The Viking Age: Exploring the Norse Warriors and Their Legacy

1. Instead of the terms BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini – in the Year of Our Lord) this time line will use BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era). These abbreviations are becoming the standard in scholarly work.

2. An ahistorical depiction of a Viking

3. Who Were the Vikings? • The Vikings, or Norse, were a phenomenal race of Scandinavian warriors who raided Northern Europe, Eastern Asia, and Eastern North America. The exploits of the Norwegian vikings lead them west to settle into Iceland in 860 and later to colonize Greenland about a hundred years later. The Swedish Vikings set out across the Baltic Sea into Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia. By the end of the first millennium the Vikings reached North America five hundred years before Columbus. • Vikings were not just pirates and warriors but also traders and colonists. • The word Viking means one who lurks in a “Vik” or bay, in effect, a pirate. • The word “Viking” also describes a whole new age in Europe between about the mid 700 to 1150 AD. This was a period of raiding as well as creating far trade networks of settlements by Scandinavians. • Vikings were comprised of Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish decent.

4. How do we know about the Vikings? • Sources and Contemporary Accounts • Vikings left many traces of their settlements that are still visible today. Archaeology provides physical evidence of their conquests, settlements, and daily life. • Not a lot of evidence survives, and much of what we have is either uninformative or unreliable. Many popular ideas of Vikings are 19th century inventions, such as horns on helmets. Few historical records and contemporary written sources exist anymore. • Surviving accounts of Viking activity was almost exclusively written by churchmen. These included monastic chronicles such as the Anglo Saxon chronicle, Frankish, and Irish Annals. The chronicles reflect the fact that Vikings attacked these monasteries for their wealth and the accounts had a hostile tone to give a popular image of Viking atrocities. The Vikings were considered heathens for their invasions in monasteries and as a result were portrayed in the worst possible way. One of the earliest Icelandic Manuscripts in Old Norse, the Viking language.

5. The Sagas “Saga” is a Norse word meaning tales. These writings provide almost all of the knowledge we have of the Vikings. There are about forty sagas that include descriptions of historical events in Iceland and voyages across the North Atlantic from Norway, Greenland and Vinland (Newfoundland). The sagas also have records of family history such as Erik the Red who founded Greenland, and his son Leif Erickson who discovered North America. The Sagas were compiled in the 13th and 14th century, and later based on stories that originated as early as 400 and 500 years before that. Archaeology is providing that a lot of these stories have a good basis of fact; in fact the Icelandic sagas were used to help find what might be the site of Vinland. The Saga

6. The Eddas • There are also Norse oral religious traditions written as poems that are collectively named as Eddas. • They are folktales. • Eddas and Sagas weren’t written on paper. Instead on vellum-sheepskin or calf skin. Vellum is more resistant to rot and preserves much better than paper does. Thank god they used vellum!!

7. What were their goals? • Raids and loot were not the whole story of the Vikings. Land to farm was also a commodity. There were limited sources of food. • They received influences from Europe that they saw as technologically and politically superior to their culture. Unlike many other invaders in history, the vikings weren’t trying to spread their religion that was paganism, rather gain new resources and new connections. They wanted political and economical advantage. • They had to find food, live off the land, and set up shop. They drove people out and took their money and other valuables they had. Vikings targeted the church and monasteries, which were the major sources of wealth at the time. An accurate depiction of what a Viking looked like.

8. Ships and Navigation • We know what their ships looked like because many vikings were buried with their goods that sometimes included their boats. • They had swift wooden long ships, equipped with sails and oars. • Shallow drought of these ships meant they were able to reach far inland by river or stream to strike and move before local forces could assemble. • Ships had overlapping planks, and measured between 17.5m and 36m in length. They were steered by a single oar mounted on the starboard side. • Reached an average speed of 10 to 11 knots • Crews of 25 to 60 men would be common, but larger ships could carry over a hundred people. • Sea battles were rare. They fought close to shore. Ships were roped together in lines to face an enemy fleet. Figureheads would be raised at stem and stern as a sign of war.

