Viking

The inhabitants of Scandinavia from about 700-1100 AD, great boat builders and navigators who settled all over Europe and the Mediterranean. Term embraces the Norse, who raided and settled northern Britain, Iceland, Greenland, and North America; the Swedes, who established a trade route from Baltic through Russia to Byzantium and beyond; and the Danes, who were a serious threat in England and Ireland. Viking raiders were descended from the native peoples of Migration Period Scandinavia. In 865, their raids of England led to their conquest of most of the eastern part of the country, with their capital at York. At the beginning of the 10th century, Iceland was settled, then Greenland, and even the North American coast (Vinland) was reached, culminating in the settlement of Anse au Meadow in Newfoundland. Some Viking raids even penetrated the Mediterranean by way of Gibraltar. During this time, the many Scandinavian chiefdoms shared a similar material culture and were involved in trading far beyond the Baltic Sea.

A collective term used to describe the Scandinavian peoples whose movements made a major impact on much of Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries. The exact origin of this emotive term is keenly debated and no consensus of opinion exists, but in the early Middle Ages it meant a pirate, a robber who came by sea. Nowadays the term Viking is generally used to describe a unique period in Scandinavian history, from c790 to 1000, when the many Scandinavian chiefdoms shared a similar material culture and were involved in trading and raiding far beyond the Baltic Sea.