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The impact the vikings had on continental western europe
The vikings world history
The vikings world history
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Vikings They lived with a different lifestyle then other religions, always on the move, adjusting to climates, doing what it took to not just survive but also attempt conquering during the medieval times of Scandinavia. The present day countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark made up Scandinavia. The Norsemen first made a name for themselves around 750 for their bloody, violent raids in Europe. Norsemen and Northern men are other names for Vikings. The Vikings took advantage of their unique ways of survival and daily life techniques to new heights during the Viking Age. They were highly skilled builders; they built ships durable enough to take on the ocean. Vikings were the most intelligent navigators in their day, which eventually made …show more content…
King Harald Harfagri believed he owed any property that was free, and the people living on what he called his own had to pay him for the property while ruling Norway. They wouldn’t lose their spirit and they had already quit their malicious attacks. They wanted to be free and not controlled by a ruler or king. “Norwegian Vikings, who could not tolerate the autocratic rule of King Harald harfagri. It is maintained that the Icelanders never lost the Viking spirit of their Norwegian ancestors, (5) which in the Western Icelandic social myth is characterized by an indomitable courage, an unyielding determination, an intense dedication to democracy, a desire for freedom, and, above all, utpra, which Lindal (1967) translates as a "yearning for what was far away" (43) and explains as "the modem equivalent of that uncontrollable impulse' in the Vikings of old"” (Wolf 1). The Vikings showed strength against the king by not reversing back to their old traditions. They could have gone right back to creating violent rages but they just wanted peace and freedom. Norse Vikings migrated from Norway to Iceland because they didn’t want to live under a
When the Vikings reached the New World, they called the native inhabitants (American Indians or Native Americans), “Skræling.” There has been much debate as to what exactly this word or label meant. Some translate it as “skin wearers,” which may be true as to how they described them, being the Norse generally wore woolen or linen clothing and North American Natives generally wore animal skins. But there was one additional thing puzzling about the Norse and the Skræling. The Viking explorers weren't curious or baffled by these new people. As if, they'd come into contact with people like this before and their way of life. 500 years later, when other Europeans had come to the New World (The Americas), they were ultimately curious of these strange new people and their ways that they had never seen before. But not the Norse, the Norse hint that they have come into regular contact with people like this on a fairly regular basis.
The vikings first made contact in eighth century Shetland. From there they made their way south to Orkney and Caithness, eventual...
Vikings’ settling down in Iceland and Greenland were important reflection of Viking expansion and they caused Viking civilization to extend on these two islands. Vikings were people from Scandinavia. For many reasons, such as the authoritarian policies of Harald Fairhair (Paine, 2013), the geographical features that lacking of lands for agriculture but having abundant trees for shipbuilding, Vikings were forced to expand into the sea. The two locations’ providing Vikings with lands undoubtedly provided them more chances for surviving.
When we hears the term Viking an immediate image of bloodthirsty men with long beards and horned helmets is conjured up in our minds. This is the image the historical sources have given us, and it is partly true. Vikings were merciless when raiding, but they were peaceful when they traded. Their navigational technology was exceptional, and the ones who settled in foreign lands contributed greatly to the lands’ culture.
back to America to trade but not to settle (Weiner 4). The Vikings still wanted to make money and had to make a living so they came back to trade. The Vikings did return to trade in North America, but they only wanted to trade with the Native
The blood-thirsty Vikings had such a strong influence and impact on Western Europe that their impact of Viking contact spread throughout the world and lives on today. Three significant ways they affected the world was by the Vikings amazing technology skills of ship building and navigation as well as their polytheism religion.
Primarily, when looking at the analysis of the Norse, it is essential to examine their group dynamic. To illustrate their group dynamics it is relevant to observe through the lens of a “group as a whole” a concept discussed in Smith and Bergs, The Sources of Paradox in Group Dynamics. The concept of the group as a whole is thinking of a group as if
King Óláfr Tryggvasson a King created the ferocious and barbaric viking ship. The Viking ships allowed the Vikings to trade, raid neighboring homes, and explore. In 793 A.D Viking Raiders of the Middle Ages first raid in England they raided the monastery of St.Cuthbert. Around 870 A.D, the Great Heathen Army gained control of north-east England. Vikings failed to take control of Wessex which is controlled by Alfred the Great. In 878 they attacked Alfred's kingdom the third time but was defeated. So in 886 the Anglo-Saxons and Viking leader formed a peace treaty known as the Danelaw. In 1066 the Viking age ended, Godwinson’s men defeated the Vikings at the Stamford Bridge,the Vikings were hit by a wave of Anglo-Saxon troops. The Scandinavian were unready, the Viking left warriors and armour back at Riccall. They went to England with 300 longboats but came back with 24 boat bring back the
The berserkers are one of the most interesting and least understood aspects of the Viking warrior society. These were individuals who fought in such a blinding fury that they lost all sense of self and became unconscious killing machines without discrimination.