10. Battles and Tactics • Vikings had no professional standing army and tactics and discipline seemed at little development. They didn’t fight in regular formations • Weapons training began at youth in hunting, sports, and raiding. • Aspiring warriors wanted armed service so they clanged to famous fighters in order to be rewarded with weapons and fame of their own. A leader needed to wage war frequently in order to keep his followers and maintain power against rivals. • In preparation for battle younger warriors would draw up a line with their shields to create a shield wall for better protection. • Chiefs were well protected by a body guard. • They would either capture and kill their enemies Many capturers would become slaves. • The famous Berserker warriors fought in groups, and believed that Odin, their god of war, gave them both protection and superhuman powers so they had no need for armor. Berserker battles were intense and it’s said they bit on their shields and could ignore the pain of wounds. Many experienced vikings formed a wedge of 20 to 30 men and would then charge at the enemy. They fought mainly on foot. The largest armies may have been 4,000 to 7,000 men. After war Vikings would return to lives as farmers, merchants, craftsmen, or join other war-bands.

11. Offensive Weapons • The main offensive weapons were the spear, sword, and battle-axe. • They carried weapons not just for battle but also as a symbol of their owners’ class and wealth. Weapons were decorated with inlays, twisted wire and other accessories in silver, copper, and bronze. • The spear was the common weapon with an iron blade 2m to 3m in length. • Swords were a sign of high status because they were costly to make. The blades were usually double edged and up to 90cm. Many swords were given names.

12. Defensive Weapons • There were circular shields up to one meter across that were carried. The shield may have been leather covered. Around 1000, the kite shaped shield was introduced to the Vikings to provide more protection for the legs. • It was essential to wear thick padding underneath to absorb the force of blows or arrow strikes. Reindeer hide was used as armor. • They used long tunics of mail armor reaching below the waist. They were not very protective. It took many hours to produce a shirt, making it very expensive. It’s likely they were worn more by leaders. • Helmets were probably worn by leaders as well. Horned helmets also took great skill to produce. An accurate viking helmet left. The mail armor shown right. A modern myth!!!

13. Conquests • The first Viking raids were hit- and -run affairs. There was no coordination and long term plan behind them. The Vikings would later have more powerful forays and would have base camps where they would spend the winter. • Vikings raided the British Isles and the Western portions of the Carolingian Empire in France. They conquered much of Northern England in the 9th century, and they established a kingdom in Ireland. • In return for cash Vikings negotiated peaceful coexistence and conversion to whomever they attacked. Some leaders paid ransom to Viking armies. • In 911 AD Charles III of France gave Normandy (“French for territory of Norsemen”) to the Viking leader Rollos who became a Christian. Vikings helped adopt the French language and organized a strong state in Normandy. • During the same century a Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard created the Norman kingdom of Sicily. (continued) Maximum extent of the islamic conquests, 7th - 11th centuries (Green). Areas ruled by the Vikings or Normans, 9th - 12th centuries (Brown). Carolingian Empire at the death of Charlemagne in 814 (Grey)

14. Other Acquired Territory • The Vikings reached Iceland and it had become a settlement for Norwegians and Danes. • 982 Erik the Red founded Greenland. • Leif Erikson later landed on North America. • The Vikings who went to the British Isles and continental Europe, were mostly from Denmark and Norway. • The Swedes went beyond the Baltic away from Christian europe into Russia, Constantinople, an Baghdad.The Swedish Vikings influenced the growth of the early Russian state around Kiev. The Slavic people called them “Rus”. They were ruled by Vikings for a long time that the land was named Russia. • In Constantinople they helped form and were recruited as Varangian guards of the Byzantine emperors. Swedes were similar to all the other Vikings as they were soldiers, settlers, traders, and voyagers.

15. What happened to the Vikings? • Vikings became citizens of many places in Europe. • Many had become Christians back in their homelands. This lead to the downfall of the Norse religion and culture. • Kings instituted taxes and the economy changed so that you could get along better off as a trader than a raider. • The Viking invasions caused European kingdoms to be more centralized and focused. • European kingdoms learned how to protect themselves and gain by trading and negotiating with the Vikings instead of battling them. The Viking end

16. The Viking’s Impact • Many styles of the Viking ships were adopted by other European powers. • The jury of English common law was a an outgrowth of Viking ideas about community obligations and sworn investigations. • Signs of Viking influence are found in languages, vocabulary, and place-names of the areas they settled. • They had an impact on medieval technology and trade, and was an important part of Europe’s development.

