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

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.

Insulting a higher ranked person could bring harder penalties, in some cases even death. A woman had equal rights to other women, but if insulted by a man her husband received the penalty. Slaves (treller) had usually no rights, but the kings slaves could generate 1/12 of the penalty for insulting a king, to the king of course.

Vikings wasn't just pagans and farmers, they were traders as well. We know Norway didn't made any glass at this time, so must have been bought abroad and brought back home, cause a lot is found here. Vikings traded fish, timber, leather, swords, silver jewellery, combat ironing and so on. In return they got things like silk, glass, vine, gold, and a lot of other stuff.

Welcome adventurers, in this phase of your journey you will learn of Viking heritage and language you may have heard before but did not really know what was meant, by these strange words and sayings.

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.

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