The Vikings Capture and Use of Slaves Essay Example

The Vikings have always been discussed throughout history as vicious people. The Viking Age lasted from the late eighth to eleventh centuries. The ancestors of the Vikings, called the Scandinavian people, traded with the Romans. Scandinavia was made up of five modern day European countries: Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden.1 Some items that they traded included ivory, amber, skins, and furs. After the Roman Empire fell, the Scandinavian people living in Scandinavia became closer and stronger. Around the mid seventh century, the Scandinavian people used ships with sails and built large towns. At the end of the eighth century, the Scandinavian people began raiding parts of pre-modern Europe. During this time, the Scandinavian people began to be known as the Vikings. Most people in pre-modern Europe were afraid of the Viking’s raiding of their society, but the Vikings were really just seeking goods that they could trade for money. The Vikings were known as a range of different people including warriors, pirates, explorers, and merchants. The Vikings started in Scandinavia, but because of increase in population and limited land, they traveled all through Europe looking for new land to expand. But the question is, with these vicious people just raiding to look for goods to trade with and with limited land space, why did they capture slaves and how did they use and treat these slaves in their society?
As you may know, the Vikings went from society to society in pre-modern Europe looking for goods including gold, jewelry, and livestock. However, the Vikings also captured children men and women from these societies and used them as slaves. Because of their limited land space, they traded most of these slaves for money. The Vikings got a majority of their slaves from Ireland. They began to get involved with a slave trade in Ireland. Slavery existed way before the Vikings came. Slaves made up a large population of trade for the Vikings. Once captured, most