17. Timeline~ Do Not Write this down~ Read Aloud 789 -Vikings begin their attacks on England.800 800 -The Oseberg Viking longship is buried about this time 840 -Viking settlers found the city of Dublin in Ireland. 844 -A Viking raid on Seville is repulsed. 860 -Rus Vikings attack Constantinople (Istanbul). 862 -Novgorod in Russia is founded by the Rus Viking, Ulrich. 866 -Danish Vikings establish a kingdom in York, England. 871 -Alfred the Great becomes king of Wessex; the Danish advance is halted in England. 872 -Harald I gains control of Norway. 879 -Rurik establishes Kiev as the center of the Kievan Rus' domains. 886 -Alfred divides England with the Danes under the Danelaw pact. 900 -The Vikings raid along the Mediterranean coast. 911 -The Viking chief Rollo is granted land by the Franks and founds Normandy in France. 941 -Rus Vikings attack Constantinople (Istanbul). 981 -Viking leader Erik the Red discovers Greenland. 986 -Viking ships sail in Newfoundland waters. 991 -Æthelred II pays the first Danegeld ransom to stop Danish attacks on England. 995 -Olav I conquers Norway and proclaims it a Christian kingdom. 1000 -Christianity reaches Greenland and Iceland. 1000 -Leif Eriksson, son of Erik the Red, explores the coast of North America. 1000 -Olav I dies; Norway is ruled by the Danes 1002 -Brian Boru defeats the Norse and becomes the king of Ireland. 1010 -Viking explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni attempts to found a settlement in North America. 1013 -The Danes conquer England; Æthelred flees to Normandy. 1015 -Vikings abandon the Vinland settlement on the coast of North America. 1016 -Olav II regains Norway from the Danes. 1016 -The Danes under Knut (Canute) rule England. 1028 -Knut (Canute), king of England and Denmark, conquers Norway. 1042- Edward the Confessor rules England with the support of the Danes. 1050 -The city of Oslo is founded in Norway. 1066 -Harold Godwinson king of England defeats Harald Hardrada king of Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge 1066 -William duke of Normandy defeats the Saxon king Harold at the Battle of Hastings.

18. 400BC-300BC Ancient Greece - because of their physical geography individual communities developed. The city-state of ___Athens__introduced _democracy___ which laid the foundation for Europe’s government and culture

20. Earliest Greek Civilizations • The origins of Greek civilization are somewhat obscure.  Neither historians, archaeologists, nor linguists can confidently establish when Greek-speaking peoples made the Balkan peninsula of Greece their home • Minoans • The first civilization to arise in the area of Greece came on the island of Crete. • Archaeologists have given it the name of Minoan, after the mythical Cretan king Minos • By sometime around 1650 BC, the island of Crete was home to the Minoan culture that flourished (although people had inhabited the island since the Neolithic period) • Almost all we know about Minoan culture comes from archaeology, since we cannot decipher their written language • The symbol of Minoan culture was the palace • Around 1650 BC, Crete was dotted with a number of palaces, with the most important one being at Cnossus • The palace was the political and economic center of Minoan society, containing storage areas and trading centers for the local region

21. Mycenaean • We know little about when the Mycenaean's came to Greece (or where they came from), except that they spoke a language of the Indo-Aryan family. • By 1650 BC, they were firmly established on the Peloponnesus peninsula in the city of Mycenae, a major city and trading center. • Mycenae was the capital for the legendary king Agamemnon (the Trojan War). • As in Crete, the political unit was a kingdom ruled by the king and his warrior nobles. The kings ruled from their palaces (unlike those of the Minoans, those of Mycenae were walled). These palaces also served as the commercial centers of a tightly controlled economy. The Mycenaean economy was marked by extensive division of labor, tightly controlled from above. People were divided into artisans, farmers, laborers, and slaves (most of whom toiled for kings or aristocrats). All worked according to orders from the king and his nobles the Mycenaean's conducted regular trade with the Minoans--for at least 200 years, relations between the two peoples were peaceful. Sometime around 1450 BC, Mycenaean's attacked Crete, destroying many of the Minoan palaces and capturing the one at Cnossos for the next 50 years, the Mycenaean's ruled Crete until a further wave of violence destroyed Cnossos and left much of the island in ashes (unanswered question is who, not what destroyed civilization on Crete--natural disaster ruled out). Mycenaean's took advantage of the absence of the Minoans to expand their trade to encompass the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean. Their culture flourished like it had never done before as they became quite prosperous from their commercial activities.

