The
Vikings were great explorers. They set sail from Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden
and Denmark) looking for new lands, and reached Greenland, Britain, and the
Mediterranean and Black seas. Not all came as raiders; many were peaceful
farmers and traders.
Scandinavia, the home of the Vikings, was covered in
mountains and forests, and had little good farmland. Most Vikings lived close
to the sea, tending small fields where they grew rye, barley, wheat, oats and
vegetables. They kept cattle and sheep and caught fish. Traders travelled on
horseback or by boat to market towns to exchange furs, reindeer antlers and
walrus ivory for weapons, jewels and pottery.
Viking families lived in houses made of wool, stone or
turf.
Vikings
valued coins by weight. Many traders carried balance scales to check that a
customer’s money was good and to show another merchant that he wasn’t being
cheated. Little lead weights such as those below were used to check coins.
Small scales for weighing silver have been found at Viking settlements.
THE
THING
The
Viking law court was called the ‘Thing’. Every year, local people came together
for several days, and any freeman who had a complaint or an argument to settle
could raise the matter. His neighbours would listen and give a judgement. A
person refusing to obey the Thing’s verdict became an outlaw, to be killed on
sight.
Smoke from the cooking fire found its way out through a
hole in the roof. Around the fire, people sat at benches and tables to eat
hearty meals, play dice games and tell stories. The Vikings loved stories,
especially those about their heroes and gods. Physical sports such as
wrestling, horse fights and ice skating were also popular.
Viking farmers often had thralls (slaves) to help with
the work, but most men were karls (freemen). A rich jarl, or landowner, was
expected to share his wealth with his followers. As the population increased,
farmland became increasingly scarce. From the late 700s, the Vikings began to
search for better farmland and greater riches.
Viking longships were fast and strong enough to cross
oceans. From the late 700s, bands of Vikings landed on the coasts of western
Europe. Attacks on England began in 787. Word quickly spread that they were
fierce fighters, and the sight of a Viking sail approaching caused panic.
Wielding iron swords and axes, the Vikings raided monasteries and towns,
carrying off slaves and booty.
The Vikings also came to seize land. By 865, Vikings
from Denmark had begun to settle in eastern England, the islands of Scotland
and in Ireland. They attacked what is now France, but were bought off with a
gift of land in 911. Sailing west into the Atlantic, Norwegian Vikings settled
in Iceland (874) and Greenland (982), and landed in North America (c. 1000).
Swedish Vikings travelled east as far as the Black Sea, trading with Greeks and
Arabs, who called them the ‘Rus’ (from which the name ‘Russia’ comes). Goods
from Baghdad and Constantinople found their way back to Viking settlements in
eastern England.
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