   #copyright

Viking

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: British History 1500 and
before (including Roman Britain); General history

   The term Viking commonly denotes the ship-borne explorers, traders, and
   warriors of the Norsemen who originated in Scandinavia and raided the
   coasts of the British Isles, France and other parts of Europe from the
   late 8th century to the 11th century. This period of European history
   (generally dated to 793– 1066) is often referred to as the Viking Age.
   It may also be used to denote the entire populations of Viking Age
   Scandinavia and their settlements elsewhere.

   Famed for their navigation ability and long ships, Vikings in a few
   hundred years colonized the coasts and rivers of Europe, the islands of
   Shetland, Orkney, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland
   circa 1000 , while still reaching as far south as North Africa, east
   into Russia and to Constantinople for raiding and trading. Vikings are
   also widely believed to have been early explorers of North America,
   with putative expeditions to present-day Canada taking place as early
   as the 10th century. Viking voyages grew less frequent with the
   introduction of Christianity to Scandinavia in the late 10th and 11th
   century. The Viking Age is often considered to have ended with the
   Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.

   The word viking was introduced to the English language with romantic
   connotations in the 18th century. However, etymologists assign the
   earliest use of the word to Anglo-Frankish writers, who referred to
   "víkingr" as one who set about to raid and pillage. In the current
   Scandinavian languages the term viking is applied to the people who
   went away on viking expeditions, be it for raiding or trading. In
   English it has become common to use it to refer to the Viking Age
   Scandinavians in general. The pre-Christian Scandinavian population is
   also referred to as Norse.

The Viking Age

   humb|left|The Gokstad viking ship at display in Oslo, Norway]] The
   period of North Germanic expansion, usually taken to last from the
   earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman Conquest of
   England in 1066, is commonly called the Viking Age. The Normans,
   however, descended from Scandinavian Vikings that were granted parts of
   northern France (Normandy) in the 8th century (William the Conqueror's
   grandfather was a Viking), and from the indigenous population of
   Neustria. In that respect, the Vikings continued to have an influence
   in Europe. Likewise, King Harold Godwinson was descended from Danish
   Vikings. Many of the medieval kings of Norway and Denmark were married
   to English and Scottish royalty.
   Geographically, a "Viking Age" may be assigned not only to the
   Scandinavian lands (modern Denmark, Norway and Sweden), but also to
   territories under North Germanic dominance, mainly the Danelaw,
   Scotland, the Isle of Man and Ireland. Contemporary with the European
   Viking Age, the Byzantine Empire experienced the greatest period of
   stability (circa 800– 1071) it would enjoy after the initial wave of
   Arab conquests in the mid-7th century.

   Viking navigators also opened the road to new lands to the north and to
   the west, resulting in the colonization of Shetland, Orkney, the Faroe
   Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and even an expedition to, and a
   short-lived settlement in, Newfoundland circa 1000.
   In Athens, Greece, some Swedish vikings wrote a runic inscription on
   the Pireus lion
   Enlarge
   In Athens, Greece, some Swedish vikings wrote a runic inscription on
   the Pireus lion

   During three centuries, Vikings appeared along the coasts and rivers of
   Europe, as traders, but also as raiders, and even as settlers. From
   839, there were Varangian mercenaries in Byzantine service (most
   famously Harald Hardrada, who campaigned in North Africa and Jerusalem
   in the 1030s). Important trading ports during the period include Birka,
   Hedeby, Kaupang, Jorvik, Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod and Kiev. Generally
   speaking, the Norwegians expanded to the north and west, the Danes to
   England and France, settling in the Danelaw, and the Swedes to the
   east. But the three nations were not yet clearly separated, and still
   united by the common Old Norse language. The names of Scandinavian
   kings are known only for the later part of the Viking Age, and only
   after the end of the Viking Age did the separate kingdoms acquire a
   distinct identity as nations, which went hand in hand with their
   christianization. Thus it may be noted that the end of the Viking Age
   (9th–11th century) for the Scandinavians also marks the start of their
   relatively brief Middle Ages.

   There is evidence showing that the Vikings reached the city of Baghdad,
   from archeologists discovering loot. However, the Vikings were far less
   successful in establishing settlements in the middle east, due to the
   far more centralized and powerful Arab power present, namely that of
   the Umayyad and then Abbasid empires.