22. The “Dark Age” of Greece • The period following the fall of the Mycenaean's ushered in such poverty, disruption, and backwardness that historians usually call it the “Dark Age” of Greece. • For the next 300 years (until 800 BC), Greece remained a land of chaos- Literacy, which had never been widespread under the Minoans nor Mycenaean's, basically disappeared completely. • Still, the period was important to the development of later Greek civilization. The warfare and chaos of the era caused many Greek-speaking peoples to flee--some to Crete, others across the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor. In effect these migrants turned the Aegean into a Greek lake. • The collapse of Mycenaean civilization also opened the door for new developments in the social and political areas of the Greeks. • The loss of imports in copper and tin meant they could not use bronze any more, so they turned to working in iron to supply their needs for metal. • The loss of literacy fostered the highly developed oral tradition which gave rise to the Homeric epics. • The lack of writing also made possible the later adoption of the alphabet system from the Phoenicians (which they would later modify into the Greek alphabet). • Finally, the collapse of the centralized palace system left survivors adrift in  small groups under local leaders who could most efficiently lead continuing survival efforts (or lead migrations). • These small groups provide the nucleus out of which developed the autonomous city-state, or polis --the basic unit of later Greek civilization.

23. Homeric Age • The major cultural development of the Dark Age was the oral tradition of epic poetry. • The most important (as well as the most famous of these) were the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer. • The Rise of the Polis • During the Dark Age of Greek history, the polis came to be the dominant political unit. • With the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, the Greek peoples needed a government that was flexible in the face of rapidly changing conditions and responsive to local needs. • To solve this problem, they developed the polis as their main form of government. • What is the polis? • The polis is not really a city-state--in many cases will not even center around a city (many of the polis were centered by towns, Sparta was actually a group of small towns and villages rather than one urban center). • The polis also differed from modern cities in that it was autonomous, that is not controlled by a larger regional or national government. • The polis included the city or town and the surrounding countryside.

24. Governing the Polis • There were several ways that the poleis were governed. • The form of ruler ship depended on how those who held the power locally wanted to be governed. • 1) Monarchy • 2) Aristocracy • 3) Oligarchy (rule of the few) -- usually a small group of wealthy citizens, not necessarily the aristocracy. • 4) Democracy -- all citizens, without respect to birth or wealth participated in the administration of the polis. • 5) Tyranny -- someone who seizes power unlawfully--generally by using his wealth to gain a political following that could topple the existing government.

25. Each polis contained a point, usually elevated above the rest of the city, called the acropolis, and a public square or marketplace called the agora. • The acropolis served double duty in most polis areas, being a place of refuge in times of trouble and a place of worship--containing temples, altars, public monuments, and various dedications to the gods of the polis. • Ex.--Acropolis in Athens was originally used as the city's last place of refuge when the city came under attack (they even constructed a shaft 120 feet deep down to a spring; with five flights of stone and wooden steps constructed to make it easy and safe to get water during a siege). • Each city had an agora, which was originally where the warrior assembly met.  But over time, the agora became the political center of the polis--a place for public meetings. • The agora also came to house a number of shops, public buildings, and courts. • Adjacent to the agora was an area set aside for dancing and celebration, which often later served as the location of the polis's theatre.

26. Growth of Sparta • During the Lyric Age, Spartans expanded the boundaries of their polis and made it the leading power in Greece. • Like other Greeks, the Spartans faced the serious problem of overpopulation and the need for more land--Unlike the others, the Spartans solved this problem through conquest rather than colonization. • In 735 B.C., the Spartans first set out to conquer the Messinia, a rich fertile region in the southwestern Peloponnesus--the war lasted for 20 years and ended in Spartan triumph. • The Spartans then appropriated the Messenian land and turned the native inhabitants into helots (or serfs of the state). • About 650 B.C., the helots rebelled against the Spartans, leading to a bloody 30 year war that ended in Spartan victory, but one that left them with little stomach for more fighting. • Following the war, the commoners of Sparta (who had done much of the fighting) demanded equality with the nobility. • The commoners agitated and disrupted Spartan society so much that the nobility agreed to remodel the government.

