The Vikings were seafaring Norse people from Scandinavia who traveled by longship. They established settlements across Northern and Western Europe between the 8th and 11th centuries due to overpopulation and climate change at home. The Vikings had democratic forms of government and an egalitarian society where most people owned land. They were skilled warriors and sailors who struck fear during their conquests but also had rich mythological traditions and customs like ship burials.

1. THE VIKINGS
The Viking tribes came from the north of Europe, in the peninsula of Scandinavia. They
traveled in longships or longboats; Drakkar (the Dragon ship), Karvi (the exploring ship),
Snekkja (the small warship), Skeid (the medium warship), Busse (the big warship).
They were the Germanic peoples, ancestors of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The Vikings
had kings and nobles, but their government was surprisingly democratic for its time. They

2. honored work, and allclasses worked; most people owned their own land. Apparently there
was a serious food shortage (escasez) during the 800s because of population growth and
climate change. That is one of the reasons why there were Vikings in Germany, France,
England, Ireland, Greenland, North America, etc. The region that they occupied in France is
known now as Normandy (in French means northmen). People tell stories of many Viking
conquests where warriors used their axes and swords to strike terror everywhere; it seems
like Vikings enjoyed battles.
Their customs and myths centered on god-heroes, who led their people bravely in life and
symbolically sailed away in death. In some Viking tombs (burial mounds) have been found
boats and other implements to use in the afterlife. Some other tribes put their dead on a
boat, set the boat adrift (in the river, a lake or the sea), and burned it.
Curious fact: They had a map of the North Atlantic Ocean where Greenland and Iceland are
shifted.
Class task: Answer the question in your notebook after the
teacher's explanation, watching the video, reading the text.
- What characteristics would you highlight from the
Viking tribes?
- What days of the week do we name according to the
Viking mythology?
- Draw a Viking person as you would describe him/her.