Typically, the image of a Viking is a barbaric, bearded man plundering and destroying a neighboring village. This is actually the stereotypical viewpoint. In actuality, Vikings, have a very different image. For example, Vikings did not wear furry boots or furry armor, they did not have horned helmets, they invaded Britain, and they also were the first to discover America! They were also experts in nautical technology, crafts, trading, warfare and many other skills (Jonsson 1). With all of these traits, the Vikings seem like an unstoppable force in the European continent. But, who were the Vikings? The Vikings were actually venturesome seafarers. This means that they were travelers who were constantly exploring and looking for new areas of land. There roots can be traced all the way back to 6000 B.C. were nomadic men traveled in primitive crafts up the Denmark coast. Fast forward two millennia and these nomadic people have established permanent homes, but still using the boat for food and travel. As stated before, they were not just raiders, although they did do this frequently, but they were actually expert traders, trading all around the world. It wasn’t until around 793 A.D. that a Viking explosion took place in northern Europe (Jonsson 2). Raids began to take place on neighboring villages and their places of worship. To some this is the only type of knowledge they have about Vikings. However, their culture was something to be admired. Trading, religion, and everyday life are all important parts of a Viking culture.
During the seventh and eighth centuries, the Swedes were merchant seamen well known for their trade. In the ninth century, Nordic Vikings raided and ravaged the European Continent as far as the Black and Caspian Seas. During the 11th and 12th centuries, Sweden slowly became a united Christian kingdom that later included Finland. Queen Margaret of Denmark united all the Nordic lands in the "Kalmar Union" in 1397. Frequent tension within the countries and within the union gradually led to open conflict between the Swedes and the Danes in the 15th century. The union's final disintegration in the early 16th century resulted in a long-lived rivalry between Norway and Denmark on one side and Sweden and Finland on the other.
Vikings were uncivilized, yet they were a culture of farmers, craftsmen, master shipbuilders, merchants, explorers and barbaric raiders. Stereotypical images of Vikings have been distorted into horned helmet wearing, stinky men who sailed the high seas and never bathed. Vikings were seafaring warriors, but they were also master shipbuilders who bathed on a regular basis and they did not adorned their heads with horned helmets. They enjoyed skiing and the men liked to bleach their hair blonde with lye soap, which also got rid of head lice (Cohen, 2013). Vikings were warriors, and they did plunder up and down the coast, leaving nothing but death and destruction in their path, the reasons why they took to raiding have been
The Vikings would aggressively burn down villages, which was uncalled for. Vikings wouldn't just raid a settlement and leave them alone, in fact, they would repeatedly return. They used everything as weapons and their greatest invention and their greatest weapon was the long boat. The Vikings came by sea with their narrow bottom longboats which allowed them to travel up rivers and take villages by surprise. Vikings also used bows and arrows, spears, knives, swords and axes, which added to their terrifying appearance. Filing grooves into their teeth meant they wanted to tear their enemy's bones from their flesh. Scaring their enemies with their appearance made their raids all that more successful. Besides killing people during their raids, they would also capture people to take back to Scandinavia and use them as human sacrifices. One way they would strike fear into their enemies was by using the ‘blood eagle'. This was when the Vikings would lay their enemies face down and cut the shape of an eagle with its wings spread on their back. After, they would hack their ribs out and pull their bones and skin out to create a
In the earliest years of the Vikings, there was little history recorded due to the polytheistic views that they followed. After the Vikings converted to Christianity, there were eventually written documents created pertaining to their existence. In Viking Warfare, I.P. Stephenson states that the Vikings “first described attack took place in AD 789”(11). The Vikings were also known as Norsemen. They were great storytellers, and that is perhaps how society knows so much about them today. The stories that the Norsemen told were called Sagas. Today, Vikings are often depicted as murderous savages, but while they were not pillaging villages they were actually quite a peaceful civilization. There were three countries that Vikings evolved from; Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Although it may seem that all Vikings were on the same side, they quarreled with each other as well. Despite the fact that Viking battles were bloody and gruesome they were also known to be the most hygienic out of many of the earlier civilizations. There was not a huge percentage of Vikings that went out and raided but when they did they made a huge impact on what Vikings are now known for. The success of Viking warfare and raids relied primarily on the uses of armor, weapons, long ships, and battle tactics.
Most accounts in the world are from people who had poor experiences with Vikings, so it would seem their telling’s are biased. While this is most likely true, it was not the only thing they did. Trading played a very large role in the Viking world. Vikings, like many other folk, farmed, bred cattle, hunted, fished, and made their own cutlery and utensils. They had homesteads and marketplaces. Salt was one of their most acquired goods, as it was used in everyday life. It was not a good that would be imported from faraway lands, though. So the Vikings traded for it from nearby people. Their biggest trade items were iron, whetstones, and soapstone cooking pots. Iron was a vital resource in their world. They used it to make shields and weapons, which offered them a better chance when