27. The reforms, called the Lycurgan regimen, created a new political, social, and economic system. • Political distinctions among Spartans were eliminated and all citizens became legally equal--in effect, eliminating the aristocracy and creating an oligarchy. • The government was formally led by 2 kings (war leaders) aided by a council of 28 elders who controlled military and foreign policy.Domestic affairs were handled by five ephors (overseers) elected from and by all the people. • Economically, the Spartans divided the land of Messenia among all citizens--helots worked the land, providing food for the Spartans (Spartans kept them in line through force). • Under the Lycurgan system, every citizen owed primary allegiance to • Sparta.  • The Evolution of Athens • Athens located on the Attican plateau. • Although Athens faced the same social and economic upheavals as Sparta during the Lyric Age, Athenian society evolved very different from that of Sparta. • Instead of creating an oligarchy, over time the Athenians extended the right and duty of governing the polis to all citizens. • However, it took some time for Athens to develop its system of democracy.

28. The Classical Age of Greece -- Culture and Society in Athens. • For all the horrors and loss of life and property during the Peloponnesian wars, some positive developments did occur in Athens. • Athenian arts in the Age of Pericles • Architecture • During his 20 or so years as the leader of Athens, Pericles turned the city into the showplace of Greece. • He appropriated money from Delian League funds to pay for a huge building program, planning temples and other buildings to honor Athena, the patron goddess of the city, and to display to all Greeks the glory and superiority of the Athenian polis.

29. Architecture Model of Parthenon

30. Ionic Architecture

31. Erechtheum on Acropolis in Athens c. 421 BC Architecture

32. Architecture Doric

33. Doric: Temple of Athena Architecture

34. Architecture Corinthian

35. The temple of Zeus at Athens Detail Architecture

36. Architecture Epidarus

37. Athenian theatre • Athenian drama, both comedies and tragedies, formed an important part of Greek life (not only in terms of the art form, but also as a way of understanding the people). • Drama probably originated as an opposition between a chorus and a single actor--choral performances had been around from earliest times as a part of honoring the gods or celebrating military and athletic victories. • Philosophy (mainly centered around Athens) • Ancient Greek philosophy focused on finding rational, even skeptical, ways of explaining the natural world and relationships among people.  Although some of these philosophers worshipped the Greek gods, as a group, they sought explanations that did not evolve around these deities--a human-centered way of approaching the questions of life, the universe, and everything. • Hippocrates (around 400 B.C.)--attempted to make medical diagnoses and find cures based on rational observation rather than explaining illnesses as having supernatural causes. • This lack of emphasis on the divine or supernatural was also reflected in the way the Greeks shaped their political and legal systems, something they spent much time and effort in developing.

38. During this Classical Age, three philosophers stood out in theorizing about relationships between humans and their world • Socrates • First among these was Socrates (469-399 BC). • Unlike his Sophist contemporaries, Socrates did not take pay for teaching and claimed he was only wise enough to know the extent of his own ignorance. • He taught using the dialectic method (often called Socratic method today) of a series of probing unending questions. • Socrates was a devout believer that human reason could lead him to the truth. • He used his questioning to challenge basic beliefs of those around him, trying to get them to use reason instead of blindly following tradition or the masses. • Socrates despised democracy, believing that government should be in the hands of strong, intelligent, and informed people. • His questioning attacks about government led to his trial and execution in 399.

39. Plato (student of Socrates) (429-347) • Approached the gaining of wisdom as a science--argued that knowledge and virtue came through constant study and questioning. • This science, according to Plato, could only be truly understood by those with sufficient training and intelligence (Plato has little faith in masses). • Like Socrates, Plato despised democracy, arguing that it was the worst system of government for the people. • He called for an enlightened despot (benevolent dictator) to rule a society where strife would be eliminated by erasing its causes--mainly private property and the family. • Argued that women should have role in society, even though they were less capable than men.

40. Aristotle (384-322) -- student of Plato • In political theory, Aristotle was most interested in the best state practically possible--he had not interest in the perfect (or utopian) state. • Argued the best would be one that allowed those of middle talent and wealth to rule (keeps the natural tyranny of the wealthy and the jealousy of the poor at bay). • Aristotle argued that humans were social animals--that their natural milieu was in society.  Thus the polis (or city-state) was the natural setting for humans.