Jonathan Swanson
Ilana Mindiola
Mindy Calderon
Miguel Gonzalez
Samantha Spampinato
Matthew Rada
Vikings: Ruthless pillagers and masters of the sea or a society of people which had
artists, politicians and artisans? A prayer that was common to those who faced the Vikings was,
"From the fury of the Northmen, deliver us, O Lord". Is it possible for people who can strike
such fear in others to have a democratic society? The question we hope to answer is whether the
Vikings were the feared, ruthless, and uneducated people other Europeans wrote about and
described or if they were a cultured society who through various advancements expanded their
own wealth and land. The time period between A.D. 800 and the 11th century is referred to as
the Viking Age. The term “viking” originates from the early Scandinavian word “vikingr”
meaning pirate. People from Scandinavia left home either due to overpopulation or to grow their
wealth. They began with attacking Christian monasteries, which caused most of the Christians in
Europe to fear and hate them. The fear stemmed from the fact that other enemies, who were
predominantly Christian, would not attack monasteries. Monasteries were seen as holy places of
their own religion, so regardless if they were on enemy grounds, they would not attack. The
vikings did not have such a moral dilemma due to the fact that they were not of the Christian
faith. They targeted the churches with good reason because churches, at the time, held the
majority of the wealth. While most of these attacks happened in what is now Great Britain and
Ireland, there is evidence and writings of viking attacks and colonies in other places, such as
modern-day France, Spain, Greenland, Canada, and Italy. They also invested in trade with
various places, such as the Middle East and China. Evidence of this is found in “Well-preserved
graves in Birka, Sweden, for example, containing fragments of Chinese silk, and in Norway, the
ships in which wealthy Vikings were customarily buried were painted with pigments that may
have come from India and the
Middle East.”
Figure 1: An example of a
Viking longship. The Sea
Stallion was a ship recreated
to gain a crucial
understanding of Viking
seafaring techniques.
Figure 2: Silver bowls
found at the Sutton Hoo
site believed to have been
brought from the
Byzantine Empire.
Ruthless Pirates
A BBC article written about the Vikings attacks. “Raids by seaborne Scandinavian pirates on
sites in Britain, especially largely undefended monastic sites, began at the end of the eighth century AD.
By the end of the ninth century there were large-scale settlements of Scandinavians in various parts of
Britain, and they had achieved political domination over a significant territory. Early in the 11th century
the king of Denmark became king of England as well. And in 1066 there were separate invasions by the
king of Norway, Harald Hardrada, and duke of Normandy, William, the latter the descendant of
Scandinavian settlers in northern France. Many monasteries in the north were destroyed, and with them
any records of the raids. Yet the most significant development of the period was an indirect result of
Scandinavian involvement in the affairs of Britain - the emergence of two kingdoms of newly unified
territories, England and Scotland. In 793 AD, an anguished Alcuin of York wrote to the Higbald, the
bishop of Lindisfarne and to Ethelred, King of Northumbria, bemoaning the unexpected attack on the
monastery of Lindisfarne by Viking raiders, probably Norwegians sailing directly across the North Sea to
Northumbria. It is clear from the letter that Lindisfarne was not destroyed. Alcuin suggested that further
attack might be averted by moral reform in the monastery. Over the next few decades, many monasteries
in the north were destroyed, and with them any records they might have kept of the raids. We know no
historical details of the raids in Scotland, although they must have been extensive. Iona was burnt in 802
AD, and 68 monks were killed in another raid in 806 AD. The remaining monks fled to Kells (County
Meath, Ireland) with a gospel-book probably produced in Iona, but now known as the 'Book of Kells'.
Other monasteries in Scotland and northern England simply disappear from the record. Lindisfarne was
abandoned, and the monks trailed around northern England with their greatest possession, the relics of St
Cuthbert, until they found a home in Durham in 995 AD.”
This is a group of people who are completely ruthless and with a complete disregard to human
life. They attacked these place such as Iona and burned them to the ground completely destroying
everything in their path. Another article wrote that “They had tall curved prows, usually carved in the
shapes of dragons. These dragon ships, as they were often called, usually appeared in a bay at about
dawn. As soon as the ships reached the beach, tall blond men jumped out, shouting battle cries. Armed
with swords and battle-axes, they attacked the sleeping villagers. They killed many of them, captured
some of the youths and maidens, and gathered all the loot that their ships could carry. Then they sailed
away. The Vikings came to be the most feared raiders of their time and were the only Norsemen with
whom most Europeans came in contact. Their name was given to the era that dated from about AD 740 to
about 1050--the Viking Age. The raids of the Vikings in the 9th and 10th centuries are among the bestknown episodes of early medieval history. These fierce attacks from Scandinavia fell on the British Isles,
the Atlantic and North Sea shoreline of the Carolingian Empire, which included most of what are now
France, Germany, and the Low Countries,
and to the east on what became Russia.
