The Vikings attacked ships they encountered along the way, coastal villages, plundered monasteries, villages and entire cities, seized land for settlement, as in the British Isles and northern France, or occupied empty lands - for example, the islands of Iceland and Greenland. Some Viking units served as mercenaries or were members of the squads of Russian princes and the guards of the Byzantine emperors.
In the 10th century, the kings (kings, leaders) of the Scandinavian countries took control of the raids, and Viking detachments were now part of the king’s army. At the beginning of the 11th century, the Danish king Knut the Mighty created a power that included Denmark, Norway and England and disintegrated after his death.
The youngest sons in the family usually became Vikings. Campaigns could be organized by the head of the family; often “sea kings” who had no land in their homeland and spent their whole lives on campaigns at sea went on campaigns. The members of the Viking squad represented a special “companionship” for trade and military campaigns.
The Vikings' main means of transportation was the ship. A fast and capacious sailing vessel made it possible to sail on the open sea, climb up rivers, and quickly disappear from the scene of an attack. Vikings were often even buried in a ship. After the ship, horses were an important form of transport. For transportation, the Scandinavians also used carts in summer and sleighs in winter, skis and skates. The Viking was armed with a spear, sword or battle axe, bow and arrows, and protected by a round shield, chain mail or scale armor.
Vikings are very for a long time were pagans, which especially horrified Christian Europeans. They honored supreme god Odin, the thunder god Thor, to whom human sacrifices were even made. Heroes who fell in the campaign, according to the Vikings, after death ended up in the heavenly palace Valhalla (Valhalla), where they feast with the gods to this day. The exploits of warriors were sung by special poets - skalds. The skald's main task was to describe the battle and compare the leader with great warriors, put him on a par with the heroes, immortalize his name, for glory was main value for Scandinavians.
Art also flourished among the Vikings. Weapons, memorial stones, decorations, pillars in the house, benches, and sleighs were decorated with ornate patterns, images of intertwining fantastic animals, and scenes of a person fighting them.
By the 12th century, the Viking campaigns had ceased. They finally settled in the lands of Scandinavia and founded their kingdoms - Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Their kings built capital cities, they began to build fortresses, make laws and sought to streamline and make the life of their subjects peaceful, like other European countries. Some of the Vikings settled in Normandy, where they began to speak French. The Normans from Normandy conquered England in 1066.
In England, the Vikings were called ascemanns, that is, sailing on ash trees (ascs). since the upper plating of Viking warships was made of this wood, or by the Danes, regardless of whether they sailed from Denmark or Norway, in Ireland - by Finngalls, i.e. “light foreigners” (if we were talking about Norwegians) and oakgalls - “dark foreigners” (if we were talking about the Danes), in Byzantium - Varangs, and in Rus' - Varangians. - Note translator
The origin of the word "Viking" (víkingr) still remains unclear. Scientists have long associated this term with the name of the region of Norway Vik, adjacent to the Oslo Fjord. But in all medieval sources the inhabitants of Vik are called not “Vikings”, but differently (from the words vikverjar or vestfaldingi). Some believed that the word "Viking" comes from the word vík - bay, bay; Viking is the one who hides in the bay. But in this case, it can also be applied to peaceful merchants. Finally, they tried to connect the word “Viking” with the Old English wic (from the Latin vicus), which meant a trading post, a city, a fortified camp.
Currently, the hypothesis of the Swedish scientist F. is considered the most acceptable. Askeberg, who believes that the term comes from the verb vikja - “turn”, “deviate”. A Viking, according to his interpretation, is a person who sailed away from home, left his homeland, that is, a sea warrior, a pirate who went on a quest for prey. It is curious that in ancient sources this word was more often used to describe the enterprise itself - a predatory campaign - than the person participating in it. Moreover, the concepts were strictly separated: trading enterprise and a predatory enterprise. Note that in the eyes of the Scandinavians the word “Viking” had a negative connotation. In the Icelandic sagas of the 13th century. Vikings were people engaged in robbery and piracy, unbridled and bloodthirsty. - See: A. Ya. Gurevich. Viking campaigns. M., Nauka, 1966, p. 80. - Note translator
More precisely, the quote from Tacitus is set out in the book “Germany”, published in the series “Literary Monuments”: “...Rugia and Lemovia (near the Ocean itself); distinctive feature of all these tribes - round shields, short swords and submission to the kings. Behind them, in the midst of the Ocean itself, live communities of Swions; In addition to warriors and weapons, they are also strong in the fleet. Their ships are remarkable in that they can approach the berth at either end, since both of them have the shape of a bow. Swions do not use sails and do not attach oars along the sides in a row one after another; they, as is customary on some rivers, are removable, and they row them as needed, either in one direction or the other.” - Cornelius Tacitus. Op. In 2 volumes. T. 1. L., Nauka, 1969, p. 371. - Note reviewer
The construction of the Danish Wall lasted for three and a half centuries (from the beginning of the 9th century to the 60s of the 12th century). This shaft, 3 m high, 3 to 20 m wide, stretching across the southern part of Jutland from the Baltic to the North Sea, served Danish troops for defense purposes back in the Danish-Prussian War of 1864 - Note reviewer
The information given here and below regarding the number of fleet and military force Vikings are known from the conquered. Since defeat from a numerous and correspondingly strong enemy affected the honor of the vanquished less, inflated figures have reached us. At the same time, those under attack could hardly distinguish the Norwegians from the Danes. The reason for this was the language, which only at that time began to be divided into Norwegian and Danish-Swedish. - Note author