Decline

   After trade and settlement, cultural impulses flowed from the rest of
   Europe. Christianity had an early and growing presence in Scandinavia,
   and with the rise of centralized authority along with a stiffening of
   coastal defense in the areas the Vikings preyed upon, the Viking raids
   became more risky and less profitable. With the rise of kings and great
   nobles and a quasi- feudal system in Scandinavia, they ceased entirely
   - in the 11th century the Scandinavians are frequently chronicled as
   combating "Vikings" from the Baltic, which would eventually lead to
   Danish and Swedish participation in the Baltic crusades and the
   development of the Hanseatic League. For more info learn about Faroe
   Islands.

Historical records

   A composite image made from several sides of the Ledberg Runestone
   having illustrations of what probably are Varangians in the Byzantine
   Empire and a Byzantine ship
   Enlarge
   A composite image made from several sides of the Ledberg Runestone
   having illustrations of what probably are Varangians in the Byzantine
   Empire and a Byzantine ship

   The earliest date given for a Viking raid is 787 when, according to the
   Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a group of men from Norway sailed to Portland,
   in Dorset. There, they were mistaken for merchants by a royal official,
   and they murdered him when he tried to get them to accompany him to the
   king's manor to pay a trading tax on their goods. The next recorded
   attack, dated June 8, 793, was on the monastery at Lindisfarne—the
   "Holy Island"—on the east coast of England. For the next 200 years,
   European history is filled with tales of Vikings and their plundering.

   Vikings exerted influence throughout the coastal areas of Ireland and
   Scotland, and conquered and colonized large parts of England (see
   Danelaw). Wales also saw some Viking settlements on its coast; the
   modern day city of Swansea takes its name from Sweyne Forkbeard who was
   shipwrecked at modern day Swansea Bay; neighbouring Gower Peninsula has
   many place names of Norse origin (such as Worms Head. Worm is the Norse
   word for dragon, as the Vikings believed that the serpent shaped island
   was a sleeping dragon). Twenty miles west of Cardiff on the Vale of
   Glamorgan coast is the semi-flooded island of Tusker Rock, which takes
   its name from Tuska the Viking whose people semi-colonised the fertile
   lands of the Vale of Glamorgan. The Britons of Cornwall allied with the
   Vikings in an unavailing attempt to expel the Saxons from Cornwall in
   838. Vikings travelled up the rivers of France and Spain, and gained
   control of areas in Russia and along the Baltic coast. Stories tell of
   raids in the Mediterranean and as far east as the Caspian Sea.

   Significantly, the Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and in
   838 Cornwall, during their battles against the Anglo-Saxons, decided to
   ally with the Vikings against the Saxons. Possibly as a result, the
   modern-day Celtic nations of the British Isles, in particular the
   cities of Cardiff and Swansea in Wales, and in Ireland the cities of
   Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford, have a certain pride in what is
   perceived as "Viking ancestry".

   Adam of Bremen records in his book Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae
   Pontificum, (volume four):
     * Aurum ibi plurimum, quod raptu congeritur piratico. Ipsi enim
       piratae, 'quos illi Wichingos as appellant, nostri Ascomannos regi
       Danico tributum solvunt.

          "There is much gold here (in Zealand), accumulated by piracy.
          These pirates, which are called wichingi by their own people,
          and Ascomanni by our own people, pay tribute to the Danish
          king."

Viking expansion

British Isles

England

   yellow: Danelaw
   Enlarge
   yellow: Danelaw

   According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, after Lindisfarne was raided
   in 793, Vikings continued on small-scale raids across England. Viking
   raiders struck England in 793 and raided a Christian monastery that
   held Saint Cuthbert’s relics. The raiders killed the monks and captured
   the valuables. This raid was called the beginning of the “Viking Age of
   Invasion”, made possible by the Viking longship. There was great
   violence during the last decade of the 8th century on England’s
   northern and western shores. While the initial raiding groups were
   small, it is believed that a great amount of planning was involved.

