Viking Age

The Viking Age was an era in European history during which the peoples of the Baltic and Scandinavia surged onto the world stage as pirates, raiders, traders, and fearless explorers. There are many controversies and theories as to why the Scandinavians chose, or were forced, to leave the far northern reaches of Europe. Various indications have suggested a possible population increase that correlates with available farming land, which in turn, connects to an increase of people looking to settle. However, there are also more economic triggers for the expansion of the Vikings in addition to other demographic and social aspects of Viking society. These include a variety of trading connections that have existed in the Baltic for years, the availability…

The Viking Age is known as the period that existed from the late 8th century through the mid-11th century. It is the historical era that recognizes the birth of the vicious Vikings of Scandinavia, and their overseas and river conquests and raids throughout Western Europe. Now, extensive historical research along with important, yet limited, archaeological evidence has resulted in the emergence of various hypotheses explaining what may have caused, or rather, contributed to the Viking Age,…

The Viking Age occurred from late 8th century to mid-11th century. Within this time frame Viking populations across the globe experienced a number of significant changes that signalled the transformation of the Viking age. It should be made clear that this essay will argue for the transformation of the Viking age, as opposed to the end. The main factors behind this transformation are primarily religious in nature, a claim supported by Angus A. Somerville and R. Andrew McDonald, who cite, ‘the…

Nordic Religions in the Viking Age provides context to the time period in which Sturluson writes his prose Edda. The ending of “Gylfaginning” is heavily influenced by Christian views that age in time. In his second chapter, DuBois divulges the extremity of Christian views of pagans. Pagan religion was a “real threat, even if it remained inferior to the might of the Christian God” (DuBois 39). Although Christians were confident that their faith was superior, the non-Christians’ commitment to…

Food consumed during the Viking Age was mainly food that was easy and convenient to acquire; however, we will see more uncommon foods being served at special occasions such as feasts where the purpose of that food was to impress the highly-ranked guests. When researching the topic of Viking Food, there are many different traditions that are brought up that deal heavily with food. However, in most sources there is a common theme that is repeated, which is the importance of certain foods and the…

Vikings’ Golden Age was the Early Medieval period. It was between the 8th century and 11th century that Norsemen established empires and affected the European civilization. They were courageous sailors and explorers but also fierce and merciless fighters. Their explorations reached lands that we today name France, England, Ukraine or Anatolia. 1. Rollo He received the 'Walker' nickname because he was so tall and big that no horse could carry him, so he had to walk. Rollo conducted raids on…

The Viking Age, from around A.D. 800-1100 was the age of the terror for many and adventure for some. Vikings set sail and plundered Europe using advanced boating technology. Without it, the Vikings would never have become a dominant force in medieval politics, trade and warfare. There were several different types of viking ships. One example was the longship drekar with its dragon head. They crossed open oceans under sail and then for their lightening fast attacks on undefended towns and…

writing. It is “understanding how historians of the past conceived of their projects and the methods they used.” A historiographical analysis studies the history of historical writing on a variety of topics such as the Vikings. When mankind usually thinks about the Vikings, they think of strong male warriors raiding villages and sailing the seas on their long ships. In fact, “Vikings are irredeemably male in the popular imagination.” Nevertheless, Norse women were part of the Viking Age and…

Viking Essay In the Medieval era, Vikings were different from the standards we have today, from what the media has shaped into crazy men with horns on their helmets using crossbows, but that couldn’t be more wrong because the idea of using horns came from the opera wanting to romanticize them even further and for crossbows they didn’t have them let alone use them because of their beliefs and wanting to fight man to man in the field. At the time, the term Viking was a verb not a noun as we use it…

birds, serpents and foliate patterns. Ringerike: This is the prominent Viking style of the first half of the 11th century. It is mostly characterized…