Stones with runes, of which there are about 2,500 in Denmark alone, were placed in 950–1100. in memory of the fallen. According to Ruprecht's research, a third of these cenotaph stones were placed on territory that ended up abroad: the dead Vikings were mostly young and died violent deaths during the campaigns. Let us give examples of texts: “King Svein (Forkbeard) set a stone for Skarbi, his warrior, who went west and found his death near Khaitaba.” “Nafni erected this stone for his brother Toki. He found death in the west." “Tola placed this stone for Geier, his son, a respected young warrior who met his death on the western Viking route.” - Note author
The huge tapestry, 70 m long and 0.5 m wide, contains more than 70 scenes. - Note translator
In the 11th century In addition to England, the Normans captured Sicily and Southern Italy, founding here at the beginning of the 12th century. "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies". The author mentions exclusively the aggressive and military campaigns of the Danes and Norwegians and says nothing about the Swedes, whose expansion was aimed mainly at Eastern Europe, including to Rus'. - For more details, see “ The World History" In 12 volumes. M., Gospolitizdat. T. 1, 1957; A. Ya. Gurevich. Viking campaigns. M., Nauka, 1966. - Note translator
The decisive battle between Harald and his opponents in Hafrsfjord took place shortly before 900, and therefore there was no direct connection between the migrations to Iceland and political events in Norway. - Note translator
Currently, there are about forty hypotheses about the location of Vinland. Equally not indisputable is the hypothesis of the Norwegian ethnologist H. Ingstad, who in 1964 discovered the ruins of a settlement in Newfoundland, which he identified as Vinland of the Normans. A number of scientists believe that this settlement belongs to the Eskimo Dorset culture. Moreover, in the sagas the climate of Vinland is assessed as mild, which does not correspond to the harsh subarctic climate of Newfoundland. - Note reviewer
During archaeological excavations in Greenland in 1951, a fragment of a device was found, which is considered a direction-finding card (wooden compass) of the Vikings. The wooden disk, believed to have 32 divisions along the edge, rotated on a handle passed through a hole in the center and, being oriented relative to the cardinal directions (by the rising or setting of the Sun, by the shadow at noon, by the rising and setting of certain stars), showed the course. - Note translator
Interesting information about Oddi is provided by R. Hennig: “The history of Icelandic culture knows of a certain strange “Star” Oddi, who lived around the year 1000. This Icelander was a poor commoner, a farm laborer for the peasant Thord, who settled in the deserted northern part of Iceland near Felsmuli. Oddi Helgfasson fished for Tord on the island. Flatey, and being completely alone in the vast expanse, used his leisure time for observations, thanks to which he became one of the greatest astronomers that history knows. Engaged in tireless observations of celestial phenomena and solstices, Oddi depicted the movement of celestial bodies in digital tables. In the accuracy of his calculations, he significantly surpassed the medieval scientists of his time. Oddi was a remarkable observer and mathematician, whose amazing achievements have only been appreciated in our days.” - R. Hennig. Unknown lands. M., Foreign publishing house. Literary, 1962, vol. III, p. 82. - Note translator
It could also be an Iceland spar crystal, in which, when bearing on the Sun, two images appeared due to the polarization of light. - Note translator
The author, speaking about the navigational knowledge of the Vikings, is mistaken. It is unlikely that the Vikings determined the coordinates to find their place. They probably only had rough maps, similar to future portolans, with a grid of only directions. The portolans themselves, or compass maps, as is known, appeared in Italy at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th century; the use of nautical charts with a grid of latitudes and longitudes dates back only to the 16th century. Back then, to get from one point to another, you only needed to know the direction and approximate distance. The Vikings could determine the direction (without a compass) during the day by the Sun, using a gnomon (especially knowing the points of sunrise and sunset during the year), and at night by the Polar Star, and the distance traveled - from the experience of sailing.
The Portuguese Diego Gomes first determined latitude from the North Star while sailing to the coast of Guinea in 1462. Observations for this purpose greatest height The sun began to be performed ten or twenty years later, since it required knowledge of the daily declination of the Sun.
Sailors began to independently determine longitude at sea (without reckoning) only at the end of the 18th century.
This does not mean, however, that the Vikings did not control their location on the high seas. O. S. Reuter (O. S. Renter. Oddi Helgson und die Bestiminung der Sonnwenden in alten Island. Mannus, 1928, S. 324), who dealt with this issue, believes that the “solar board” used for this purpose was a rod , installed on board the ship in a vertical position, and by the length of the midday shadow from it falling on the jar, the Vikings could judge whether they adhered to the desired parallel.
It's not hard to imagine how this could happen. The Vikings sailed in the summer, but the declination of the Sun on the day of the summer solstice (now June 22) is 23.5°N, and for example, a month before and after this day - 20.5°N. Bergen is located at approximately 60° N. w. Therefore, to adhere to this latitude, the height of the Sun at noon on the day of the summer solstice is H=90°-60°+23.5°=53.5°.
Consequently, with a solar board length of 100 cm (according to Reiter), the length of the shadow should be 0.74 m and, accordingly, a month before and after the solstice - 82.5 cm. Thus, it was enough to have these marks on the bank so that the Vikings in midday we checked our position. - Note translator
Vikings - who are they? Viking lifestyle. Their history and religion. Viking military art. The Vikings are early medieval Scandinavian sailors who made sea voyages from Vinland to Biarmia and North Africa.
Who are the Vikings?
The English term "Viking" comes from the Old Norse word víkingr, which could have several meanings. The most acceptable, apparently, origin is from the word vík - bay, or bay. Therefore, the word víkingr is translated as "man from the fjord (bay)". The term was used to describe the marauders who took refuge in coastal waters long before the Vikings became notorious in the outside world. However, not all Scandinavians were sea robbers, and the terms “Viking” and “Scandinavian” cannot be considered synonymous. The French usually called the Vikings Normans, and the British indiscriminately classified all Scandinavians as Danes. The Slavs, Khazars, Arabs and Greeks who communicated with the Swedish Vikings called them Rus or Varangians.
