Stone LegacySweden, ca 1010-1050 “Torgard erected this stone after Assur, her mother’s brother died.

THE GOOD FARMER GULLE HAD FIVE SONS. AT FYRIS FELL ASMUND, THE UNFRIGHTENED WARRIOR, ASSUR DIED OUT EAST IN GREECE, HALVADNA WAS IN DUEL SLAIN, KARE DIED AT THE CAPE, DEAD IS BOE TOO.

Uppland, Sweden.

ESTRID HAD THESE STONES RAISED IN MEMORY OF OSTEN, HER HUSBAND WHO ATTACKED JERUSALEM AND MET HIS END IN GREECE.

Uppland, Sweden ca 11th century. 20 stones along a casusway.

JARLABANKI HAD THESE STONES RAISED IN MEMORY OF HIMSELF WHILE ALIVE, AND MADE THIS BRIDGE FOR HIS SPIRIT, AND HE ALONE OWNED ALL OF TABYR. MAY GOD HELP HIS SPIRIT.

Death Rituals• Burials are our main source of

archeological information • Great man or lady merited a fully

fitted ship • Lesser men in boats, others had

graves covered by stones arranged in outline of boat

• Buried with weapons, household utensils and food

The Viking Warrior • no professional standing army

• fought for and with your jarl, king.

• aim was glory in battle

•The famous Berserker warriors fought in groups, and believed that Odin, their god of war, gave them both protection and superhuman powers so they had no need for armor – that was just the magic mushrooms talking!

•Berserker battles were intense and it’s said they bit on their shields and could ignore the pain of wounds.

Berserkers

•...men asked Halfdan to attack Hardbeen and his champions man by man; and he not only promised to fight, but assured himself the victory with most confident words. When Hardbeen heard this, a demoniacal frenzy suddenly took him; he furiously bit and devoured the edges of his shield; he kept gulping down fiery coals; he snatched live embers in his mouth and let them pass down into his entrails; he rushed through the perils of crackling fires; and at last, when he had raved through every sort of madness, he turned his sword with raging hand against the hearts of six of his champions. It is doubtful whether this madness came from thirst for battle or natural ferocity.

Offensive Weapons

• spear, sword, and battle-axe.

•spear – iron blade on wooden shaft, 2-3 meters

• Swords – costly to make; double edged; up to 90 cm. •.

• shields - circular; up to one meter across; made of wood; may have been leather covered; coloured with simple patterns

• armor – sagas mention mail armor but few examples found

•Most padded themselves with reindeer hide

• helmets

Defensive Weapons

• Not much of a theology – gods were not all powerful or immortal.

• Norse view of the world was a practical one with little assurance for the future

• Immorality of a sort came if you died fighting

• warrior maids called Valkyries would carry you to Valhalla, Odin’s hall, to banquet on mead and pork until the end of the world.

• At the end of the world the gods will die in battle.

• Vikings converted to Christianity in the 10th century

Viking Religion

What were their goals?• Raid and loot not the sole reason.

• Goal to gain new resources

•Gold, silver, slaves

•They drove people out and took their

money and other valuables they had.

•targeted the churches and monasteries

•major sources of wealth

•Monks did not fight back, mostly

•But then they changed: it became easier

to extort money.

• then they chose to settle in the lands

they once pillaged.

An accurate depiction of what a Viking looked like.

Vikings go West – Expansion and Settlement

• 960s Erik the Red exiled from Norway, moves to Iceland

• 982-985 Erik the Red exiled from Iceland for murder • Sails and finds Greenland; convinces people to join him • c 1000 his son, Leif Erikson, sails west and explores

eastern coast – Find grapes, calls it “Vineland”– Return with lumber,pelts and grapes – Clash with ‘skraelings’ Natives

• L’Anse aux Meadows – First permanent European settlement in North America

• Vineland - too far from home, too many dangers • Greenland - by 1350 gone • - environmental changes, population growth, economic

and climatic downturn

Vikings in Normandy - Settlement

• Vikings raids along the coast of France, Spain and even into Italy in 862.

