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

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.

The pagan Scandinavians acknowledged a pantheon of gods and spirits which could be called on in different situations. Sometimes Viking chiefs could act as intermediaries with the gods. The stories of the creation and end of the world according to Norse mythology and the exploits of Viking gods such as Odin, Thor, Frey and Freya have been passed down to us by later Icelandic storytellers.

Games of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings

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.

Vikings! The word conjures up images of wild, barbaric, sea faring men, intent on setting their mark on their less warlike neighbours with fire and sword. From the land of ice and giants, they swept across Europe like a forest fire pillaging and destroying all in their path.

The only Viking Age wagon found in Norway as yet is the Oseberg cart.

A collection of descriptions of Vinland sites.

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Approximate Word count = 2176
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)