1. Vikings were seafaring Norse people who raided and traded across northern Europe from the late 8th to late 11th centuries, originating from Scandinavia. 2. They were skilled sailors and boat builders, navigating the seas in longships and establishing settlements as far as North America and Russia. 3. Viking culture was non-literate but is now understood through archaeological remains, including artifacts of their pagan religious practices, settlements, crafts and ships like the longship.

1. VIKINGS

2. VIKINGS

3. Vikings were Nordic seafarers, mainly speaking the
Old Norse language, who raided and traded from
their Northern European homelands across wide
areas of northern, central and eastern Europe,
during the late 8th to late 11th centuries. The term is
also commonly extended in modern English and
other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home
communities during what has become known as the
Viking Age.
VIKINGS

4. VIKINGS
This period of Nordic military, mercantile and
demographic expansion constitutes an important
element in the early medieval history of
Scandinavia, Estonia, the British Isles, France,
Kievan Rus' and Sicily.

5. Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and
characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times
also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North
Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Following
extended phases of (primarily sea- or river-borne)
exploration, expansion and settlement, Viking (Norse)
communities and polities were established in diverse
areas of north-western Europe, European Russia, the
North Atlantic islands and as far as the north-eastern
coast of North America.
VIKINGS

6. VIKINGS
This period of expansion witnessed the wider
dissemination of Norse culture, while simultaneously
introducing strong foreign cultural influences into
Scandinavia itself, with profound developmental
implications in both directions.
Popular, modern conceptions of the Vikings—the
term frequently applied casually to their modern
descendants and the inhabitants of modern
Scandinavia—often strongly differ from the complex
picture that emerges from archaeology and historical
sources.

7. VIKINGS

8. A romanticized picture of Vikings as noble savages
began to emerge in the 18th century; this developed and
became widely propagated during the 19th-century
Viking revival. Perceived views of the Vikings as
alternatively violent, piratical heathens or as intrepid
adventurers owe much to conflicting varieties of the
modern Viking myth that had taken shape by the early
20th century. Current popular representations of the
Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and
stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the
Viking legacy.
VIKINGS

9. VIKINGS

10. VIKINGS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsr17wQ9idA&t=3s

11. The period from the earliest recorded raids in the
790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066
is commonly known as the Viking Age of
Scandinavian history. Vikings used the Norwegian
Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The
Normans were descended from Vikings who were
given feudal overlordship of areas in northern
France—the Duchy of Normandy—in the 10th
century.
HIATORY

12. HISTORY
In that respect, descendants of the Vikings
continued to have an influence in northern
Europe. Likewise, King Harold Godwinson,
the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, had
Danish ancestors. Two Vikings even
ascended to the throne of England, with
Sweyn Forkbeard claiming the English
throne from 1013-1014 and his son Cnut the
Great becoming king of England from 1016-
1035.

13. Geographically, a Viking Age may be assigned not only to
Scandinavian lands (modern Denmark, Norway and
Sweden), but also to territories under North Germanic
dominance, mainly the Danelaw, including Scandinavian
York, the administrative centre of the remains of the
Kingdom of Northumbria, parts of Mercia, and East Anglia.
HISTORY

14. HISTORY
Viking navigators opened the road to new lands to the north,
west and east, resulting in the foundation of independent
settlements in the Shetland, Orkney, and Faroe Islands;
Iceland; Greenland; and L'Anse aux Meadows, a short-lived
settlement in Newfoundland, circa 1000. They may have
been deliberately sought out, perhaps on the basis of the
accounts of sailors who had seen land in the distance. The
Greenland settlement eventually died out, possibly due to
climate change. The Viking Rurik dynasty took control of
territories in Slavic and Finno-Ugric-dominated areas of
Eastern Europe; they annexed Kiev in 882 to serve as the
capital of the Kievan Rus'.

15. As early as 839, when
Swedish emissaries are first
known to have visited
Byzantium, Scandinavians
served as mercenaries in the
service of the Byzantine
Empire. In the late 10th
century, a new unit of the
imperial bodyguard formed.
HISTORY

16. HISTORY
Traditionally containing large numbers
of Scandinavians, it was known as the
Varangian Guard. The word Varangian
may have originated in Old Norse, but
in Slavic and Greek it could refer either
to Scandinavians or Franks. The most
eminent Scandinavian to serve in the
Varangian Guard was Harald Hardrada,
who subsequently established himself
as king of Norway (1047–66).

17. There is archaeological
evidence that Vikings reached
Baghdad, the centre of the
Islamic Empire. The Norse
regularly plied the Volga with
their trade goods: furs, tusks,
seal fat for boat sealant, and
slaves. Important trading ports
during the period include Birka,
Hedeby, Kaupang, Jorvik,
Staraya Ladoga, Novgorod, and
Kiev.
HISTORY

18. HISTORY
The Norwegians expanded to the north and
west to places such as Ireland, Scotland,
Iceland, and Greenland; the Danes to England
and France, settling in the Danelaw
(northern/eastern England) and Normandy; and
the Swedes to the east, founding Kievan Rus'.
Among the Swedish runestones mentioning
expeditions overseas, almost half tell of raids
and travels to western Europe. According to the
Icelandic sagas, many Norwegian Vikings also
went to eastern Europe.

