What impact did the Vikings have on North Britain
What impact did the Vikings have on North Britain?
Shortly before the ninth century, North-west Europe was exposed to raids and attacks from the Scandinavians. They had discovered the wealth that could be obtained from the richer communities of Britain and Frankia, both in currency and natural resources (the latter being found especially in Ireland). As time went on, during the course of the ninth century, the leaders of the attacks on these countries grew more ambitious and soon there were different motives for raiding these places. Many leaders had become content to stay and settle permanently in these abundantly richer countries. This process of Viking settlement led to the integration of two cultures, between the peoples of the settled countries and the Vikings, this integration enveloped languages and religion mainly. This essay will seek to distinguish what impact the Scandinavian settlement had on the region of North Britain, in particular Scotland and the islands surrounding the coast of Scotland. Firstly to be able to fully assess what impact was had, one firstly must look at the nature of society and settlement before the Scandinavian invasion. By the end of the Roman occupation in Britain, the area that we now call Scotland consisted of many different Kingdoms. There were four distinct groups within the borders that are now Scotland. In the east were the Picts with Kingdom between Forth and Shetland. While in the West the people of Dal Riata, the Goidelic speakers, with their royal fortress in Argyll. Then there were the Brythonic peoples in the South making the Kingdom of Strathclyde with their centre being Dunbarton Rock and finally the English or Angles who settled in the South East. At the beginning of the Viking raids into North Britain the region had been divided into four ethnic groups of Britons, English, Gaels and Picts. Or rather three distinct political regions, Northumbria, Pictland and Strathclyde, into which further there were a
Shortly before the ninth century, North-west Europe was exposed to raids and attacks from the Scandinavians. They had discovered the wealth that could be obtained from the richer communities of Britain and Frankia, both in currency and natural resources (the latter being found especially in Ireland). As time went on, during the course of the ninth century, the leaders of the attacks on these countries grew more ambitious and soon there were different motives for raiding these places. Many leaders had become content to stay and settle permanently in these abundantly richer countries. This process of Viking settlement led to the integration of two cultures, between the peoples of the settled countries and the Vikings, this integration enveloped languages and religion mainly. This essay will seek to distinguish what impact the Scandinavian settlement had on the region of North Britain, in particular Scotland and the islands surrounding the coast of Scotland. Firstly to be able to fully assess what impact was had, one firstly must look at the nature of society and settlement before the Scandinavian invasion. By the end of the Roman occupation in Britain, the area that we now call Scotland consisted of many different Kingdoms. There were four distinct groups within the borders that are now Scotland. In the east were the Picts with Kingdom between Forth and Shetland. While in the West the people of Dal Riata, the Goidelic speakers, with their royal fortress in Argyll. Then there were the Brythonic peoples in the South making the Kingdom of Strathclyde with their centre being Dunbarton Rock and finally the English or Angles who settled in the South East. At the beginning of the Viking raids into North Britain the region had been divided into four ethnic groups of Britons, English, Gaels and Picts. Or rather three distinct political regions, Northumbria, Pictland and Strathclyde, into which further there were a
Bibliography: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, (transl. Rev. James Ingram.), (London, 1823), (Everyman Press, London, 1912), electronic edition (ed.) Douglas B. Killings (July 1996), http://omacl.org/Anglo/part2.html, Accessed 14/4/13 Annals of Ulster, S Hadley, Dawn, ‘Viking Raids and Conquest’, Pauline Stafford (ed.), A Companion to the Early Middle Ages: Britain and Ireland c.500-1100(Oxford, 2009) Hearn, J., “Claiming Scotland: National Identity and Liberal Culture” (Edinburgh, 2000) Keay, John “Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland (London, 1994) Keynes Simon, ‘The Vikings in England’, The Oxford illustrated History of the Vikings, ed Peter Sawyer, (Oxford and New York, 1997) Lynch, Michael, ‘Scotland; A New History”, (London, 1992) Mitchison, R Sawyer, P.H, ‘Kings and Vikings’, (London and New York, 1982) Snyder, C.A, “The Britons” (Oxford, 2003)