Vikings

Vikings, Scandinavian warriors who raided the coasts of Europe and the British Isles from the 9th cent. to the 11th cent. During the Neolithic period the Scandinavians had lived in small autonomous communities as farmers, fishermen, and hunters. At the beginning of the Viking Age they were the best shipbuilders and sailors in the world; they later ventured as far as Greenland and North America (see Vinland). At the height of the Viking Age, the typical Viking warship, the "long ship," had a high prow, adorned with the figure of an animal, and a high stern (see ship). It seated up to 30 oarsmen and had an average crew of 90. Its square sails were perpendicularly striped in many colors, and the entire ship was vividly painted and elaborately carved. On both sides of the ship hung a row of painted round shields. This is the most familiar Viking ship; the many other types varied according to purpose and period. Among the causes that drove the Vikings from their lands were overpopulation, internal dissension, quest for trade, and thirst for adventure. Many local kingdoms came into existence in Scandinavia, and from them stemmed the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The Vikings' religion was paganism of the Germanic type; their mythological and heroic legends form the content of Old Norse literature. The Viking Age ended with the introduction of Christianity into Scandinavia, with the emergence of the three great Scandinavian kingdoms, and with the rise of European states capable of defending themselves against further invasions. Many Vikings settled where they had raided. The Scandinavian raiders in Russia were known as Varangians; their leader Rurik founded the first Russian state. Elsewhere the Vikings came to be known as Danes, Northmen, Norsemen, or Normans.

Bibliography

See T. D. Kendrick, A History of the Vikings (1930, repr. 1968); J. B. Brondsted, The Vikings (new tr. 1965); G. Jones, A History of the Vikings (1968, repr. 1973); P. Foote and D. M. Wilson, The Viking Achievement (1970); O. Klindt-Jensen, The World of the Vikings (tr. 1971); P. H. Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings (2d ed. 1972); W. W. Fitzhugh and E. I. Ward, ed., Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga (2000).

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Vikings 

ancient Scandinavian participants in naval campaigns in the period of the late eighth century to the middle of the 11th century. (They were called Vikings in the Scandinavian countries; in Rus’ they were called Variagi, or Varangians; and in Western Europe they were called Normans.) This expansion assumed many different forms (the search for new lands and settlements, pillaging raids, piracy and large-scale military campaigns, and trading voyages closely related to piracy and pillaging), and the causes of the expansion were quite varied. The disintegration of the communal-clan structure of the Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians was accompanied by the strengthening of the nobility, for whom military plunder was a very important source of wealth. Many ordinary communal dwellers (bonders) deserted their homeland because of the relative overpopulation of the coastal regions of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the shortage of arable land. Progress in shipbuilding among the Scandinavians— who had long been skilled seafarers—made possible voyages not only on the Baltic Sea but also on the waters of the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

The first period of Viking expansion (late eighth to ninth century) was characterized by uncoordinated Danish expeditions against the Frankish kingdom and Norwegian attacks on the shores of England, Scotland, and Ireland and the settlement of the Orkney, Faeroe, Hebrides, and Shetland is-lands and later, Iceland. Varangian fighting bands and settlers appeared in Rus’. From the late ninth century stronger Viking detachments attacked France and England, and there was a transition from pillaging and the collection of tribute to the settlement of conquered territories. In northern France they founded the Duchy of Normandy (911) and conquered northeastern England. In the late tenth century Icelanders discovered Greenland and settled in various regions, from which they made long naval voyages, reaching North America (so-called Vinland, Markland, Helluland). The process of the formation of royal power in the Scandinavian countries began in this period. In the early 11th century, Danish kings subdued all of England. Viking campaigns ceased about the middle of the llth century. Descendants of the Vikings from Normandy conquered England in the second half of the llth century, as well as southern Italy and Sicily, founding their own kingdom there around 1130.

REFERENCES

Gurevich, A. la. Pokhody vikingov. Moscow, 1966.
Sawyer, P. H. The Age of the Vikings. London, 1962.

A. IA. GUREVICH