The Vikings Research Paper

Trade played a major role in the Viking expansion as many trades ended up as raids. However, the Vikings established many trade routes throughout Europe. They also set up many trade centers.  As well as this, craftsmen and merchants went to England, Germany and other countries to barter their goods. These trades were usually only performed once or twice every year. However, these craftsmen introduced many new techniques in working with metals, wood and other materials. Other than this the Vikings traded raw materials such as timber, dried fish, honey, furs and salt. In return for this the Vikings got, cloths, pottery, iron bars, and clothes. These trades boosted the European economy through out the Middle Ages.

Norse Paganism or The Norse Religion spanned across Scandinavia during the Viking age which lasted from late 8th century to mid 11th century. The Christianisation of Scandinavia ended both the Viking age and the widespread practice of Norse Paganism. The Norse Religion has some exaggerated misconceptions such as Norsemen being merciless raiders that would do anything for gold. However, most Norsemen were farmers and lived peaceful lives raising livestock and worshiping their Gods. Viking’s first contact with the Christian world yielded trade routes between Scandinavia and islands close to Europe. While Viking warriors were fierce fighters that didn’t fear death or the cut of a blade they had a more peaceful side.

This is called the Dark Age or the early Middle Age and during this period, there were a series of geographical explorations in Western Europe as well outside its borders. Vikings emerged out as the most adventurous mariners in the late 8th century. They set out for a geographical expansion because of an increased competition to grab resources and probably due to an existence of a social system in which an individual's status was marked by his possession of portable wealth.They were initially raiders and use to inhabit the modern Scandinavian regions. They were excellent ship builders and navigators. They penetrate countless river systems of Western Europe and attack settlements. They keep on discovering new islands in the North Atlantic and reached Iceland in 770 AD (Love, 2006, p. 4). It was then largely an inhabitant land with a small population of Irish monks. However, they Vikings moved further and reached Greenland and North America in the 10th century. They, later on, make efforts to establish settlements in the modern day L'Anse aux Meadows, which is now a historic site of archaeological importance in Canada. It was known to them as Vinelands. Wolf (2011) asserted that "The ferocious raid in 793 on the Church and Monastery on the tiny island of Lindisfarne just off the Northumbrian coast is commonly regarded

Beowulf is an epic poem that tells the story of a glorious hero, by the same name, who wins fame and glory by battling and killing evil creatures that cross his path. Sea monsters, trolls, sorceresses, and dragons all fall at the hands of mighty Beowulf. The treacherous world in which we find ourselves seems ideal for producing heroes worthy of such heroic epics like Beowulf’s. It seems like in this world, the only way to fix one’s problems is to kill them. Many violent battles break out that leave the victor appearing valiant. No man is completely invincible, however, and just when it seems that nothing could possibly defeat him, our hero’s strength finally gives out. Beowulf dies a death as violent as his life. What once brought him glory and fame, in the end destroys him. This paper explores the historical and cultural context from which Beowulf emerges as well as the role of violence in the epic.

Based on people's reputation society views each person a different way.In the poem Beowulf translated by Burton Raffel, Beowulf shows meany virtues shared by all viking society norms that all vikings followed inorder to live a heroic life.Some of these virtues can be compared to the song ¨Gangsta´s Paradise¨ by Coolio.One big viking idea that is shared by both Beowulf and the narrator, can be demonstrated by the idea of building youself an own reputation another viking virtue that can compare to ¨Gansta´s Paradise¨ is the viking idea of ¨wyrd¨ wich is the idea of fate deciding your tommarow.The last viking trait that can be compared to the narrator is ¨cruelty¨ cruelty is proving you are supirior than someone by completly destroying them wether

The horror in their bloody faces, the anguish as you witness your own village getting ransacked by barbaric blood hunger Vikings. The Vikings are savages who have zero knowledge of morals and have no sympathy. Instead of laughing and watching them terrorize the peace, we need them to leave us alone as fast as possible. As you may have heard recently, my own small village two weeks ago was pillaged by the Vikings. It was ransacked and torn but what was the reason why? There was none. They see pillaging not as actually tearing down an entire civilization of innocent people, but as a fun activity they do to show how strong they are. And it need to be stopped for good.

