Vikings

The Vikings were traders and warriors who lived in the north of Europe 1000 years ago. They came from Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) but travelled great distances in their long boats and worked as both settlers and conquerors. Some of the countries most affected by Viking settlement and piracy were England, Scotland, Ireland, and France.

Other people were frightened of the Vikings because of their strong weapons and cruel fighting tactics. They were known for their bad treatment of women, children and monks in the places where they fought. When the Vikings came to England, the English kings paid them to leave the country, but the Vikings took their money and fought them anyway. From the 9th century to 1066, Danish and Norwegian Vikings ruled large parts of England.

Vikings also travelled through Russia and the Mediterranean Sea, and visited southern Europe, northern Africa and south-western Asia. Some Vikings sailed across the Atlantic Ocean via Iceland and Greenland, and even lived in North America for a while, but were driven away by native Americans whom they called Skraelings. The ruins of a Viking settlement from c. 1000 AD have definitely been found at l'Anse-aux-Meadows, Newfoundland.