Vikings Influence On Western Culture

With the portrayal of VIkings in modern media, it is hard to come up with an accurate representation of who the vikings were. Too often, many simply see Vikings who were barbarians who attacked coastal villages and monasteries for the pleasure of it. However, this is not the case; the Viking Age, which lasted from the 8th century CE to the 12th century CE, saw a time where the Viking culture and influence grew rapidly, and the Viking people spread throughout Europe and the North Atlantic. The Vikings had a profound impact on the world at the time, with their many trading routes, their developed economy, and their exploratory voyages discovering new lands. Trade was one of the most profound ways the Vikings left an impact on the world at …show more content…
Merchants would trade goods such as furs and weapons for spices and metals, and in particular, silver coins from Arabia (Woolf 479). These metals were then transformed into masterful pieces of artwork and jewelry, and most of it came from melting down Middle Eastern coins. Although most of these works were decorative, some pieces did have have a significant role in myth as well (Woolf 459). Another center of trade was known to the Vikings as “Mikligardr,” or better known as Constantinople. It was in the “great city” that Norse merchants could obtain luxury goods such as silk and jewelry. (Woolf 479). To reach the cities of Constantinople and Baghdad, Vikings would traverse the dangerous Russian river system. The Vikings would also trade slaves, either captured or given as tribute from the Slavic peoples, …show more content…
Before the Viking age, the idea of using coins was a foreign one. With the Viking trade bringing in coins from all over, the Vikings began to develop the idea of coinage, especially in major cities, such as Hedeby (Williams). Coinage is a particularly significant development, as it allowed traders and merchants to get exactly what they wanted, and to have a common medium to trade their goods and services. The most common metal that the coins were made of was silver, and the value of coins were based on their weight and purity, in a system called bullion economy. Jewelry, such as neck- and arm-rings, were made of plain silver melted from foreign coins, and could be used as currency as well. If a small denomination was needed, pieces of silver were cut from the jewelry, called “hack-silver” (Woolf 459). Traders and merchants would often carry a small scale with them to ensure the accuracy of the payment, showed that the Vikings were advanced in their system of economy (Williams). Through their many travels, the Vikings spread their system of economy, and the knowledge of coinage to other areas of the