The Viking phenomenon extends over nearly three centuries (late 8th – late 11th) and affects geographical areas of great diversity, from one end of the known world to the other at the time. We know today that it was not savage hordes that swept over Europe from Scandinavia, but peerless navigators capable of exploring all sea routes, who first wanted to enrich themselves through trade.
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The vikings or Scandinavian peoples have traded with Western merchants since Roman times. The East-West commercial relations which have been carried out for centuries thanks to the Mediterraneanwere modified by Arab expansion (in the 8th century) and shifted to the north, towards theAtlantic, the North Sea and the Baltic. It seems logical that the Scandinavians have intervened in this sector, since they have a sense of commerce and the appropriate boat (the “langskip” which has been nicknamed “drakkar”), with the extraordinary qualities of navigation which make it a weapon. absolute for the time. The term “Viking” derives from the Latin “vicus” which can be translated as market place or trading post; the historians believe that the Vikings formed brotherhoods of traders bound by pact or contract.
The Swedish counter of Birka was founded in the 8th century: the town became a hub of trade Viking, it brings together many craftsmen who use raw materials from Scandinavian territories such as amber, ironfurs, drink and ivory (of walrus). Processed products are mainly sold abroad in exchange for luxury goods, such as ceramicsilk and money. Most of the trade is with Western Europe, then the eastward expansion and development of the Volga and Dnieperincreased trade to the East from the end of the 9th century.
Territorial expansion in Europe
The geographical origin (now Norway, Sweden, Denmark) of the Vikings seems to determine their territorial expansion: the Varangians or Swedes headed east, around the Baltic and into Russia. The Norwegians seem to be concentrating their raids on the British Isles and the Danes are spreading across the North Sea, Channel and Atlantic. The exact causes of the Viking phenomenon are still the subject of hypotheses: the starting point of the movement (because it marked the minds of contemporaries) was the ransacking of the abbey of Lindisfarne, an island located on the north coast east of England, in June 793. The Danes organize expeditions from the end of the 8th century; they intensify after the death of Charlemagne (in 814). Broken up into multiple kingdoms, England was particularly affected: the Humber and Thames rivers were penetration routes for Viking ships. Between 875 and 879, the Danes defeated the rulers of northeast England and founded the Viking kingdom of Danelaw (“the land under Danish law”).
On the territory of the former Carolingian Empire, the seafront offers many doors river entrances: the Viking fleets took the Seine, the Loire, the Garonne and the small coastal rivers, as described in the chronicles of monasteries between 841 and 856. They reached Bordeaux then Toulouse around 844; Paris was also besieged several times between 845 and 885. These Vikings received the name of Normans (or “Nordmann”, northern man) before settling in the region which today bears the name of Normandy. In Brittany, they find a favorable ground for their expansion because the internal wars of the Breton nobles require the use of Scandinavian mercenaries; they were finally driven out in 939.
Remarkable browsersthe Vikings also ventured as far as the peninsula Iberian: in 844, Seville and Cadiz were devastated by a fleet going up the Guadalquivir river. The Vikings enter the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar; their most important raid, from 859 to 861, enabled them to establish themselves in the Rhone delta, in the Camargue, then to pass into Italy where they approached the port of Luna, in Etruria.
The history of the Vikings and colonization
The Vikings originating from present-day Norway, attacked the West with the aim of colonization because they were looking for land forAgriculture and animal husbandry. Their area of expansion covers Scotland, Ireland, the North East of England, the Faroe Islands, the Orkneys, the Hebrides and the Shetlands. Others will winIceland : on this island near the polar Circle arctic, the goal is to colonize. Arrived around 860, Norwegians but also Irish and other Celts, built farms there: they cultivated the land, practiced animal husbandry and hunted mammals sailors. The settlers form an original society led by the oldest parliament in the world, “the Althing”. Recent archaeological excavations have revealed dwelling ruins on the Reykjanes peninsula: dating (carbon 14) places a period of occupation between 770 and 880.
The 10th century is the period of Viking colonization: it is surprising to note how quickly they integrated into the populations they conquered. In two or three generations, the Swedes (Varangians) who left for eastern Europe became Slavs, the Norwegian Vikings the Normans and the Danes the Anglo-Saxons. The Swedes are responsible for the creation of Russia: they settled in the region of Novgorod then in that of Kyiv and established their social, administrative and political structures there.
Even if the Vikings are recognized as formidable warriors, they never managed to form a real army. Their predatory tactics cannot be attributed to a military art they do not master. Charlemagne fought them and whenever the Vikings faced enemy armies they were always defeated, until 1066 when King Harald of Norway was defeated by Harold of Wessex at Stamford Bridge (England), himself defeated at Hastings a few days later by William the Conqueror.
The Vikings in America
Leif Eriksson born around 970 in Iceland and died around 1020 (probably in Greenland), is an Icelandic explorer, recognized personality of the Viking expansion in America. Leif is the son of Erik the Red, founder of the first Viking settlement in Greenland ; he would be the first European to have approached the American continent. The sagas of the vinland recount his discovery of lands beyond Greenland, around Labrador and Newfoundland.
Archaeological discoveries in the 1960s confirm the establishment of a colony at theAnse at the Meadows: this is the first site identified as being Scandinavian in North America; the excavations carried out revealed houses, instruments and tools which make it possible to establish the dating of the site around the year one thousand. Other archaeological research suggests that “Vinland” may be located around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that the site of Anse aux Meadows would be a stage for the repair of ships. Excavations (preceded by detection by satellite images) led to the discovery in 2016 of a new establishment in Pointe Dew (on Newfoundland) which would confirm the existence of a Viking colonization of North America.
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