Wherever the Vikings went - to the British Isles, France, Spain, Italy or North Africa - they mercilessly plundered and captured foreign lands. In some cases, they settled in conquered countries and became their rulers. Danish Vikings conquered England for some time and settled in Scotland and Ireland. Together they conquered a part of France known as Normandy. The Norwegian Vikings and their descendants created colonies on the North Atlantic islands of Iceland and Greenland and founded a settlement on the coast of Newfoundland in North America, which, however, did not last long. Swedish Vikings began to rule in the eastern Baltic. They spread widely throughout Rus' and, going down the rivers to the Black and Caspian Seas, even threatened Constantinople and some regions of Persia. The Vikings were the last Germanic barbarian conquerors and the first European pioneer seafarers.
Exist different interpretations reasons for the violent outbreak of Viking activity in the 9th century. There is evidence that Scandinavia was overpopulated and many Scandinavians went abroad to seek their fortune. The rich but undefended cities and monasteries of their southern and western neighbors were easy prey. There was little chance of resistance from the scattered kingdoms of the British Isles or from Charlemagne's weakened empire, consumed by dynastic strife. During the Viking Age, national monarchies gradually consolidated in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Ambitious leaders and powerful clans fought for power. Defeated leaders and their supporters, as well as the younger sons of victorious leaders, unabashedly embraced unfettered plunder as a way of life. Energetic young men from influential families usually gained prestige through participation in one or more campaigns. Many Scandinavians engaged in robbery in the summer and then turned into ordinary landowners. However, the Vikings were not only attracted by the lure of prey. The prospect of establishing trade opened the way to wealth and power. In particular, immigrants from Sweden controlled trade routes in Rus'.
Viking lifestyle
In their homeland, the Vikings obtained food traditional methods: They cultivated the land, hunted and fished, and raised livestock. And abroad they were most often known as conquerors and robbers, although civilized trade was not alien to them.
Viking peasants were independent, unlike serfs in Russian history. They worked alone or with their family, and regardless of the area of \u200b\u200bcultivable land, they maintained their freedom and were the basis of Scandinavian society. Kinship ties were very important to their society, and when making major decisions, the advice of kin was crucial. The clans protected their good name, and crimes against honor and dignity led to brutal fights, leading to bloody feuds between entire clans.
Family and home
Women in the family The Vikings played a serious role. Unlike many other countries, they could already own property and make their own decisions about marriage and divorce. Outside the family, their rights were less than those of men, so their participation in public life was insignificant. insignificant.
Food. In Viking times, most people ate two meals a day. The main products were meat, fish and cereal grains. Meat and fish were usually boiled, less often fried. For storage, these products were dried and salted. The cereals used were rye, oats, barley and several types of wheat. Usually porridge was made from their grains, but sometimes bread was baked. Vegetables and fruits were rarely eaten. Drinks consumed were milk, beer, fermented honey drink, and in the upper classes of society - imported wine.
Cloth. Peasant clothing consisted of a long woolen shirt, short baggy pants, stockings and a rectangular cape. Vikings from the upper classes wore long pants, socks and capes in bright colors. Woolen mittens and hats were in use, as well as fur hats and even felt hats. Women from high society usually wore long clothes consisting of a bodice and a skirt. Thin chains hung from the buckles on the clothes, to which scissors and a case for needles, a knife, keys and other small items were attached. Married women wore their hair in a bun and wore conical white linen caps. U unmarried girls her hair was held back with a ribbon.
Housing. Peasant dwellings were usually simple one-room houses, built either from tightly fitted vertical beams, or more often from wickerwork coated with clay. Wealthy people usually lived in a large rectangular house, which housed numerous relatives. 
In heavily forested Scandinavia, such houses were built from wood, often in combination with clay, and in Iceland and Greenland, where wood was scarce, local stone was widely used. There they built walls 90 cm thick or more. Roofs were usually covered with peat. The central living room of the house was low and dark, with a long fireplace in the middle of it. There they cooked, ate and slept. Sometimes inside the house, pillars were installed in a row along the walls to support the roof, and the side rooms fenced off in this way were used as bedrooms.
Literature and art
Literature and art. The Vikings valued skill in battle, but no less revered literature, history and art. Viking literature existed in oral form, and only some time after the end of the Viking Age the first written works appeared. Runic alphabet then it was used only for inscriptions on tombstones, for magic spells and short messages. But Iceland has preserved rich folklore. It was written down at the end of the Viking Age using the Latin alphabet by scribes who wanted to perpetuate the exploits of their ancestors.
Among the treasures of Icelandic literature are the long prose narratives known as sagas. They are divided into three main types. In the most important, so-called family sagas describe real characters from the Viking Age. Several dozen family sagas have survived, five of them are comparable in volume to large novels. The other two types are historical sagas, telling of the Norse kings and the settlement of Iceland, and late Viking Age fictional adventure sagas, reflecting the influence Byzantine Empire and India. Another major prose work to appear in Iceland is the Prose Edda, a collection of myths recorded by Snorri Sturluson, a 13th-century Icelandic historian and politician.
Poetry was held in high esteem by the Vikings. Icelandic hero and adventurer Egil Skallagrimsson was as proud of his title as a poet as he was of his achievements in battle. Improvisational poets (skalds) sang the virtues of jarls (leaders) and princes in complex poetic stanzas. Much simpler than the poetry of the skalds were songs about the gods and heroes of the past, preserved in the collection known as the Elder Edda.
Films and fiction have shaped the image of the Vikings, whom people imagine as savages in skins, leather armor, and helmets with horns on it. But all this is the imagination of directors and writers; in fact, the Vikings did not wear such headdresses, were free farmers, carried out conquests of neighboring territories, and built wooden longships.
