They took cattle, money and food. It’s likely they carried off women, too, he says. “They’d burn down settlements and leave a trail of destruction.” It was unprovoked aggression. And unlike most armies, they came by sea, their narrow-bottomed longships allowing them to travel up rivers and take settlements byRead More →
Gustaf Skarsgård portrayed Floki Vilgerðarson throughout the first five seasons of Vikings. Sadly, he was absent from season six, part A but fans are hoping he will appear in the final 10 episodes. The soundtrack for the final series has been released which reveals a small clue about Floki’s whereabouts.Read More →
Landnámabók claims that the first Norseman to rest his feet on Icelandic soil was a viking by the name of Naddoddr. Naddoddr stayed for only a short period of time, but gave the country a name: Snæland (Land of Snow). He was followed by the Swede Garðar Svavarsson, who wasRead More →
The first event was a quick and successful siege of Paris that occurred inn 845 AD, led by Ragnar Lothbrok. The Vikings breached the city walls, raided and sacked Paris, and were subsequently paid off with around 2,570 kilos (5,665 pounds) of silver and gold. Does Ragnar win Paris? RagnarRead More →
Originally invented and used by the Norsemen (commonly known as the Vikings) for commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age, many of the longship’s characteristics were adopted by other cultures , like Anglo-Saxons, and continued to influence shipbuilding for centuries. How long did it take to build a longship?Read More →
It was after 840 that Scandanavian Vikings—who were known in Eastern Europe as “Varangians” or “Rus”—established Viking rule over Slavic tribes in what came to be called Kievan Rus. What was the relationship between the Slavs and Vikings? Viking traders sailed down rivers to trade with the Slavs and inRead More →
Like other Western Uralic and Baltic Finnish peoples, Finns originate between the Volga, Oka and Kama rivers in what is now Russia. The genetic basis of future Finns also emerged in this area. There have been at least two noticeable waves of migration to the west by the ancestors ofRead More →
Contact between Sweden and what is now Finland was considerable even during pre-Christian times; the Vikings were known to the Finns due to their participation in both commerce and plundering. There is possible evidence of Viking settlement in the Finnish mainland. Is Finnish a Nordic? The Nordic Region consists ofRead More →
Vambraces may be worn with or without separate couters in a full suit of medieval armour. The term originates in the early 14th century. They were made from either boiled leather or steel. Leather vambraces were sometimes reinforced with longitudinal strips of hardened hide or metal, creating splinted armour. DidRead More →
Evidence suggests that the Anglo-Saxons settled originally in eastern England, before moving westwards and northwards to occupy territory formally inhabited by the Britons. What were the Anglo-Saxons famous for? Anglo-Saxons ruled for about three centuries, and during this time they formed the basis for the English monarchy and laws. TheRead More →