Note
The Viking
Etymology
Other names History
Viking Age
Viking expansion
Motives
End of the Viking Age
Culture
Literature and language
Runestones
Burial sites
Ships
Everyday life
Social structure
Appearances
Farming and cuisine
Sports
Games and entertainment
Experimental archaeology Weapons and warfare Trade
Goods
Legacy
Medieval perceptions of the Vikings
Post-medieval perceptions
In 20th-century politics
In modern popular culture
Common misconceptions
Horned helmets
Barbarity
Genetic legacy
The Viking
Vikings (from Old Norse víkingr) were Norse seafarers, speaking the Old Norse language, who raided and traded from their Scandinavian homelands across wide areas of northern and central Europe, as well as European Russia, during the late 8th to late 11th centuries.[1][2] The term is also commonly extended in modern English and other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home communities during what has become known as the Viking Age. This period of Norse military, mercantile and demographic expansion constitutes an important element in the early medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Kievan Rus' and Sicily.[3]
Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Following extended phases of (primarily sea- or river-borne) exploration, expansion and settlement, Viking (Norse) communities and polities were established in diverse areas of north-western Europe, European Russia, the North Atlantic islands and as far as the north-eastern coast of North America. This period of expansion witnessed the wider dissemination of Norse culture, while simultaneously introducing strong foreign cultural influences into Scandinavia itself, with profound developmental implications in both directions.
Popular, modern conceptions of the Vikings—the term
Etymology
Other names History
Viking Age
Viking expansion
Motives
End of the Viking Age
Culture
Literature and language
Runestones
Burial sites
Ships
Everyday life
Social structure
Appearances
Farming and cuisine
Sports
Games and entertainment
Experimental archaeology Weapons and warfare Trade
Goods
Legacy
Medieval perceptions of the Vikings
Post-medieval perceptions
In 20th-century politics
In modern popular culture
Common misconceptions
Horned helmets
Barbarity
Genetic legacy
The Viking
Vikings (from Old Norse víkingr) were Norse seafarers, speaking the Old Norse language, who raided and traded from their Scandinavian homelands across wide areas of northern and central Europe, as well as European Russia, during the late 8th to late 11th centuries.[1][2] The term is also commonly extended in modern English and other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home communities during what has become known as the Viking Age. This period of Norse military, mercantile and demographic expansion constitutes an important element in the early medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Kievan Rus' and Sicily.[3]
Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Following extended phases of (primarily sea- or river-borne) exploration, expansion and settlement, Viking (Norse) communities and polities were established in diverse areas of north-western Europe, European Russia, the North Atlantic islands and as far as the north-eastern coast of North America. This period of expansion witnessed the wider dissemination of Norse culture, while simultaneously introducing strong foreign cultural influences into Scandinavia itself, with profound developmental implications in both directions.
Popular, modern conceptions of the Vikings—the term