The Vikings lived on the Scandinavian Peninsula, and already at the end of the 8th century. began to attack neighboring England and France. Residents of other parts of Europe, who first encountered the Danes and Norwegians, called them Normans, that is, northern people; ascemanns or ash people; madhus - pagan monsters. IN Kievan Rus the Vikings were called Varangians, in Ireland two names for the inhabitants of Scandinavia were common - Finngalls (light aliens) and Dubgalls (dark aliens), in Byzantium - Varangs.
The term "Viking": versions
There is no clear opinion among linguists and historians as to why the Vikings were called by this particular word. According to one version, the verb wiking in Scandinavia meant “to go to sea to gain wealth and fame.”
According to another version, the term appeared thanks to the province (region) of Vik, which is located in Norway. It is located near Oslo. In medieval sources, the inhabitants of the area were not called Vikings, but vestfaldingi or vikverjar.
The term Viking could also come from the word vik, which among the Scandinavians meant a bay or bay, and the Vikings were those who hid or lived in the bay. There is also a version that says that Viking could mean wic/vicus, which meant a trading post, a camp fortified on different sides, a city.
According to recent research by Swedish scientists, the name “Viking” could come from vikja - to turn and deviate. Vikings were, in this context, people who sailed away from home, people who left home, sea warriors and pirates who went on voyages for loot. The term vikja was used to describe a campaign of a predatory nature, so the people who participated in such events were Vikings. In the chronicles of Iceland, this word denoted sailors who were rude, bloodthirsty, unbridled, robbed and attacked other ships.
The first Anglo-Saxon settlements in the British Isles
At the beginning of the 4th century. AD Germanic tribes, represented by the Jutes, Angles and Saxons, and living at the mouth of the Elbe River, began to make their first aggressive campaigns. The objectives of the military campaigns were:
- Capture of England and its settlement;
- Settlement in the Western European region;
- Displacement of the Romans from occupied territories.
Most of all, the Germans caused problems to the Roman garrisons in the British Isles, forcing the latter to defend themselves. In 407, the Romans and fleet are recalled from England to defend Italy. As a result, the settlements of the Saxons, Jutes and Angles began to increase in size and strengthen.
At the end of the 5th century. AD the conquest of Wessex took place. There is a legend that this was done by King Cerdic, who sailed to the islands in a flotilla of five ships. After this, the Angles and Saxons began to quickly move deeper into the British Isles, displacing the Romans and Celts from there. The consequence of this was the gradual conquest of the colony, the process was finally completed by the 6th century. In the occupied territories, the Angles and Saxons created small kingdoms.
The Celts, who adopted Christianity from the Romans, began to move to the mountainous regions of Wales, and then began to move to mainland Europe. For example, one of the Celtic settlements on the continent was called Britain, which gradually turned into Brittany.
England changed the Vikings and their way of life. If at the time of arrival and then for several decades, the Anglo-Saxon tribes lived engaged in robbery and piracy, then they gradually began to move to a more sedentary way of life.
Already at the end of the 8th century. Seafaring was not the main occupation of the Vikings. Its place was taken by agriculture, which was the basis for the development of society of the descendants of the former northern peoples.
Campaigns and conquests
The North Sea coast, which was abandoned by the Jutes, Angles and Saxons in the 6th century, was settled by Danes who came from Halland and Skåne (territories in southwestern Sweden). Two centuries later they formed a kingdom, which in 800 became a large and powerful Danish state. The kingdom included Norway and Sweden. In order to protect against attacks by the Franks, a defensive rampart was built, which was called Danevirke. The country at that time was ruled by King Gottrik, who was in power until 810. After his death, the kingdom ceased to exist, as a result of which the Danes and Norwegians began to engage in predatory campaigns and conquer neighboring territories. This era lasted about three hundred years.
Among the main reasons that contributed to the Viking campaigns of conquest, it is worth noting the following:
- The Normans had at their disposal a lot of ships that were excellent for sailing the seas and rivers;
- The Vikings had navigational knowledge that was necessary for voyages on the high seas;
- The Danes and Norwegians mastered the tactics of surprise attacks on opponents from the sea, as well as moving ships and troops along rivers. The inhabitants of the British Isles and continental Europe did not have such knowledge and skills, so they did not make trips to Scandinavia;
- The Vikings' opponents were constantly waging internecine wars, which weakened their states politically and economically. All this facilitated conquest and contributed to successful military campaigns against the Angles, Saxons and Franks.
The Viking campaigns began at the end of the 8th century, when the first groups of Norwegians began to penetrate the sea coast of England. The Normans plundered islands and monasteries, bringing rich booty to Scandinavia.
All Viking attacks took place according to a planned and proven pattern. Without any military action from the sea, the Varangian ships approached the shores, then the warriors landed on the coast and began to plunder. Everything happened very quickly, the Vikings left behind fires and dead people. The ships allowed them to leave England, so the people of the British Isles could not pursue them.
