Who exactly were the Vikings ?

Let us first start of with exactly what does the word Viking mean and where it comes from. Well the Scandinavians came up with it first. It comes from the Norse word "vik" which means bay or creek.  The word "vik" formed the word "vikingr" which means pirate.  Vikings were people who sailed from their homelands to other countries to explore.The Vikings came from the areas we know today as Denmark,Norway,and Sweden.There were also Finnish,Estonian,and Saami Vikings as well. It is not exactly known why they left their homelands to begin with. The earliest Vikings left their homelands in search of riches.Others say it was due to overpopulation.

The common traits that all Vikings had that made them different from Europeans was that they came from a foreign land,were not christian,and were not "civilized" in the local sense of the word. The Vikings learned about new sailing technology ,learned about the inner conflicts between kingdoms,and also about Europe's growing riches from their trading with  Europeans.They soon used this new found knowledge to their advantage. What marked the beginning of the Viking Age was their attack on the Lindisfarne Monastery off the coast of northeastern England in A.D. 793. In the beginning the monasteries were their favorite targets because they were often unprotected and vulnerable. They didn't have any respect for religious institutions. The terrorized monks often wrote about these raids as well.

Farmers and craftsmen would also joined Viking Raids as well. Then after a raid they would return home to their normal occupations. Historians believe that Viking Warriors did not use Horned Helmets. Also historians do not believe that Vikings used skulls as drinking vessels. The typical image of a Viking being dirty with wild hair is also a misconception. This misconception was brought on by the non-Scandinavian Christians who did not understand paganism. This is just part one of Viking history.Come back to my blog for part two.