The warriors who raided Britain
These fierce fighters came for plunder but stayed here.
The word “Viking” summons up images of fearsome warriors arriving from across the sea, intent on destruction. Who were these scary fighters and how did they shape Britain and Ireland?
Who were the Vikings?
The Vikings were warriors from
Scandinavia, a part of northern Europe that includes Denmark, Norway and
Sweden. Between the 8th and 11th centuries they used their swift ships to raid towns and villages in Britain and Ireland. Their bad reputation earned them the name “viking”, which means “a pirate raid” in Old Norse, a Scandinavian language. They belonged to large families, known as clans, which were led by chiefs.
When did they arrive in Britain?
The first Viking raid of Anglo-Saxon Britain was in AD793. At that time, the country was made up of several kingdoms and in the year 865, a group of Vikings from Denmark (known as the Danes) conquered several of them. Norwegian Vikings settled on Scotland’s Shetland and Orkney islands. There were also Viking settlements on the Isle of Man and in Ireland, where they founded several kingdoms, including Dublin and Limerick.
What was Viking life like?
To the people they conquered they were known for violence and burning villages, but at home they were farmers and fishermen. Most Vikings couldn’t read or write but they told epic stories, known as sagas, about the journeys they’d been on and the battles they’d fought. Vikings had their own government, and their laws were passed by word of mouth rather