The Scandinavians used the same scheme for campaigns in England in the 20s. 9th century In 825 they landed on the Frisian coast and began to rob, kill, and seize new territories. Already in 836, London was captured by the Vikings for the first time. In 845, Hamburg fell to the Danes. The chronology of further Viking campaigns is as follows:
- Mid 9th century - recapture of London and Canterbury, the German settlement on the Rhine Xanten, after which came the turn of Bonn and Cologne. The Scandinavians did not ignore France, capturing Aachen, Rouen and Paris. The capture of London and Paris happened many times, so the rulers of the kingdoms decided that the only way to save the cities from robbery was through ransom. As a result of one of them, the Vikings simply lifted the siege of Paris and settled in the northeastern regions of France. At the beginning of the 10th century. Charles the Third gave this territory as hereditary possession to a Norwegian named Rolland. The area where the Vikings lived began to be called Normandy;
- In the 860s. Scotland and East Anglia were conquered, in which they created their own state, Denlo. It included part of Mercia, Essex, East Anglia, and Northumbria. The country was destroyed by the Anglo-Saxons only in the late 870s;
- In the 10th century hikes became less frequent as Denmark and Norway began to create their own centralized states having strong rulers. At the beginning of the 11th century. the Danes subjugated Norway;
The Danes, after conquering the Norwegians, again began to attack England. The traces of their conquests were stones on which runes were applied. The first campaigns of the Normans at the end of the 10th century. - early 11th century were unsuccessful, most of the soldiers were destroyed. The situation began to change only in 1016, when the Vikings subjugated England. Only by the beginning of the 1040s. Anglo-Saxon rulers began to launch retaliatory offensives. By the middle of the 11th century. The Vikings were driven out of England for a time. In 1066, England was conquered by the Vikings who lived in Normandy. Their leader, William the Conqueror, organized a crossing across the strait connecting the British Isles and continental Europe. October 14, 1066 occurred major battle Vikings and Angles at Hastings. The Normans finally conquered England, which made it possible to stop predatory attacks, begin the development of feudalism on the islands, and gain access to the throne and power in the kingdom.
Conquest of Greenland and Iceland
Hikes were organized in the Mediterranean Sea. The navigational art of the Vikings allowed them to reach Byzantium, which happened in 895. The Normans sailed to the shores of America, Iceland and Greenland.
The first Norwegians landed in the Hebrides in 620. Two hundred years later they settled in the Faroe Islands, Orkney and Shetland. In 820, the Vikings founded their own state in Ireland, which existed near modern Dublin. The Norman Kingdom of Ireland lasted until 1170.
In the early 860s. the Swede Gardar Svafarsson, whose name was preserved in the chronicles, brought his wife’s inheritance from the Hebrides to his native Scandinavia. On the way, his ship drifted to the northern coast of Iceland. There the Swede and his team spent the winter, becoming familiar with the features of this island territory. The Norwegians began actively conquering Iceland in the early 870s, when King Harald Fairhair came to power. Not everyone liked his rule, so the Norwegians began to explore Iceland. From 20 thousand to 30 thousand inhabitants of the kingdom moved here before 930. In Iceland, the Vikings were mainly engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding and fishing. Household items, seeds, and pets were transported from Scandinavia.
Information about when the Vikings began to conquer Greenland and when they discovered America came from numerous Icelandic sagas of the 13-14th centuries.
According to historical data and documents, in the early 980s. Icelandic resident Eirik fled from home because he was accused of murder. During the voyage, he reached the shores of Greenland, founding the settlement of Brattalid. Information about this island began to reach the Norwegians gradually, who explored the coast of Greenland several times, discovering the Labrador Peninsula. During one of their voyages, the Vikings discovered an area they called Vinland, i.e. Country of Grapes. This name was given to the new territory due to the fact that a lot of wild grapes and maize grew here, and salmon lived in the rivers. Fish was distributed in reservoirs along the 41st latitude, and grapes along the 42nd parallel. Scientists have determined that the city of Boston is now located in this place. But the Vikings were unable to conquer America-Vinland because, having discovered it once, they did not record the exact coordinates of its location. Therefore, they simply could not swim to her again.
But the Vikings explored Greenland very actively. There were almost 300 Scandinavian households here. It was difficult to increase the number of settlements because there was not enough forest. It was brought from Labrador, but voyages to the peninsula were full of dangers due to the rather dry climate. Therefore, building materials were brought from Europe, which was expensive. The ships did not always reach Greenland. By the 14th century Viking settlements on the island ceased to exist. Archaeologists have found the remains of Viking ships, forests from Europe, and burials of nobles, which suggests that the Vikings actively inhabited this territory.
The influence of the Vikings on European history
The Scandinavians also made expeditions to other parts of continental Europe, for example, to Eastern Europe. The most famous conquests are the conquest of Kyiv and its surrounding territories, the founding of the Rurik dynasty. In addition, the merits of the Vikings in Europe include:
- The conquered peoples were taught new shipbuilding traditions;
- The opening of trade routes previously unknown to Europeans;
- Contributed to the development of military affairs and wood processing;
- Contributed to the development of shipping and navigation;
- Viking navigation was one of the most advanced in the world at that time, so medieval states used the knowledge and achievements of the Vikings in science, technology, and geography;
- The Vikings founded many cities in Europe.
In addition, almost all royal dynasties in medieval states were founded by people from Scandinavia.
Vikings
Vikings
(Normans), sea robbers, immigrants from Scandinavia, who committed in the 9th–11th centuries. hikes up to 8,000 km long, perhaps longer distances. These daring and fearless people reached the borders of Persia in the east, and the New World in the west.
The word "Viking" comes from the Old Norse "vikingr". There are a number of hypotheses regarding its origin, the most convincing of which traces it to “vik” - fiord, bay. The word "Viking" (lit. "man from the fiord") was used to refer to robbers who operated in coastal waters, hiding in secluded bays and bays. They were known in Scandinavia long before they became infamous in Europe. The French called the Vikings Normans or various options this word (Norsmanns, Northmanns – literally “people from the north”); The British indiscriminately called all Scandinavians Danes, and the Slavs, Greeks, Khazars, and Arabs called the Swedish Vikings Rus or Varangians.