19. According to the Icelandic sagas, many Norwegian Vikings
also went to eastern Europe. In the Viking Age, the present-
day nations of Norway, Sweden and Denmark did not exist,
but were largely homogeneous and similar in culture and
language, although somewhat distinct geographically. The
names of Scandinavian kings are reliably known only for the
later part of the Viking Age. After the end of the Viking Age the
separate kingdoms gradually acquired distinct identities as
nations, which went hand-in-hand with their Christianization.
Thus the end of the Viking Age for the Scandinavians also
marks the start of their relatively brief Middle Ages.
HISTORY

20. A variety of sources illuminate the culture, activities, and
beliefs of the Vikings. Although they were generally a
non-literate culture that produced no literary legacy, they
had an alphabet and described themselves and their
world on runestones. Most contemporary literary and
written sources on the Vikings come from other cultures
that were in contact with them.
CULTURE

21. CULTURE
RUNESTONE

22. CULTURE

23. CULTURE
Since the mid-20th century, archaeological
findings have built a more complete and
balanced picture of the lives of the Vikings.
The archaeological record is particularly rich
and varied, providing knowledge of their rural
and urban settlement, crafts and production,
ships and military equipment, trading
networks, as well as their pagan and
Christian religious artefacts and practices.

24. CULTURE

25. CULTURE

26. There have been several archaeological finds of Viking
ships of all sizes, providing knowledge of the
craftsmanship that went into building them. There were
many types of Viking ships, built for various uses; the
best-known type is probably the longship. Longships
were intended for warfare and exploration, designed for
speed and agility, and were equipped with oars to
complement the sail, making navigation possible
independently of the wind.
SHIPS

27. SHIPS

28. The longship had a long, narrow hull
and shallow draught to facilitate
landings and troop deployments in
shallow water. Longships were used
extensively by the Leidang, the
Scandinavian defence fleets. The
longship allowed the Norse to go
Viking, which might explain why this
type of ship has become almost
synonymous with the concept of
Vikings.
SHIPS

29. SHIPS
The Vikings built many unique types of watercraft,
often used for more peaceful tasks. The knarr was a
dedicated merchant vessel designed to carry cargo
in bulk. It had a broader hull, deeper draught, and a
small number of oars (used primarily to maneuver in
harbors and similar situations). One Viking
innovation was the 'beitass', a spar mounted to the
sail that allowed their ships to sail effectively against
the wind. It was common for seafaring Viking ships
to tow or carry a smaller boat to transfer crews and
cargo from the ship to shore.

30. THE KNARR
SHIPS

31. SHIPS
Ships were an integral part
of the Viking culture. They
facilitated everyday
transportation across seas
and waterways, exploration
of new lands, raids,
conquests, and trade with
neighbouring cultures. They
also held a major religious
importance.

32. People with high status were sometimes buried in a ship
along with animal sacrifices, weapons, provisions and
other items, as evidenced by the buried vessels at
Gokstad and Oseberg in Norway and the excavated ship
burial at Ladby in Denmark. Ship burials were also
practised by Vikings abroad, as evidenced by the
excavations of the Salme ships on the Estonian island of
Saaremaa.
SHIPS

33. SHIPS
Well-preserved remains of five Viking ships
were excavated from Roskilde Fjord in the
late 1960s, representing both the longship
and the knarr. The ships were scuttled there
in the 11th century to block a navigation
channel and thus protect Roskilde, then the
Danish capital, from seaborne assault. The
remains of these ships are on display at the
Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.

34. SHIPS

35. APPEARANCES
The three classes were easily recognisable by their
appearances. Men and women of the Jarls were well
groomed with neat hairstyles and expressed their
wealth and status by wearing expensive clothes
(often silk) and well-crafted jewellery like brooches,
belt buckles, necklaces and arm rings. Almost all the
jewellery was crafted in specific designs unique to the
Norse. Finger rings were seldom used and earrings
were not used at all, as they were seen as a Slavic
phenomenon. Most Karls expressed similar tastes
and hygiene, but in a more relaxed and inexpensive
way.

36. APPEARANCES

37. APPEARANCES

38. 1. The Vikings were famous for sailing huge distances from
their home in Scandinavia between AD 800 and 1066 to raid
and plunder, but they also traded with people from other
countries.
2. The name ‘Viking means ‘a pirate raid’ in the Old Norse
language.
3. Around 500 years before Christopher Columbus
‘discovered’ the American continent, Vikings had visited its
shores, landing in what is now Canada in around AD 1000.
TEN FACTS ABOUT THE VIKINGS

39. TEN FACTS ABOUT THE VIKINGS
4. Among the many gods Vikings believed in, were
Thor, the god of thunder, and Loki, a cheeky
mischief-maker who could shape-shift to become
all different kinds of animals. What a beast!
5. The Vikings were expert boat builders and
sailors. Keels – central spines along boats’ bottoms
– made their 16 to 37m ‘longboats’ easy to steer,
and because these were designed to float high in
the water, landing on beaches was easy.

40. 6. The Vikings were eco-pioneers – sort of! The ‘long houses’
where families lived would have turf roofs to help keep in the
heat.
7. Fenrir Grayback, the werewolf in the Harry Potter books, was
named after a ferocious giant wolf from ancient Viking mythology.
8. When important Vikings died, they would be placed with all
their clothes, jewellery, even their animals, in a burial ship. This
would either be covered with a huge mound of earth or set alight
and pushed out to sea.
TEN FACTS ABOUT THE VIKINGS

41. TEN FACTS ABOUT THE VIKINGS
9. Bitter Scandinavian winters and frozen fjords
didn’t stop the Vikings from tucking into their
favourite food – fish! During warmer months they
would hang up and dry fish to eat later.
10. Ever wondered where the word ‘berserk’
comes from? ‘Berserkers’ was the name of some
terrifying Viking warriors who wore bear or wolf
skins and howled in battle like wild animals!

42. -Wikipedia. Vikings. Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings
-National Geographic Kids. Ten Facts About Vikings.
Retrieved from http://www.ngkids.co.uk/history/10-facts-
about-the-vikings
-
You Tube. Vikings. BBC Schools: Zig Zag: Vikings - The
Vikings are Coming! Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsr17wQ9idA&t=3s
BIBLIOGRAPHY