   During the winter between 840 and 841, the Norwegians raided during the
   winter instead of the usual summer. They waited on an island off
   Ireland. In 865 a large army of Danish Vikings, supposedly led by Ivar,
   Halfdan and Guthrum arrived in East Anglia. They proceeded to cross
   England into Northumbria and captured York ( Jorvik), where some
   settled as farmers. Most of the English kingdoms, being in turmoil,
   could not stand against the Vikings, but Alfred of Wessex managed to
   keep the Vikings out of his country. Alfred and his successors
   continued to drive back the Viking frontier and take York.

   A new wave of Vikings appeared in England in 947 when Erik Bloodaxe
   captured York. The Viking presence continued through the reign of
   Canute the Great (1016-1035), after which a series of inheritance
   arguments weakened the family reign. The Viking presence dwindled until
   1066, when the Norwegians lost their final battle with the English. See
   also Danelaw.

   The Vikings did not get everything their way. In one situation in
   England, a small Viking fleet attacked a rich monastery at Jarrow. The
   Vikings were met with stronger resistance than they expected: their
   leaders were killed, the raiders escaped, only to have their ships
   beached at Tynemouth and the crews killed by locals. This was one of
   the last raids on England for about 40 years. The Vikings instead
   focused on Ireland and Scotland.

Ireland

   The Vikings conducted extensive raids in Ireland and founded a few
   towns, including Dublin. At some points, they seemingly came close to
   taking over the whole isle; however, the Scandinavians settled down and
   intermixed with the Irish. Literature, crafts, and decorative styles in
   Ireland and the British Isles reflected Scandinavian culture. Vikings
   traded at Irish markets in Dublin. Excavations found imported fabrics
   from England, Byzantium, Persia, and central Asia. Dublin became so
   crowded by the 11th Century that houses were constructed outside the
   town walls.

   The Vikings pillaged monasteries on Ireland’s west coast in 795, and
   then spread out to cover the rest of the coastline. The north and east
   of the island were most affected. During the first 40 years, the raids
   were conducted by small, mobile Viking groups. From 830 on, the groups
   consisted of large fleets of Viking ships. From 840, the Vikings began
   establishing permanent bases at the coasts. Dublin was the most
   significant settlement in the long term. The Irish became accustomed to
   the Viking presence. In some cases they became allies and also married
   each other.

   In 832, a Viking fleet of about 120 invaded kingdoms on Ireland’s
   northern and eastern coasts. Some believe that the increased number of
   invaders coincided with Scandinavian leaders’ desires to control the
   profitable raids on the western shores of Ireland. During the mid-830s,
   raids began to push deeper into Ireland, as opposed to just touching
   the coasts. Navigable waterways made this deeper penetration possible.
   After 840, the Vikings had several bases in strategic locations
   dispersed throughout Ireland.

   In 838, a small Viking fleet entered the River Liffey in eastern
   Ireland. The Vikings set up a base, which the Irish called longphorts.
   This longphort would eventually become Dublin. After this interaction,
   the Irish experienced Viking forces for about 40 years. The Vikings
   also established longphorts in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford.
   The Vikings could sail through on the main river and branch off into
   different areas of the country.

   One of the last major battles involving Vikings was the Battle of
   Clontarf in 1014, in which Vikings fought both for High King Brian
   Boru's army and for the Viking-led army opposing the High King. Irish
   and Viking Literature depict the Battle of Clontarf as a gathering of
   this world and the supernatural. For example, witches, goblins, and
   demons were present. A Viking poem portrays the environment as strongly
   pagan. Valkyries chanted and decided who would live and die.

Scotland

   While there are few records from the earliest period, it is believed to
   be clear that a Scandinavian presence in Scotland increased in the
   830s. In 839, a large Viking force believed to be Norwegian invaded the
   Earn valley and Tay valley which were central to the Pictish kingdom.
   They slaughtered Eoganan, king of the Picts, and his brother, the
   vassal king of the Scots. They also killed many members of the Pictish
   aristocracy. The sophisticated kingdom that had been built fell apart,
   as did the Pictish leadership. The foundation of Scotland under Kenneth
   MacAlpin is traditionally attributed to the aftermath of this event.

   The isles to the north and west of Scotland were heavily colonised by
   Norwegian vikings. Shetland, Orkney, the Western Isles, Caithness and
   Sutherland were under Norse control, sometimes as fiefs under the King
   of Norway and other times as separate enteties. Shetland and Orkney
   were the last of these to be incorporated into Scotland in as late as
   1468. The vikings also intermixed with the original inhabitants as in
   with the inhabitants of Galloway to become the Gallgaels.