• They attacked, plundered and left. • 845 Charles the Bald, king of Franks, pays off raiders with

7000s livers• 885 led by Siegfried, Vikings attack Paris; they appeal to

Emperor Charles for help. Charles allows Northman to plunder the country of Sens and gives them 700 pounds of silver on the promise that they will return home in spring and not return.

• 911 Viking leader Rolo becomes vassal of French King Charles the Simple, who gives Rolo the duchy of Normandy and Rolo converts to Christianity. • Norsemen settle in Normandy and become farmers, build cities • In 1066 descendant William, Duke of Normandy, conquers

Britain.

Vikings in Britain - Expansion

• 789 first Viking ships arrived on shores of Wessex.

• Local reeve sent to greet them and was killed on the spot.

• 793 considered staring point of Viking raiding with the attack on Lindisfarne

– ‘on 8 june 793 AD ravages of heathen men miserably destroyed God’s church on Lindisfarne with plunder and slaughter’ (Anglo Saxon Chronicle)

• Pillaged monasteries along the coast repeatedly

• 850s began to winter in England

Vikings in Britain – Settlement

• By late 800s had conquered almost whole of England

• Alfred the Great of Wessex able to fortify and regroup

• Retreated to Danelaw - area where the Danish Vikings settled.

• Late 900s rebirth and growth of monasteries and church building

• Economic stability = $$

• ‘second Viking age”

• Raiding focus now was extortion

The Danegeld

• 991 - 4 500 kg of silver– Oleg of Norway attacked – Ethelred Unready collected tax

• 994 – 7000 kg – Oleg returned with Svein of Denmark

• 1002 – 10 000 kg • 1007 – 16 000 kg • 1012 – 22 000 kg

– Ethelred drained coffers and then fled

• Swein’s son Knut becomes king of England, Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden.

$7 million

Three Vikings Battles for Britain

1. Battle of Stamford Bridge

2. Battle of Hastings

Descendant of Viking settlers in Normandy William the Conquer becomes King of Britain

in 1066

Last Anglo-Saxon King of Britain

Claimed throne as kinsmen of Cnut. Defeated at Stamford Bridge.

Swedish Vikings - Expansion • Traded furs, amber, honey, wax, weapons and slaves from

Baltic to Caspian and Black Sea • Occupied fortified towns where they could exchange

boats– Novgorod, main trading center,

ruled as princes– Kiev

• Known as the Rus • Made 4 attempts on Constantinople

(Miklagard, the big city) • Greeks were impressed by the ‘ax-bearing barbarians”

and hired them as mercenaries for kingdom • Serve as emperor’s personal Varangian Guard.

Kievan Rus – Settlement • Rurik dynasty began in Novgorod in 860s

– Only ended in the 16th century.

• 11th century, Kiev commercial, cultural and spiritual center

• Sent emissaries shopping for a religion • Islam demanded abstinence – Vladimir

replied “Drink is the joy of the Rus. We cannot exist without that pleasure”

• Probably chose Greek Orthodox Church in order to strengthen his ties to Byzantium

• 988 - subjects walked into the Dnieper for a mass baptism.

Assimilation• Yaroslav the Wise (978-1054) “Father in law of Europe”

• Children – Elizabeth married Harald Hardraada,

King of Norway– Anna become Queen of France– Anastasia married Andrew I of Hungary– Son Vsevolod married daughter of

Byzantine emperor – Four sons had royal marriages

• Two to three generations in they borrowed Slavic language, customs and beliefs and married Slavic women

• 9-10th century princes had Viking names, but later one’s were all Slavic

• They integrated so much into the local population that they left almost no discernible mark on the culture.

What happened to the Vikings?

• Vikings became citizens of many places in Europe.

• Conversion to Christianity lead to the downfall of the Norse religion and culture.

• Kings instituted taxes and the economy changed so that you could get along better off as a trader than a raider.

• The Viking invasions caused European kingdoms to be more centralized and focused.

• European kingdoms learned how to protect themselves and gain by trading and negotiating with the Vikings instead of battling them.

Thank you