The Vikings

The Vikings were a group of Nordic seafarers from areas of northern, central, and eastern Europe during the late eighth to late eleventh centuries. The Vikings raided coastal villages across their European homelands, although the Vikings did many raids they also traded with people along the coast. There are many misconceptions about the Vikings, one of these is that they were always savages however, in fact they were very civilized in their personal lives. The Vikings had two types of ships, longships and knarrs. The longships were built for battle and they could sail in one meter of water, and were capable of going fifteen knots while most other ships could only go four or five knots. Another feature about the lonships is that they did not need to turn around to go backwards, they simply reversed their rowing because the ship’s front was the same as the back. The longships were powered by sails and oars so that when the wind did not propel them they would just row. The knarrs were merchant ships and the Vikings used them for trading and shipping goods. The Vikings were a very adventurous people, in fact the word Viking means “seaman” and “expeditions”, that is why they raided and plundered villages. The Vikings had a very chaotic stile of fighting, they would rush in and do whatever they wanted. The Vikings believed in the Norse gods, Oden, Thor, and Freya, and named Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday after these gods, as it is to this day. The Vikings were a strong and enduring people and they liked to explore and find new lands, and I think the word Viking sums them up very well.