Possible reasons for Viking raids (v

1
Possible reasons for Viking raids (víking) and
expansion Overpopulation, limited
resources Reputation Avoiding enemies and
feuds Objection to rule of kings
2
King Jarls (chieftains) with warrior
bands Karls (free men), usually farmers or
crafters Thralls (slaves) Women as powers
behind husbands, poetesses, prophetesses. Rights
in divorce, marriage, inheritance, succession
3
Odin All-father, king of the gods God of poets
(skalds) and wisdom Hung on tree to gain runes
(Futhark)
4
Thor God of strength, thunder and
lightning Mjollnir
5
Frey God of fertility Freyja Goddess of love,
beauty and fertility Hel/Hela Queen of Hel
(the underworld) The Valkyries choosers of the
slain (Valhalla)
6
c. 960 Harald Bluetooth of Denmark (r. c.
958-85) becomes Christian c. 1000 Olaf I
Tryggvason (r. 995-1000) and Olaf II Haraldsson
(r. 1015-30) of Norway convert population to
Christianity c. 1000 Iceland adopts
Christianity 11th c. Conversion of Sweden
begins 12th c. Last records of pagan practices
7
814 Vikings burn monastery on Noirmoutier, off
mouth of R. Loire 841 Vikings plunder Rouen
8
843 Vikings winter on Noirmoutier 844 Vikings
ravage Garonne valley, attack Spain 857 Vikings
have repeatedly sacked various French cities
incl. Paris 859 Vikings raid Morocco, Balearics,
winter at Rhone delta, raid southern France
9
885 Vikings besiege Paris 887 Charles the Fat
(r. 876-87) relieves siege of Paris 911 Charles
the Simple (r. 893-923) grants Viking leader
Rollo area around mouth of Seine, which forms
seed of Normandy. Viking raids on mainland
Europe end a couple of decades later
10
9th c. Vikings invade Ireland, occupy
Orkney, Shetland, Hebrides and Isle of Man 874
Viking settle in Iceland, and later
in Greenland, east coast of N. America 13th c.
End of Viking rule in Scotland and Isle of Man
11
830 Start of Viking Rus raiding and trading in
eastern Europe, Byzantine Empire and Middle
East. Settlements follow along Volga river and
(in 10th c.) in Slavic lands including city of
Kiev. They expand territory further in 10th
c. c. 988 Vladimir of Kiev (r. 980-1015)
converts to Greek Orthodox Christianity
12
c. 980 Eirik the Red leaves Scandinavia
for Iceland, but is banished from Iceland
and heads west, where he discovers
Greenland 985 Eirik leads a party to colonise
Greenland. Bjarni Herjolfsson, following,
accidentally sights N. America but does not
land. c. 1000 Leif (the Lucky) Eiriksson lands
on Baffin Island, Labrador and
Vinland (Newfoundland) Thorwald Scraelings