Wales

   Wales was not colonised by the Vikings as heavily as eastern England
   and Ireland. The Vikings did, however, settle in the south around St.
   David's, Haverfordwest, and Gower, among other places. Place names such
   as Skokholm, Skomer, and Swansea remain as evidence of the Norse
   settlement. The Vikings, however, were not able to set up a Viking
   state or control Wales, owing to the powerful forces of Welsh kings,
   and, unlike in Scotland, the aristocracy was relatively unharmed.

Gaul

   Gaul or West Francia suffered more severely than East Francia during
   the Viking raids of the ninth century, which destroyed the Carolingian
   Empire, though it suffered less severely than the Low Countries. The
   reign of Charles the Bald, whose military record was one of consistent
   failure, coincided with some of the worst of these raids, though he did
   take action by the Edict of Pistres of 864 to secure a standing army of
   cavalry under royal control to be called upon at all times when
   necessary to fend off the invaders. He also ordered the building of
   fortified bridges to prevent inland raids.

   Nonetheless, the Bretons allied with the Vikings and, at the Battle of
   Brissarthe in 865; both Robert, the margrave of Neustria, a march
   created for defence against the Vikings sailing up the Loire, and
   Ranulf of Aquitaine died in the battle. The Vikings also took advantage
   of the civil wars which ravaged the Duchy of Aquitaine in the early
   years of Charles' reign. In the 840s, Pepin II called in the Vikings to
   aid him against Charles and they settled down at the mouth of the
   Garonne. Two dukes of Gascony, Seguin II and William I, died defending
   Bordeaux from Viking assaults. A later duke, Sancho Mitarra, even
   settled some at the mouth of the Ardour in an act presaging that of
   Charles the Simple and the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte by which the
   Vikings were settled in Rouen, creating Normandy as a bulwark against
   other Vikings.

Iberia

   By the mid 9th century, though apparently not before (Fletcher 1984,
   ch. 1, note 51), there were Viking attacks on the coastal Kingdom of
   Asturias in the far northwest of the peninsula, though historical
   sources are too meagre to assess how frequent or how early raiding was.
   By the reign of Alfonso III Vikings were stifling the already weak
   threads of sea communications that tied Galicia (a province of the
   Kingdom) to the rest of Europe. Richard Fletcher attests raids on the
   Galician coast in 844 and 858: "Alfonso III was sufficiently worried by
   the threat of Viking attack to establish fortified strong points near
   his coastline, as other rulers were doing elsewhere." In 968 Bishop
   Sisnando of Compostela was killed, the monastery of Curtis was sacked,
   and measures were ordered for the defence of the inland town of Lugo.
   After Tui was sacked early in the 11th century, its bishopric remained
   vacant for the next half-century. Ransom was a motive for abductions:
   Fletcher instances Amarelo Mestáliz, who was forced to raise money on
   the security of his land in order to ransom his daughters who had been
   captured by the Vikings in 1015. Bishop Cresconio of Compostela (ca.
   1036–66) repulsed a Viking foray and built the fortress at Torres del
   Oeste (Council of Catoira) to protect Compostela from the Atlantic
   approaches. The city of Póvoa de Varzim in Northern Portugal, then a
   town, was settled by Vikings around the 9th century and its influence
   kept strong until very recently, mostly due to the practice of endogamy
   in the community.

   In the Islamic south, the first navy of the Emirate was called into
   being after the humiliating Viking ascent of the Guadalquivir, 844, and
   was tested in repulsing Vikings in 859. Soon the dockyards at Seville
   were extended, it was employed to patrol the Iberian coastline under
   the caliphs Abd al-Rahman III ( 912– 61) and Al-Hakam II ( 961– 76). By
   the next century piracy from Saracens superseded the Viking scourge.

Explanations of the expansion

   Map showing area of Scandinavian settlement in the eighth (dark red),
   ninth (red), tenth (orange) and eleventh (yellow) centuries. Green
   denotes areas subjected to frequent Viking raids.
   Enlarge
   Map showing area of Scandinavian settlement in the eighth (dark red),
   ninth (red), tenth (orange) and eleventh (yellow) centuries. Green
   denotes areas subjected to frequent Viking raids.

