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Short essays about the vikings
Topics about vikings
Vikings culture and society
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The Vikings were a group of Germanic sea dwellers who traded with and raided towns all across Europe out of their Scandinavian homeland. During the late 8th to 11th centuries they ruled all of Europe through their barbaric ways. Even other cultures outside of Europe saw the barbaric ways in which the Vikings acted towards the villages that they encountered. One such case of this was a Muslim Chronicler, Ibn Fadlan, recounting of the Vikings as “[T]he filthiest of God’s creatures.” While they were very savage in their actions, this very trait gave them the ability to be able to roam through and ravage an entire town fully unopposed and within a very miniscule timeframe.
When you think of Vikings you think of the blood thirsty pillages who plundered villages and killed many innocents. But the info presented shows that the Vikings were like every other colony back then trying to adapt to the changing world and survive in it. For example document seven says that the Vikings could not keep up with the growing population. This caused food shortages to be common problem which led into Viking raids. This would allow them to keep up with the demand for food.
The western Europeans were scared of Vikings for many reasons. One of the reasons they were scared of them is because they destroyed the Europeans' churches. This affected many people because, religion was a big part of people's lives and in some cases, monks were at the church so that means that their home was destroyed. Another reason the western Europeans were scared was that the Vikings were a very strong group of men and they could destroy any small, local village or town army. Also, the people were afraid of the Vikings because of their terrifying appearance
While some Viking age Scandinavians were berserkers and warriors the majority were traders and explorers with an extensive trade network that covered all of modern Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Northern India, and even some parts of China. During the Viking age the economy of Europe was changed from a simple exchange of goods type system into a mercantile and market based system. The Viking raids in the 9th and 10th centuries took a heavy toll on the stability and political development of ancient Europe. The Scandinavian attackers caused much fear in the populations of Europe and historians at the time were usually priests who saw the pagan Scandinavians as marauders and murders, which they were largely in their primary interactions with the outside world. Additionally the Church, was an extremely rich and defenseless target for the raiders and may have been more frequently targeted than many other parts of European kingdoms.
It was the most important thing for an individual to attain. War was where they found their glory and slaying monsters was where they immortalized it. In sports the vikings took their glory from other tribes. They found glory for themselves and their tribe by being the best at skiing. The geats had gods dedicated to warfare and the vikings had a god dedicated to skiing.
The early Vikings, lived in the years 793 to 1066 in their homeland of Scandinavia and were a very sea based civilization, known for their seafaring skills such as their boats and navigational prowess. However, they also practiced agriculture, but eventually over worked the land. This is just one of the motivations for the Vikings to expand into European lands, as well as to retaliate against them due to previous invasions made by
To What Extent Can the Vikings Be Considered More Than Just Raiders? The Vikings were a civilisation from Scandinavia that lived between the 8th and 11th centuries. Over time, the Vikings have gained a reputation as being bloodthirsty savages. But exactly how much of the stereotypes are true?
The Norsemen were a war hungry, brutal, and unruly civilization. At least this was believed until further evidence in Norsemen literature was found showing otherwise. The Norsemen were in fact quite civilized and had many beliefs and systems in place to rule and govern their people. The Norsemen are considered barbaric, uncivilized, and brutal because of one common misconception. The Norsemen are better known as the Vikings.
Eyewitness to History also provides an exciting tale of sea adventure. “The Viking's reliance on the sea as their avenue of attack and escape motivated them to develop seaworthy ships and reliable navigational techniques with which they could travel vast distances over open water. These advantages enabled them to travel the cold, treacherous ocean to the west…” Daniel Odess et al. describe a similar situation in their article entitled “Skraeling: First Peoples of Helluland, Markland, and Vinland”.
The Vikings tended to try to take over any place that was making plenty of money, and during the eighth century, that was the land of the Slavs. The Slavs were able to defeat the Vikings, making them give up on ruling the region. However, the Slavs soon spent so much time fighting each other that they realized that they were better off with the Vikings as rulers! Known as the __Varangians__, these Vikings settled as rulers, not conquerors, and intermarried with the Slavs.
Secondary literature maintains three common themes concerning Viking raids: the Franks disobeyed God’s instruction, prophets cautioned the consequences of rebellion, and God sent Vikings to discipline Christians. 4. Frankish clerics often compared sin, both the sin of the people and
Viking long-ships were lean, speedy, lightweight ships that could easily cut through the most vicious waves that the ocean could throw at them. At the time, no other civilization had been able to achieve such an amazing naval feat, so this gave the Vikings a great advantage over medieval combat, political affairs, and even the trading industry. Since the ships were so fast, the ships were great for transportation of soldiers, or merchandise. “The Viking longboat was the key to the Vikings success in traveling.” (Legends and Chronicles, Paragraph 14).
Even though many Vikings preferred fighting and were driven to wealthy life other Vikings preferred a peaceful life that included economy with the surrounding countries. It is mentioned that the Vikings stayed in America for nearly 10 years. There is some evidence like the remains of their house and settlement. As a result of their trading Erikson brought some grapes from Greenland and timber that is why it is called Vinland or in another saying Wine land. Some people say that the Vikings didn’t stay in America because they had some disagreements with the Indians, and the Indians didn’t want them to stay.
The Viking expansion started in 793 with the first raid and ended around 1050. The division of the geographical core area is important, because this division also separates Vikings in the way took part in the expansion Norwegians travelled west- and southwest to colonise. The Danes went southwest for their conquests and the Swedes proceeded east- and south-eastward for their raiding and trading. Raiding and trading routes Raiding and trading
The Old Norse Religion or Norse Paganism were practised traditions by the Norsemen prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, dating as far back to roughly 793-1066 CE. This religion was separated, and categorized into three different families; the Æsir, Vanir and Jotnar; these were all polytheistic groups. The Æsir tribe contained some of the best-known Norse Gods and goddesses such as Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Loki, Baldur, Heimdall, Idun, and Bragi1. These Gods represented kingship, order, craft, etc. The Vanir were Gods and Goddesses such as Freya, Freyr, Njord and the Germanic Goddess Nerthus.