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The Vikings Text PDF

The Vikings first raided England in 793 AD and continued frequent raids that grew in size and ambition over the following decades. By the 850s, the Great Viking Army of 300 ships aimed to conquer England, partitioning the country with Danish and Norwegian rule in the north and east as the Danelaw. The Vikings established a kingdom in York after its capture in 866, bringing Scandinavian traditions and influencing the region. Advanced Viking ships enabled both military raids and the establishment of international trade networks. The Vikings developed the city of York, previously an old Roman site, into a major urban center and hub of trade between English colonies and Scandinavian homelands.

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154 views1 page

The Vikings Text PDF

The Vikings first raided England in 793 AD and continued frequent raids that grew in size and ambition over the following decades. By the 850s, the Great Viking Army of 300 ships aimed to conquer England, partitioning the country with Danish and Norwegian rule in the north and east as the Danelaw. The Vikings established a kingdom in York after its capture in 866, bringing Scandinavian traditions and influencing the region. Advanced Viking ships enabled both military raids and the establishment of international trade networks. The Vikings developed the city of York, previously an old Roman site, into a major urban center and hub of trade between English colonies and Scandinavian homelands.

Uploaded by

Ainhoa Carrasco
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE

VIKINGS

A.
“Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now
suffered from a pagan race”, wrote an English scholar in AD 793, “nor it
was thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made”.
He was describing the first Viking raid on the north of England. There
were many more to come, as boatloads of Scandinavian adventurers
discovered that rich and easy pickings were to be had around the coasts
of Britain. By the 830s the raiders came in small armies, 30 shiploads
strong, marauding across whole regions. By the 850s the marauders had
become the “Great Army”, 300 shiploads strong, intent on conquering the
country. They almost succeeded. Only Alfred the Great held out in his
southern kingdom of Wessex. The country was partitioned, and the North
and East became Danelaw -an area colonized and ruled by Danes and
Norwegians.

B.
York, captured in 866, became the capital of a Viking kingdom. To their
colony the Vikings brought many of the traditions of their Scandinavian
homelands: farming systems, administrative systems, the Old Norse
language, northern styles of art, dress, or house buildings, and
Scandinavian crafts and industries. Hundreds of Yorkshire villages,
settled or developed at this time, still have Scandinavian names.

C.
The Viking raids and attacks were made possible by remarkable
developments in ship design. As well as the longships -which carried the
armies- there were cargo boats -which enabled the Vikings to develop a
vigorous international trade, linking the British colonies to the
homelands, and opening up trade routes across all the then-known world.

D.
To expand their trade and provide markets for their new colonies, the
Vikings built many towns in England, but York was the greatest. The city
was already 800 years old when they captured it -an ancient and ruined
old Roman fortress and on called Ebucarum. They renamed it Jorvik,
repaired and extended its walls, extended it, set out the streets anew, and
laid the basis of the York we know today. Many city streets still have
Scandinavian names. Even the narrow-fronted plots on which York's
modern shops stand were laid out at this time.
Archeological digs have recently uncovered so much of Viking York that
we can almost visualize this vigorous and vibrant city of a 1000 years ago.

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