   Why the viking expansion took place is a much debated topic in nordic
   history, and there are no clear answers.

   One common theory is that the viking homelands were overpopulated. A
   growing poulation or a lacking ability of the agriculture to support
   the existing population should have caused a lack of land. For a people
   living near the coast in possession of good naval technologies, it
   makes sense to expand overseas in the course of a typical youth bulge
   effect. One problem with this explanation is that, as a result of the
   lack of sources, no such rise in population or decline in agricultural
   production has been proven. This theory is widely accepted as a part of
   the solution, since it is hard to imagine why a people would colonise
   new territories if there was not a lack of land at home. However, it
   does little to explain the plundering raids and trading expeditions, or
   why the expansion went to overseas countries and not into the big,
   uncultivated forest areas of the Viking homelands on the Scandinavian
   peninsula.

   Another explanation is that the Vikings used temporary weakness in the
   regions they travelled to. For instance, the Danish vikings were aware
   of the internal division of the empire of Charlemagne that begun in the
   830's and resulted in the splitting up of the empire. The Danish
   expeditions England can also have profited from the dissunity of the
   different English kingdoms.

   The decline of old trade routes can also be a part of the explanation.
   The trade between western Europe and the rest of the Eurasian continent
   had suffered from a severe decline as a result of the fall of the Roman
   Empire in the 5th century and the expansion of Islam in the 7th
   century. At the time of the Viking, the trade on the Mediterranean Sea
   was at its lowest level. By, for instance, trading furs and slaves
   against silver and spices with the arabs, and then trading the silver
   and spices for weapons with the Franks, the vikings acted like a
   middlehand in the international trade, picking up the role the
   declining mediterranian trade had previously filled.

   Another important factor when it comes to trade is that the destruction
   of the Frisian fleet by the Franks. This gave the vikings the
   opportunity to take over its old markets. However, both the explanation
   underlining dissunity and the one underlining trade explains how the
   expansion was possible, more than why it occurred. This is why we can
   consider that in addition to the economic factor, there is also another
   reason of first Vikings’ raids, they could also originate in resistance
   to forced Christianization, in particular Charlemagne’s persecutions
   against all the Pagans people: who have to accept “conversion or the
   massacre”

Icelandic sagas

   Norse mythology, Norse sagas and Old Norse literature tell us about
   their religion through tales of heroic and mythological heroes.
   However, the transmission of this information was primarily oral, and
   we are reliant upon the writings of (later) Christian scholars, such as
   the Icelanders Snorri Sturluson and Sæmundur fróði, for much of this.
   Many of these sagas were written in Iceland, and most of them, even if
   they had no Icelandic provenance, were preserved there after the Middle
   Ages due to the Icelanders' continued interest in Norse literature and
   law codes.

   Vikings in those sagas are described as if they often struck at
   accessible and poorly defended targets, usually with impunity. The
   sagas state that the Vikings built settlements and were skilled
   craftsmen and traders.

Rune stones

   Many rune stones in Scandinavia record the names of participants in
   Viking expeditions. Other rune stones mention men who died on Viking
   expeditions, among them the around 25 Ingvar stones in the Mälardalen
   district of Sweden erected to commemorate members of a disastrous
   expedition into present-day Russia in the early 11th century. The rune
   stones are important sources in the study of the entire Norse society
   and early medieval Scandinavia, not only of the 'Viking' segment of the
   population (Sawyer, P H: 1997).

   Runestones attest to voyages to locations, such as Bath, Greece,
   Khwaresm, Jerusalem, Italy (as Langobardland), London, Serkland (i.e.
   the Muslem world), England, and various locations in Eastern Europe.