As we have seen, the introduction of Christianity to the Vikings had significantly contributed to the end of the Viking Age in mid 11th Century, not only due to the persuasive Christian missionaries, and the realization of the benefits of Christianity, but also the forcible nature of Scandinavia king’s conversion of their subjects (which will be looked into in more detailed in due course). One must bear in mind that most of the evidence we have on the conversion of the Vikings is through archaeological excavations, as Gareth Williams explains that “we can see it in the archaeological evidences [that] Pagans buried their dead with grave goods, but Christians normally didn't, and this makes it relatively easy to spot the change in religion.”

UThe Anglo-Saxons were a tribe of people who lived in Great Britain during the 5th century. They were warriors who had traveled all the way from northern Germany and southern Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon people are very well known today despite not having been around for the several, several centuries. Their people led to the spread of Christianity through eastern Europe and the establishment of seven major kingdoms. They are also well known for the code of Honor, as the Anglo-Saxons had many values that their soldiers must live by. In Beowulf, an English epic poem that tells of the tell of the incredible warrior Beowulf, Anglo-Saxons values of the time period are displayed. Loyalty, bravery, and honesty are three of the most important values

Give a brief description of the main features of the Viking expansion – raiding and trading routes, major settlements and conquests and discuss the different images of Vikings as traders and raiders and why the expansion stopped.

did you know that leif ericson norse explorer was the first to discover the continent of north america before columbus.the vikings used cartography to make more accurate maps for making travel easier.They also had tools such as the compass which was first used in 1345 by european sailors and just kept improving.Vikings also possessed astrolabes a device that tells you if you are north or south from the equator these were first used in 225 BC but was available in europe by the eleventh

Ravagers, Pirates, pagans: These words sums up the Vikings for the people who lived in europe during medieval times. Although the Vikings are seen as barbaric fighters, they brought many important technological inventions and had many achievements that made a great impact on european culture.

The Vikings were a group of Germanic sea dwellers who traded with and raided towns all across Europe out of their Scandinavian homeland. During the late 8th to 11th centuries they ruled all of Europe through their barbaric ways. Even other cultures outside of Europe saw the barbaric ways in which the Vikings acted towards the villages that they encountered. One such case of this was a Muslim Chronicler, Ibn Fadlan, recounting of the Vikings as “[T]he filthiest of God’s creatures.” While they were very savage in their actions, this very trait gave them the ability to be able to roam through and ravage an entire town fully unopposed and within a very miniscule timeframe. According to another one of Fadlan’s writings, “Each man has an axe,

The main motivation behind the development of better ships was the Viking’s strategy of attacking from the water. This led to development of seaworthy ships with enhanced navigation techniques. Evidence shows that the Norse explorers had a higher technology in iron tools and weaponry than the American inhabitants. Therefore, ship building was not motivated by war but by the spirit of exploration.5

Viking long-ships were lean, speedy, lightweight ships that could easily cut through the most vicious waves that the ocean could throw at them. At the time, no other civilization had been able to achieve such an amazing naval feat, so this gave the Vikings a great advantage over medieval combat, political affairs, and even the trading industry. Since the ships were so fast, the ships were great for transportation of soldiers, or merchandise. “The Viking longboat was the key to the Vikings success in traveling.” (Legends and Chronicles, Paragraph 14). This made the long-ship a very valuable and important asset to the Vikings. Soon, it had become a part of Viking culture to bury some of the wealthiest Vikings inside their long-ship.

The Old Norse Religion or Norse Paganism were practised traditions by the Norsemen prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, dating as far back to roughly 793-1066 CE. This religion was separated, and categorized into three different families; the Æsir, Vanir and Jotnar; these were all polytheistic groups. The Æsir tribe contained some of the best-known Norse Gods and goddesses such as Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Loki, Baldur, Heimdall, Idun, and Bragi1. These Gods represented kingship, order, craft, etc. The Vanir were Gods and Goddesses such as Freya, Freyr, Njord and the Germanic Goddess Nerthus. They represented fertility of the earth and forces of nature. Lastly, there was another group in which Norse Gods differentiated in, the Jotnar. These were the ' giant-Gods' those whom were in