Wherever the Vikings went - to the British Isles, France, Spain, Italy or North Africa - they mercilessly plundered and captured foreign lands. In some cases, they settled in conquered countries and became their rulers. Danish Vikings conquered England for some time and settled in Scotland and Ireland. Together they conquered a part of France known as Normandy. The Norwegian Vikings and their descendants created colonies on the North Atlantic islands of Iceland and Greenland and founded a settlement on the coast of Newfoundland in North America, which, however, did not last long. Swedish Vikings began to rule in the eastern Baltic. They spread widely throughout Rus' and, going down the rivers to the Black and Caspian Seas, even threatened Constantinople and some regions of Persia. The Vikings were the last Germanic barbarian conquerors and the first European pioneer seafarers.
There are different interpretations of the reasons for the violent outbreak of Viking activity in the 9th century. There is evidence that Scandinavia was overpopulated and many Scandinavians went abroad to seek their fortune. The rich but undefended cities and monasteries of their southern and western neighbors were easy prey. It was unlikely that there would be any resistance from the scattered kingdoms of the British Isles or the weakened empire of Charlemagne, consumed by dynastic strife. During the Viking Age, national monarchies gradually consolidated in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Ambitious leaders and powerful clans fought for power. Defeated leaders and their supporters, as well as the younger sons of victorious leaders, unabashedly embraced unfettered plunder as a way of life. Energetic young men from influential families usually gained prestige through participation in one or more campaigns. Many Scandinavians engaged in robbery in the summer and then turned into ordinary landowners. However, the Vikings were not only attracted by the lure of prey. The prospect of establishing trade opened the way to wealth and power. In particular, immigrants from Sweden controlled trade routes in Rus'.
The English term "Viking" comes from the Old Norse word víkingr, which could have several meanings. The most acceptable, apparently, origin is from the word vík - bay, or bay. Therefore, the word víkingr is translated as "man from the bay". The term was used to describe the marauders who took refuge in coastal waters long before the Vikings became notorious in the outside world. However, not all Scandinavians were sea robbers, and the terms “Viking” and “Scandinavian” cannot be considered synonymous. The French usually called the Vikings Normans, and the British indiscriminately classified all Scandinavians as Danes. The Slavs, Khazars, Arabs and Greeks who communicated with the Swedish Vikings called them Rus or Varangians.
LIFESTYLE
Abroad, the Vikings acted as robbers, conquerors and traders, but at home they mainly farmed the land, hunted, fished and raised livestock. The independent peasant, working alone or with his relatives, formed the basis of Scandinavian society. No matter how small his allotment, he remained free and was not tied as a serf to land that belonged to another person. Family ties were strongly developed in all layers of Scandinavian society, and in important matters its members usually acted together with relatives. The clans jealously guarded the good names of their fellow tribesmen, and violating the honor of any of them often led to cruel civil strife.
Women played an important role in the family. They could own property and independently decide on marriage and divorce from an unsuitable spouse. However, outside the family hearth, women's participation in public life remained insignificant.
Food. In Viking times, most people ate two meals a day. The main products were meat, fish and cereal grains. Meat and fish were usually boiled, less often fried. For storage, these products were dried and salted. The cereals used were rye, oats, barley and several types of wheat. Usually porridge was made from their grains, but sometimes bread was baked. Vegetables and fruits were rarely eaten. Drinks consumed were milk, beer, fermented honey drink, and in the upper classes of society, imported wine.
Cloth. Peasant clothing consisted of a long woolen shirt, short baggy pants, stockings and a rectangular cape. Vikings from the upper classes wore long pants, socks and capes in bright colors. Woolen mittens and hats, as well as fur hats and even felt hats, were in use. Women from high society usually wore long clothes consisting of a bodice and a skirt. Thin chains hung from the buckles on the clothes, to which scissors and a case for needles, a knife, keys and other small items were attached. Married women wore their hair in a bun and wore conical white linen caps. Unmarried girls had their hair tied up with a ribbon.
Housing. Peasant dwellings were usually simple one-room houses, built either from tightly fitted vertical beams, or more often from wickerwork coated with clay. Wealthy people usually lived in a large rectangular house, which housed numerous relatives. In heavily forested Scandinavia, such houses were built from wood, often in combination with clay, and in Iceland and Greenland, where wood was scarce, local stone was widely used. There they built walls 90 cm thick or more. Roofs were usually covered with peat. The central living room of the house was low and dark, with a long fireplace in the middle of it. There they cooked, ate and slept. Sometimes inside the house, pillars were installed in a row along the walls to support the roof, and the side rooms fenced off in this way were used as bedrooms.
Literature and art. The Vikings valued skill in battle, but they also revered literature, history and art.
Viking literature existed in oral form, and only some time after the end of the Viking Age did the first written works appear. The runic alphabet was then used only for inscriptions on tombstones, for magic spells and short messages. But Iceland has preserved rich folklore. It was written down at the end of the Viking Age using the Latin alphabet by scribes who wanted to perpetuate the exploits of their ancestors.
Among the treasures of Icelandic literature are the long prose narratives known as sagas. They are divided into three main types. In the most important, so-called family sagas describe real characters from the Viking Age. Several dozen family sagas have survived, five of them are comparable in volume to large novels. The other two types are historical sagas, telling of the Norse kings and the settlement of Iceland, and late Viking Age fictional adventure sagas, reflecting the influence of the Byzantine Empire and India. Another major prose work that appeared in Iceland is Younger Edda- a collection of myths recorded by Snorri Sturluson, an Icelandic historian and politician of the 13th century.
Poetry was held in high esteem by the Vikings. Icelandic hero and adventurer Egil Skallagrimsson was as proud of his title as a poet as he was of his achievements in battle. Improvisational poets (skalds) sang the virtues of jarls (leaders) and princes in complex poetic stanzas. Much simpler than the poetry of the skalds were songs about the gods and heroes of the past, preserved in a collection known as Elder Edda.