Burial sites

   There are numerous burial sites associated with Vikings. some examples
   are:
     * Gettlinge gravfält, Öland, Sweden, ship outline
     * Jelling, Denmark, a World Heritage Site
     * Hulterstad gravfält, near the villages of Alby and Hulterstad,
       Öland, Sweden, ship outline of standing stones

Etymology

   The etymology of "Viking" is somewhat vague. One path might be from the
   Old Norse word, vík, meaning "bay," "creek," or "inlet," and the suffix
   -ing, meaning "coming from" or "belonging to." Thus, viking would be a
   'person of the bay', or "bayling" for lack of a better word. In Old
   Norse, this would be spelled víkingr. It may be noted that Viken was
   the old name of the region bordering on the Skagerrak, from where the
   first norse merchant-warriors originated. Later on, the term, viking,
   became synonymous with "naval expedition" or "naval raid", and a
   víkingr was a member of such expeditions. A second etymology suggested
   that the term is derived from Old English, wíc, ie. "trading city"
   (cognate to Latin vicus, "village").

   The word viking appears on several rune stones found in Scandinavia. In
   the Icelanders' sagas, víking refers to an overseas expedition (Old
   Norse farar i vikingr "to go on an expedition"), and víkingr, to a
   seaman or warrior taking part in such an expedition.

   In Old English, the word wicing appears first in the Anglo-Saxon poem,
   " Widsith", which probably dates from the 9th century. In Old English,
   and in the writings of Adam von Bremen, the term refers to a pirate,
   and is not a name for a people or a culture in general. Regardless of
   its possible orgins, the word was used more as a verb than as a noun,
   and connotated an activity and not a distinct group of individuals. To
   "go viking" was distinctly different from Norse seaborne missions of
   trade and commerce.

   The word disappeared in Middle English, and was reintroduced as viking
   during 18th century Romanticism (the " Viking revival"), with heroic
   overtones of " barbarian warrior" or noble savage. During the 20th
   century, the meaning of the term was expanded to refer not only to the
   raiders, but also to the entire period; it is now, somewhat
   confusingly, used as a noun both in the original meaning of raiders,
   warriors or navigators, and to refer to the Scandinavian population in
   general. As an adjective, the word is used in expressions like " Viking
   age," "Viking culture," "Viking colony," etc., generally referring to
   medieval Scandinavia.

Ships

   Miniatures of two different types of longships, on display at
   Vikingeskibsmuseet in Roskilde, Denmark.
   Enlarge
   Miniatures of two different types of longships, on display at
   Vikingeskibsmuseet in Roskilde, Denmark.

   There were two distinct classes of Viking ships: the longship (the
   largest also known as "drakkar", meaning "dragon" in Norse) and the
   knarr. The longship, intended for warfare and exploration, was designed
   for speed and agility, and were equipped with oars to complement the
   sail as well as making it able to navigate independently of the wind.
   The longship had a long and narrow hull, as well as a shallow draft, in
   order to facilitate landings and troop deployments in shallow water.
   The knarr, on the other hand, was a slower merchant vessel with a
   greater cargo capacity than the longship. It was designed with a short
   and broad hull, and a deep draft. It also lacked the oars of the
   longship.

   Longships were used extensively by the Leidang, the Scandinavian
   defense fleets. The term "Viking ships" has entered common usage,
   however, possibly because of its romantic associations (discussed
   below).

   In Roskilde are the well-preserved remains of five ships, excavated
   from nearby Roskilde Fjord in the late 1960s. The ships were scuttled
   there in the 11th century to block a navigation channel, thus
   protecting the city which was then the Danish capital, from seaborne
   assault. These five ships represent the two distinct classes of the
   Viking Ships, the longship and the knarr.

   Longships are not to be confused with longboats.

Modern revivals

   See also 19th century Viking revival. Early modern publications,
   dealing with what we now call Viking culture, appeared in the 16th
   century, e.g. Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (Olaus Magnus,
   1555), and the first edition of the 13th century Gesta Danorum of Saxo
   Grammaticus in 1514. The pace of publication increased during the 17th
   century with Latin translations of the Edda (notably Peder Resen's Edda
   Islandorum of 1665).

Romanticism

   The word Viking was popularized, with positive connotations, by Erik
   Gustaf Geijer in the poem, The Viking, written at the beginning of the
   19th century. The word was taken to refer to romanticized, idealized
   naval warriors, who had very little to do with the historical Viking
   culture. This renewed interest of Romanticism in the Old North had
   political implications. A myth about a glorious and brave past was
   needed to give the Swedes the courage to retake Finland, which had been
   lost in 1809 during the war between Sweden and Russia. The Geatish
   Society, of which Geijer was a member, popularized this myth to a great
   extent. Another Swedish author who had great influence on the
   perception of the Vikings was Esaias Tegnér, member of the Geatish
   Society, who wrote a modern version of Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna, which
   became widely popular in the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and
   Germany.

