vikings essays

vikings essays Vikings were not savage barbarians bent on destruction, but rather a very civilized people who had a very structured and organized military. They were civilized people in the middle ages that engaged in trade, exploration, and colonization. They founded many cities on three different continents, several of which are still occupied. The Vikings were very civilized and had a very unique way of life. They were travelers and settlers, traders and conquerors. Over the span of about 400 years, the Vikings explored and discovered many places. Among these places are Greenland, Iceland and even North America. Several of their original settlements still remain. These include Dublin, Ireland; York, England; Iceland; and Kiev, which became the basis for the Russian empire. They were master shipbuilders and built ships superior to any other ships of that day. Their high quality ships were a major factor in their extensive exploration and helped them with their raids and conquering. The Vikings traded with many countries, some as far away from Scandinavia as the Middle East. Vikings first appeared in England as raiders in the 790s pillaging small churches and monasteries. A few years past and raids became more frequent. Farms and small villages were also being pillaged and by 926, just over a hundred years later, the Vikings were receiving regular tribute from western France and much of England. Vikings would kill regardless of age and sex and only rarely did anyone survive their raids. If there were a survivor, they would be taken back with the raiders and sold as slaves. They developed a systematic and orderly way of organizing their raids. They would start at the mouth of a river on the ocean and raid villages and monasteries just a few miles from the coast. Then they would work their way up the river and systematically pillage every town within about twenty miles from the river. This goes to show that raids were not random. They were ...