It began with the sacking of the monastery at Lindisfarne in 793 and ended in 1066, at the Battle of Stanford Bridge where King Harald Hardråde was killed. These two bloody events mark the opening and closing of an era in Nordic history which featured dramatic social change. The Viking Era.

The part of history know as the "Viking Age" is considered to have started in the year 793. This was the year of the first large Viking raid. It occurred at the monastery of Lindisfarne on the north-east coast of Britain.

Reasons and prelude to the Viking Age

At the beginning of the 6th century large changes took place in the Lake Malar Area of Sweden Suddenly a Svea power appeared which was strong enough to wage war against the Gutar.

Piracy was all very well for yielding sporadic bursts of wealth but only trade could yield a regular income. The achievement of the Scandinavians as traders rather than raiders proved the more enduring

Hirðmen acted as both national defenders who, if necessary, could be supplemented by the freemen, and as personal protectors of the king. In many cases, however, the king put his personal ambitions above the welfare of the kingdom, and used the hirð to carry out his desires. For example, in Egil's Saga, first king Harold Fairhair, and then his son Eirik Blood-axe, used members of their hirð to attack Egil and members of his household for revenge of supposed insults.

Sadly still many people around the world believes Vikings were pagans and pillagers only, but this is not even close to the truth of course. We hope such unawareness will come to an end. Vikings gave us much more, and the killing and robbing were nothing new at all in Europe.

Vikings kept a few animals as well, a livestock. Cows and goats gave them milk, butter and cheese, and they had sheep's for the wool and the meat. Hens, gooses and ducks supplied both eggs, meat and warm down to use in their beds.

This page is dedicated to the Vikings. There's so much to tell about them, and this is only a brief description about our famous forefathers. Nevertheless, I hope you will find this page interesting and informative.

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