How Did The Vikings Barbaric Raiders?

During Medieval times there was a civilization of raiders called Vikings that lasted from about 800-1100. They were barbaric raiders and destroyed the settlements of which they came across; this caused setbacks across many European Kingdoms. Small groups of Vikings ventured out from Northern Europe in search for land, food, and other civilizations. During one of the ventures The Vikings came upon The Western European civilizations. They killed almost everyone they came in contact with in order to steal the maximum amount of slaves, jewelry, food, and other resources. Due to their force and brutality, reports of Viking raids are sometimes exaggerated or fictional; mentioning Dragons or fictional beasts. These reports are how The Vikings reputation

The first documented Viking raid occurred in 793 when they attacked. Lindisfarne Monastery. The raid was highly successful due to valuable metals and jewels in the church and the lack of protection. Upon the discovery of defenseless Monasteries Vikings began to increase their raids, especially along the Western European Seaboard and British isles. They were able to to invade extremely efficiently along the coast due to their long, shallow bottomed boats which could both cross rough waters like The North and Baltic Seas and float on top of shallow inlets. Their common weaponry included swords, axes, saxes, shields, and helms which were made from iron ore, commonly found in Baltic islands in Northern Europe. The most commonly valued weapon of Viking raiders was the shield. Made from solid wood planks and attached to an iron wrist loop, shields were very simple but very sturdy. Contrary to popular belief Vikings didn't wear helmets with horns; they wore iron helms. The Vikings helms were crafted out of a single piece of rounded iron with a simple nose gaurd. The cushion material inside the helmet is unknown ,but is often thought to be thick leather or sheep skin to soak up sweat and prevent rusting. When it came to offensive weaponry the sword was the most desired weapon but, it was only affordable for a few. They were crafted forll balance; this was done by tapering

One one first great Viking leaders was Rollo of Normandy. He was the first ruler of Normandy which was a section of The West Franks given to him by Charles the Simple in order to protect it from other Viking raids. Rollo expanded and protected the Territory during his rule until his death in 928. Another very well known Viking is Erik The Red or Erik Thorvaldsson. His had family leave his home country of Norway and go to Iceland when his father was banished for murder. Then in Iceland Erik was accused of manslaughter and forced to set sail in to uncharted water which is when he most infamously found and falsely named the island of Greenland. The name was actually a trick in order to attract settlers to the cold and desolate island. Later in 986 Erik the red attempted to bring in new settlers from Iceland but only fourteen of the twenty five ships made it. The island only reached 5,000 residents then collapsed. In 995 Olaf Tryggvason invaded Norway and took power over Earl Hakon, who was known for stealing and keeping women. During his time he forced Christianity upon the Pagan civilization, which upset many of his allies. His rule came to an end in 1000 when he jumped ship when captured by his enemies lead by Swein