Viking art was primarily decorative in nature. The predominant motifs - whimsical animals and energetic abstract compositions of interlacing ribbons - were used in wood carvings, fine gold and silver work, and decorations on rune stones and monuments that were set up to commemorate important events.
Religion. At first the Vikings worshiped pagan gods and goddesses. The most important of them were Thor, Odin, Frey and the goddess Freya; Njord, Ull, Balder and several other household gods were of lesser importance. The gods were worshiped in temples or in sacred forests, groves and springs. The Vikings also believed in many supernatural creatures: trolls, elves, giants, mermen and magical inhabitants of forests, hills and rivers.
Blood sacrifices were often performed. Sacrificial animals were usually eaten by the priest and his entourage at feasts held in temples. There were also human sacrifices, even ritual killings of kings to ensure the well-being of the country. In addition to priests and priestesses, there were sorcerers who practiced black magic.
The people of the Viking Age gave important luck as a type of spiritual power inherent in any person, but especially in leaders and kings. Nevertheless, that era was characterized by a pessimistic and fatalistic attitude. Fate was presented as an independent factor above gods and people. According to some poets and philosophers, people and gods were doomed to go through a powerful struggle and cataclysm known as Ragnarök (Il. - "end of the world").
Christianity slowly spread northward and provided an attractive alternative to paganism. In Denmark and Norway, Christianity was established in the 10th century, Icelandic leaders adopted the new religion in 1000, and Sweden in the 11th century, but in the north of this country pagan beliefs persisted until the beginning of the 12th century.
MILITARY ART
Viking campaigns. Detailed information about the Viking campaigns is known mainly from written reports of the victims, who did not spare colors to describe the devastation that the Scandinavians brought with them. The first Viking campaigns were carried out using the “hit and run” principle. Without warning, they appeared from the sea on light, fast ships and attacked poorly guarded objects known for their wealth. The Vikings cut down the few defenders with swords, and enslaved the rest of the inhabitants, seized valuables, and set everything else on fire. Gradually they began to use horses in their campaigns.
Weapon. The weapons of the Vikings were bows and arrows, as well as a variety of swords, spears and battle axes. Swords and spear and arrowheads were usually made of iron or steel. Yew or elm wood was preferred for bows, and braided hair was usually used as a bowstring.
Viking shields had a round or oval shape. Usually the shields were made from light pieces of linden wood, trimmed along the edges and across with iron strips. There was a pointed plaque in the center of the shield. For protection, warriors also wore metal or leather helmets, often with horns, and warriors from the nobility often wore chain mail.
Viking ships. The highest technical achievement of the Vikings was their warships. These boats, kept in exemplary order, were often described with great love in Viking poetry and were a source of pride for them. The narrow frame of such a vessel was very convenient for approaching the shore and quickly passing along rivers and lakes. Lighter ships were especially suitable for surprise attacks; they could be dragged from one river to another to bypass rapids, waterfalls, dams and fortifications. The disadvantage of these ships was that they were not sufficiently adapted for long voyages on the open sea, which was compensated for by the navigational art of the Vikings.
Viking boats differed in the number of pairs of rowing oars, large ships - in the number of rowing benches. 13 pairs of oars were determined minimum size combat ship. The very first ships were designed for 40–80 people each, and a large keel ship of the 11th century. could accommodate several hundred people. Such large combat units exceeded 46 m in length.
Ships were often built from planks laid in overlapping rows and held together by curved frames. Above the waterline, most of the warships were brightly painted. Carved dragon heads, sometimes gilded, adorned the bows of ships. The same decoration could be on the stern, and in some cases there was a writhing tail of a dragon. When sailing in the waters of Scandinavia, these decorations were usually removed so as not to frighten the good spirits. Often, when approaching a port, shields were hung in a row on the sides of ships, but this was not allowed on the open sea.
Viking ships moved with the help of sails and oars. A simple square-shaped sail made from rough canvas, it was often painted with stripes and checks. The mast could be shortened and even removed altogether. With the help of skillful devices, the captain could steer the ship against the wind. The ships were controlled by a blade-shaped rudder mounted on the stern on the starboard side.
Several surviving Viking ships are on display in museums in Scandinavian countries. One of the most famous, discovered in 1880 in Gokstad (Norway), dates back to approximately 900 AD. It reaches a length of 23.3 m and a width of 5.3 m. The ship had a mast and 32 oars, and it had 32 shields. In some places, elegant carved decorations have been preserved. The navigational capabilities of such a vessel were demonstrated in 1893, when a replica of it sailed from Norway to Newfoundland in four weeks. This copy is now in Lincoln Park in Chicago.
STORY
Vikings in Western Europe. Information about the first significant Viking raid dates back to 793 AD, when the monastery at Lindisfarne on Holy Island off the east coast of Scotland was sacked and burned. Nine years later the monastery at Iona in the Hebrides was devastated. These were pirate raids by the Norwegian Vikings.
Soon the Vikings moved on to capture large territories. At the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century. they took possession of the Shetland, Orkney and Hebrides islands and settled on far north Scotland. In the 11th century for unknown reasons they left these lands. The Shetland Islands remained in Norwegian hands until the 16th century.
Norwegian Viking raids on Ireland began in the 9th century. In 830 they established a wintering settlement in Ireland and by 840 they had taken control of large areas of that country. The Viking positions were mainly strong in the south and east. This situation continued until 1170, when the British invaded Ireland and drove out the Vikings.