They took a heavy toll on the fragile
political development and stability of
Europe. The historians were usually priests
who looked upon the pagan Vikings with
particular horror. In addition, the Church,
as a wealthy and relatively defenseless
target, may have suffered more heavily
than many other sectors of European
society. Despite the notoriety the Vikings attracted because of their ferocity, within a century or two they
converted to Christianity and settled in the lands they had raided.”
Various hoards of treasure were buried in England at this time, some of which may have been
deposited by Anglo-Saxons attempting to hide their wealth from Viking raiders, and some of which may
have instead been buried by the Viking raiders themselves as a way of protecting their looted treasure.
One such of these hoards was discovered in Croydon, Surrey in 1862. Containing 250 coins, three
silver ingots and part of a fourth as well as four pieces of hack silver in a linen bag, it was believed by
archaeologists that this was the loot collected by a member of the Viking army. By dating the artefacts,
archaeologists came to believe that it was likely that this hoard had been buried in 872, when the army
wintered in London. The coins themselves came from a wide range of different kingdoms, with Wessex,
Mercian and East Anglian examples being found alongside foreign imports from Carolingian dynasty
Francia and the Arab world. Not all such Viking hoards in England contained coins however, for example
at Bowes Moor, Durham, 19 silver ingots were discovered, whilst at Orton Scar, Cumbria, a silver neck
ring and penannular brooch were uncovered.
Cultured Society
Archaeology today highlights the many connections that existed between ancient
societies and is steadily revealing the degree to which peoples in the past were regularly in touch
with other groups, often in distant lands. The Vikings exemplify this more than most. In just
three centuries, these restless traders and raiders spread from their homeland in Scandinavia
across much of northern Europe and far beyond, melding scattered settlements of farmers and
fisherfolk into powerful kingdoms. The Vikings have long had a fearsome reputation as seaborne
warriors bent solely on plunder and destruction. But an exhibition at the British Museum in
London in Spring 2014 revealed the latest in the Viking story. The long coastlines and numerous
islands of Scandinavia favored travel by sea. The Vikings, as heirs to this maritime tradition,
developed superb ocean-going vessels powered by oars and sails. The famous “longships” were
just that—long, narrow vessels with flexible hulls that could ride out the swells of the North
Atlantic. Capable of traveling great distances at high speed, these technologically advanced ships
also featured a shallow draft, enabling them to penetrate far inland, along rivers, and even to be
transported overland. Population growth and a warmer phase of climate spurred the Viking
expansion. They colonized parts of the British Isles and the northern coast of France, the Faroe
Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, and famously, if briefly, established a settlement in North
America on the northern tip of Newfoundland. They circumnavigated the continent of Europe,
voyaging westward and southward on their way to the Mediterranean. Eastward, they traveled
along the great rivers that flowed into the Black and Caspian Seas. These raiding and trading
ventures brought the Vikings into contact with the Frankish Empire of Central Europe and the
Byzantine Empire with its capital at Constantinople. They were also in touch with the Abbasid
Caliphate of the Middle East, and the khanates of Central Asia. Many of the richer artifacts
found in Viking settlements and graves originated from these distant lands through commerce.
Yet the Vikings were not just recipients of goods made by others. They were skilled
craftspeople, fashioning jewelry, weapons, tools, fine tableware, and much else, often decorated
in distinctive art styles. They developed impressive settlements at home in Scandinavia as
centers of royal authority, and founded several of the first towns of medieval Europe, of which
York and Dublin are the best known. The Vikings erupted suddenly on a medieval world in
formation, opening routes and connecting peoples over vast distances—to great effect. They
made important contributions to the development of the societies of Europe and the North
Atlantic that we know today. The first recorded Viking raid was a seaborne assault (793) by
Norwegian marauders on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, just off the northeast shoulder of
England. Growing evidence indicates, however, that considerable overseas Viking migration,
west across the North Sea and east across the Baltic, occurred long before that. Swedish
entrepreneurs penetrated the hinterland of Russia, pioneering new trade routes down the Volga
and the Dnepr, founding city-states such as Kiev and Novgorod, and opening the way to
Constantinople and the exotic markets of Arabia and the Far East. In Constantinople, Vikings
formed the elite bodyguard of the Byzantine emperors, the feared and famous Varangian Guard.