   A focus for early British enthusiasts was George Hicke, who published a
   Linguarum vett. septentrionalium thesaurus in 1703– 05. During the 18th
   century, British interest and enthusiasm for Iceland and Nordic culture
   grew dramatically, expressed in English translations as well as
   original poems, extolling Viking virtues and increased interest in
   anything Runic that could be found in the Danelaw, rising to a peak
   during Victorian times.

Nazism and Fascism

   Similar to Wagnerian mythology, the romanticism of the heroic Viking
   ideal appealed to the Germanic supremacist thinkers of Nazi Germany.
   Political organizations of the same tradition, such as the Norwegian
   fascist party, Nasjonal Samling, used viking symbolism and imagery
   widely in its propaganda. The Viking legacy had an impact in parts of
   Europe, especially the Northern Baltic region, but in no way was the
   Viking experience particular to Germany. However, the Nazis did not
   claim themselves to be the descendants of any Viking settlers. Instead,
   they resorted to the historical and ethnic fact that the Vikings were
   descendants of other Germanic peoples; this fact is supported by the
   shared ethnic-genetic elements, and cultural and linguistic traits, of
   the Germans, Anglo-Saxons, and Viking Scandinavians. In particular, all
   these peoples also had traditions of Germanic paganism and practiced
   runelore.
   Staged fight during a Viking festival
   Enlarge
   Staged fight during a Viking festival

   This common Germanic identity became - and still is - the foundation
   for much National Socialist iconography. For example, the runic emblem
   of the SS utilized the sig rune of the Elder Futhark and the youth
   organization Wiking-Jugend made extensive use of the odal rune. This
   trend still holds true today (see also fascist symbolism).

Living history

   Since the 1960s, there has been rising enthusiasm for historical
   reenactment. While the earliest groups had little claim for historical
   accuracy, the seriousness and accuracy of re-enactors has increased
   during the 1990s, including many re-enactment groups concentrating on
   an accurate representation of the Viking Age.

Popular misconceptions

Height

   There is a conception that the vikings were very tall and large men.
   Ibn Fadlan and various European sources mention that the vikings were
   of great stature. A number of modern studies have been conducted which
   show vikings to have been on average between 66.3in (168.4cm) and
   69.3in (176cm) tall. There is variation, and higher ranking vikings
   tended to be taller (likely due to better nutrition), but the vikings
   were, compared to people of today, not incredibly tall men. Compared to
   people of other parts of Europe of that time the Vikings might have
   been above average in height.

Horned helmets

   Apart from two or three representations of (ritual) helmets with
   protrusions that may be either stylized ravens, snakes or horns, no
   depiction of Viking Age warriors' helmets, and no actually preserved
   helmet has horns. In fact, the formal close-quarters style of Viking
   combat (either in shield walls or aboard "ship islands") would have
   made horned helmets cumbersome and hazardous to the warrior's own side.
   Therefore it can be ruled out that Viking warriors had horned helmets,
   but whether or not they were used in Scandinavian culture for other,
   ritual purposes remains unproven. The general misconception that Viking
   warriors wore horned helmets was partly promulgated by the 19th century
   enthusiasts of the Götiska Förbundet, founded in 1811 in Stockholm,
   with the aim of promoting the suitability of Norse mythology as
   subjects of high art and other ethnological and moral aims. The Vikings
   were also often depicted with winged-helmets and in other clothing
   taken from Classical antiquity, especially in depictions of Norse gods.
   This was done in order to legitimize the Vikings and their mythology,
   by associating it with the Classical world which has always been
   idealized in European culture. The latter-day mythos created by
   national romantic ideas blended the Viking Age with glimpses of the
   Nordic Bronze Age some 2,000 years earlier, for which actual horned
   helmets, probably for ceremonial purposes, are attested both in
   petroglyphs and by actual finds (See Bohuslän ). The cliché was
   perpetuated by cartoons like Hägar the Horrible and Vicky the Viking.