It was mainly Danish Vikings who entered England. In 835 they made a trip to the mouth of the Thames, in 851 they settled on the islands of Sheppey and Thanet in the Thames estuary, and in 865 they began the conquest of East Anglia. King Alfred the Great of Wessex eventually stopped their advance, but was forced to cede lands north of a line running from London to the north-eastern edge of Wales. This territory, called Danelag (Danish Law Area), was gradually reconquered by the English in the next century, but repeated Viking raids in the early 11th century. led to the restoration of the power of their king Cnut and his sons, this time over all of England. Ultimately, in 1042, as a result of a dynastic marriage, the throne passed to the English. However, even after this, Danish raids continued until the end of the century.
Norman raids on the coastal regions of the Frankish state began at the end of the 8th century. Gradually, the Scandinavians gained a foothold at the mouth of the Seine and other rivers of northern France. In 911, the French king Charles III the Simple concluded a forced peace with the leader of the Normans, Rollon, and granted him Rouen and the surrounding lands, to which new territories were added a few years later. The Duchy of Rollon attracted a lot of immigrants from Scandinavia and soon received the name Normandy. The Normans adopted the language, religion and customs of the Franks.
In 1066, Duke William of Normandy, known in history as William the Conqueror, the illegitimate son of Robert I, a descendant of Rollo and the fifth Duke of Normandy, invaded England, defeated King Harold (and killed him) at the Battle of Hastings and took the English throne. The Normans undertook campaigns of conquest in Wales and Ireland, many of them settled in Scotland.
At the beginning of the 11th century. The Normans penetrated into southern Italy, where they took part in military operations against the Arabs in Salerno as mercenary soldiers. Then new settlers began to arrive here from Scandinavia and established themselves in small towns, taking them by force from their former employers and their neighbors. The most famous among Norman adventurers were the sons of Count Tancred of Hauteville, who captured Apulia in 1042. In 1053 they defeated the army of Pope Leo IX, forcing him to make peace with them and give Apulia and Calabria as a fief. By 1071 all of southern Italy fell under Norman rule. One of Tancred's sons, Duke Robert, nicknamed Guiscard ("The Cunning Man"), supported the pope in the fight against Emperor Henry IV. Robert's brother Roger I started a war with the Arabs in Sicily. In 1061 he took Messina, but only 13 years later the island came under the rule of the Normans. Roger II united the Norman possessions in southern Italy and Sicily under his rule, and in 1130 Pope Anacletus II declared him king of Sicily, Calabria and Capua.
In Italy, as elsewhere, the Normans demonstrated their amazing ability to adapt and assimilate in a foreign cultural environment. The Normans played an important role in crusades, in the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other states formed by the crusaders in the East.
Vikings in Iceland and Greenland. Iceland was discovered by Irish monks, and then at the end of the 9th century. inhabited by Norwegian Vikings. The first settlers were leaders with their entourage who fled from Norway from the despotism of King Harold, nicknamed Fairhair. For several centuries, Iceland remained independent, ruled by powerful leaders called godars. They met annually in the summer at meetings of the Althing, which was the prototype of the first parliament. However, the Althing could not resolve the feuds between the leaders, and in 1262 Iceland submitted to the Norwegian king. It regained its independence only in 1944.
In 986, the Icelander Erik the Red carried away several hundred colonists to the southwestern coast of Greenland, which he had discovered several years earlier. They settled in the area of Västerbygden (“western settlement”) at the edge of the ice cap on the shores of the Ameralikfjord. Even for the hardy Icelanders harsh conditions southern Greenland proved to be a difficult challenge. Hunting, fishing and whaling, they lived in the area for approx. 400 years. However, around 1350 the settlements were completely abandoned. Historians have yet to figure out why the colonists, who had accumulated considerable experience of life in the North, suddenly left these places. Here, climate cooling, a chronic shortage of grain, and the almost complete isolation of Greenland from Scandinavia after the plague epidemic in the mid-14th century could probably have played a major role.
Vikings in North America. One of the most controversial issues in Scandinavian archeology and philology is related to the study of the attempts of the Greenlanders to establish a colony in North America. In two Icelandic family sagas - The Saga of Eric the Red And Saga of the Greenlanders– details a visit to the American coast ca. 1000. According to these sources, North America was discovered by Bjadni Herjolfsson, the son of a Greenlandic pioneer, but the main characters of the sagas are Leif Eriksson, the son of Erik the Red, and Thorfinn Thordarson, nicknamed Karlsabni. Leif Ericsson's base was apparently located in the area of L'Anse aux Meadows, located in the far north of the coast of Newfoundland. Leif, along with his associates, carefully examined the area located much further south, more temperate climate, which he named Vinland. Karlsabni assembled a force to establish a colony in Vinland in 1004 or 1005 (the location of this colony could not be determined). The newcomers met resistance from local residents and three years later were forced to return to Greenland.
Leif Eriksson's brothers Thorstein and Torvald also took part in the exploration of the New World. It is known that Torvald was killed by the Aborigines. Greenlanders traveled to America for timber even after the end of the Viking Age.
End of the Viking Age. The vigorous activity of the Vikings ended at the end of the 11th century. A number of factors contributed to the cessation of expeditions and discoveries that had lasted more than 300 years. In Scandinavia itself, monarchies were firmly entrenched and orderly feudal relations were established among the nobility, similar to those that existed in the rest of Europe, opportunities for uncontrolled raiding diminished, and incentives for aggressive activity abroad waned. Political and social stabilization in countries outside Scandinavia allowed them to resist Viking raids. The Vikings, who had already settled in France, Russia, Italy and the British Isles, were gradually assimilated by the local population. see also EDDAS;ICELANDIC LITERATURE;SCANDINAVIAN MYTHOLOGY;
LITERATURE
Gurevich A.Ya. Viking Campaigns. M., 1966
Ingstad H. In the footsteps of Leiv the Happy. L., 1969
Icelandic sagas. M., 1973
Firks I. Viking ships. L., 1982
Encyclopedia Around the World. 2008 .