Danish warriors hammered at the cities of the crumbling Carolingian Empire—Hamburg,
Dorestad, Rouen, Paris, Nantes, Bordeaux—until one of the armies in 911 accepted by treaty
huge tracts of land in northern France (now known as Normandy, “land of the Northmen”) and
settled there.
Briefly, under King Canute (Knut) II in the 11th century, a Scandinavian empire of the
North Sea was established, comprising England, Denmark, and Norway. Norwegian adventurers
joined Danish Vikings in subjugating the whole of northern England (the Danelaw) before
settling there as farmers and traders and developing great mercantile cities such as York. The
invaders also took over the Northern Isles of Scotland (Shetland and the Orkneys), the Hebrides,
and much of mainland Scotland as well. In Ireland they played a lusty part in the internecine
squabbles of rival Irish clans, and they founded Ireland’s first trading towns: Dublin, Waterford,
Wexford, Wicklow, and Limerick. They discovered and settled uninhabited lands in the
Atlantic—first the Faeroes, then Iceland, then Greenland. From Greenland they launched
ambitious expeditions to settle on the eastern seaboard of North America (Vinland), but these
attempts to colonize the New World 500 years before Columbus were soon abandoned in the
face of hostility from the native Indians. Stories of the abortive American venture are recorded in
the medieval Icelandic sagas; but little authentic evidence of the Viking presence has been found,
apart from substantial traces of a Viking Age settlement at L’Anse-aux-Meadows, in northern
Newfoundland. All other Viking “finds,” such as the Kensington Stone, have been exposed as
forgeries or hoaxes, or merely wishful thinking.
Figure 3: A
typical
Viking
village
The Vikings society had a hierarchy of three classes: The Jarls, Karls and Thralls. The Jarls were
the wealthiest class and therefore controlled large areas of the countryside. Since they were the
highest class, they were also protected by the great god Odin. The second class were the Karls
and this was where the majority of the Viking population was. Karls were often the farmers,
merchants, warriors, traders, craftsmen and shipbuilders of the society. The lowest class in
Vikings society were the Thralls and they were the slaves. Thralls were responsible for the heavy
labor of the society because Karls and Jarls used them as servants on farms and workshops. One
could see how raiding was part of the Viking culture because Thralls were able to climb the
ladder by obtaining currency and treasures on raids.
Though their reputation might imply otherwise, the Vikings had a democratic society and
were not lawless. Local Nobles controlled small regions throughout their land but local
assemblies, called Things, controlled the Nobles. Karls all had the chance to express their
opinion and vote at assemblies. With this, laws were created and disputes were settled and every
year a Law Speakers would read the laws of that region to make sure everyone knew the law. If a
Karl was to commit a crime, he would be brought to the local assemblies to be found guilty or
not guilty. If the karl was found guilty, they would be punished with a fine or death. However, if
a Viking killed another Viking and got caught, the murderer would have to pay the family of the
lost one whatever amount the victim’s wergild was. A wergild was a person’s monetary value
and it reflected the person’s wealth and status. After the money was paid, a Viking’s life was
finished with a funeral. Vikings believed that the dead “lived” where they were buried and so
their burials would be close to their settlements. Some were buried in simple holes while others
who were more wealthy and of higher class were buried in coffins. The wealthy Vikings were
also buried with “grave goods” which included jewels, weapons and tools which were made
specifically for the burial.
Sources
http://www.orkneyjar.com/archaeology/2005/08/11/as-excavation-finishes-work-begins-to-openviking-age-house-remains-to-the-public/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/raiders-or-traders-52803648/#Ze3AScQmoOOf2rbd.99
"Vikings." Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (2014): 1p. 1. Funk & Wagnalls New
World Encyclopedia. Web. 4 May 2015.
Moore, Andrew. "The Vikings, An Update." Archaeology 67.5 (2014): 6. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 4 May 2015.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/overview_vikings_01.shtml
http://history-world.org/vikings.htm