Savage marauders

   Despite images of Viking marauders who live for plunder, the heart of
   Viking society is reciprocity, on both a personal, social level and on
   a broader political level. The Vikings lived in a time when numerous
   societies were engaged in many violent acts, and the doings of the
   Vikings put into context are not as savage as they seem. Others of the
   time period were much more savage than the Vikings, such as the French
   king, Charlemagne, who cut off the heads of 4,500 Saxons ( Bloody
   Verdict of Verden) in one day , partly because they would not accept
   the Christian faith. Actually, the Vikings were not at all as
   war-crazed as people tend to believe. Most were traders, although some
   did plunder, often monasteries around Scotland, Wales and England, as
   they had a lot of valuables in gold and silver.

   In the 300-year period where Vikings were most active, there were only
   approximately 347 attacks that spread from the British Isles to
   Morocco, Portugal, and Turkey. This number is a lot smaller than most
   seem to think. In Ireland, where the Vikings are most famous for
   attacking monasteries, there were only 430 known attacks during this
   300-year period.

Skull cups

   The use of human skulls as drinking vessels is also ahistorical. The
   rise of this myth can be traced back to a Ole Worm's Runer seu Danica
   literatura antiquissima of 1636), warriors drinking ór bjúgviðum hausa
   [from the curved branches of skulls, i.e. from horns] were rendered as
   drinking ex craniis eorum quos ceciderunt [from the skulls of those
   whom they had slain]. (Scandinavian skalli/skalle: skal means simply
   "shell" and skál/skål "bowl".) The skull-cup allegation may have some
   history also in relation with other Germanic tribes and Eurasian
   nomads, such as the Scythians and Pechenegs.

Uncleanliness

   The image of wild-haired, dirty savages sometimes associated with the
   Vikings in popular culture is a distorted picture of reality.
   Non-Scandinavian Christians are responsibile for most surviving
   accounts of the Vikings and consequently, a strong bias exists. This
   attitude is likely attributed to Christian misunderstandings regarding
   paganism. Viking tendencies were often misreported and the work of Adam
   of Bremen, among others, told largely disputable tales of Viking
   savagery and uncleanliness.

   However, it is now known that the Vikings used a variety of tools for
   personal grooming such as combs, tweezers, razors or specialized "ear
   spoons". In particular, combs are among the most frequent artifacts
   from Viking Age excavations. The Vikings also made soap, which they
   used to bleach their hair as well as for cleaning, as blonde hair was
   ideal in the Viking culture.

   The Vikings in England even had a particular reputation of excessive
   cleanliness, due to their custom of bathing once a week, on Saturdays
   (as opposed to the local Anglo-Saxons). To this day, Saturday is
   referred to as laugardagur/laurdag/lørdag/lördag "washing day" in the
   Scandinavian languages, though the original meaning is lost in modern
   speech in most of the Scandinavian languages ("laug" still means "bath"
   or "pool" in Icelandic).

   As for the Rus', who had later acquired a subjected Varangian
   component, Ibn Rustah explicitly notes their cleanliness, while Ibn
   Fadlan is disgusted by all of the men sharing the same vessel to wash
   their faces and blow their noses in the morning. Ibn Fadlan's disgust
   is probably motivated by his ideas of personal hygiene particular to
   the Muslim world, such as running water and clean vessels. While the
   example intended to convey his disgust about the customs of the Rus',
   at the same time it recorded that they did wash every morning.

Popular culture

   Vikings and the Romanticist Viking Revival have inspired many works of
   fiction, from historical novels directly based on historical events
   like Frans Gunnar Bengtsson's The Long Ships to loosely historical
   fantasies like Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead to the outright
   silly, like Erik the Viking.

Famous Vikings

     * Sweyne Forkbeard of Swansea - (the man who founded Swansea in
       Wales)
     * Askold and Dir (legendary Varangian conquerors of Kiev)
     * Björn Ironside (pillaged in Italy and son of Ragnar Lodbrok)
     * Brodir the Dane (Danish Viking responsible for killing the High
       King of Ireland, Brian Boru)
     * Egill Skallagrímsson (Icelandic warrior and popular skald, see also
       Egils saga)
     * Eirik Blodøks
     * Erik the Red (discoverer of Greenland)
     * Leif Ericson (discoverer of America/ Vinland, son of Erik the Red)
     * Freydís

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