In the year 793, the Vikings attacked a monastery on the English island of Lindisfarne. It was the beginning of the Viking invasion of England – or, at least, the first Viking invasion. Thus, many historians mark this raid as the beginning of the “Viking Age.” It was then that they first became important players on the world stage. But who were the Vikings? Where did they come from? Why did they act as they did? Were they just a kind of “medieval terrorist,” or is there more to the story than that? And why, after all that they accomplished, did they suddenly disappear from the pages of history?
These are the questions that the BBC tries to answer in “Vikings” (also titled “Vikings: The Real Warriors”). The film is presented by Neil Oliver, who is also known for his series “A History of Scotland.” I am a big fan of the latter series, which is some 10 hours long. But in some ways, I actually like “Vikings” better, even though “Vikings” is only 3 hours long. It told me a lot that I didn’t yet know about the Vikings themselves. To some degree, it even changed my perception of them – although their ways are still open to some criticisms, as you may soon see. The series consists of three episodes, each of which will be described below.
Neil Oliver, the host of the series
The Scandinavian origins of the Vikings, and their isolation from Roman conquest
The first episode goes into the origins of the Vikings. They came from Scandinavia, a region that today consists of three countries. As you may know, these countries are Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. But in their own time, the Vikings were known as the “Norse,” or “men of the north.” It is no coincidence that the words “Norse” and “Norway” are similar, since they both share a common Germanic root. At this time, they were farmers as well as warriors, with an agricultural past stretching back for centuries. Since the Norse were Germanic peoples, they had much in common with the southern Germanic tribes, who were then scourging the Roman Empire. The Norse fate was being decided when these southern Germanic tribes were defeating the Romans in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. This battle kept the Romans from invading Scandinavia. This would have a massive effect on the Norse, since it meant that Scandinavia was one of the few parts of Europe that was never invaded by the Romans. To put it simply, Scandinavia was too far north for the Romans to touch it by any means but trade.
Funerary stone settings at Lindholm Høje – near Aalborg, Denmark
Vikings were stubborn holdouts of the old ways, including their ancestral pagan religion
The absence of Roman invasion there explains many things about the future Vikings. For example, it explains why they were not then influenced by Rome’s written laws or literature. Rather than switching to the Roman alphabet, they held on to their native runic writings for much longer than did the other peoples of Europe. But most importantly, it meant that they were not then influenced by Christianity, which was by then the religion of the Romans. They were still pagan until well into the Middle Ages. Christianity had conquered most of the rest of Europe, so the Norse were still stubborn holdouts of the old ways (something that the host seems to admire). However, the Vikings had traded extensively with the Romans since antiquity. There is brief discussion of Norse mythology, including Norse gods like Odin and Thor. The latter is now well known to comic book fans, although his comic book portrayal is not quite the same as his portrayal in the Norse mythology. They also discuss the Indo-European roots of Norse mythology, as well as Norse burial practices and the sacrifices to Norse gods. Sadly, these included some human sacrifices as well. In this discussion, it helps that the host (Neil Oliver) is an archeologist. Thus, he gives some informed commentary on the Norse archeological sites. He also argues that their motivations for going abroad included a lack of room to expand at home. In this respect, they were not much different from English colonists on the American frontier, or other conquering peoples like the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons.
The Tjängvide image stone with illustrations from Norse mythology
The Viking trading empire in Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Muslim Middle East
The second episode discusses the Viking trading empire. Archeologists have now shown this to be much larger than was previously supposed. There is evidence of Viking trading missions into Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Muslim Middle East. They mainly went by the eastern rivers, rather than around the Iberian Peninsula through the Mediterranean Sea. They got as far east as Constantinople and Baghdad, and Viking runes are found on the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. One word for the Vikings (possibly an Islamic word) was the “Rus,” possibly meaning “the men who row.” This may be the root word of “Russia,” one of the largest countries in the world today. This argues for strong Viking influence in Russia, which is corroborated by archeological evidence. In Scandinavia itself, archeologists have also found some Chinese silks and Buddhist statues. Even if they didn’t actually make it as far as China, this reveals that the connections of their trading network must have stretched that far to the east.
The Oseberg ship – Viking Ship Museum, Norway
Viking influence upon the British Isles, including their first invasion of England
The Vikings also raided Ireland, and set up a base in the city of Dublin as a place to capture slaves. These slaves were then sold elsewhere in the world. The host comments that this “bears comparison” with the slave trade in the Americas of a thousand years later. They also mention the invasion of Anglo-Saxon England, including the aforementioned attack on Lindisfarne which began this invasion. Most invasions of England have come from the south – including the earlier invasions by both the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. But the Viking invasion actually came from the north. A look at the location of Scandinavia will explain why. This also explains why the Vikings had their greatest influence in the northern part of England. They conquered three Anglo-Saxon kingdoms – which were known as Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia (although they only conquered parts of Mercia). These kingdoms (or parts thereof) were then merged into a territory then known (and still known) as the “Danelaw.” There was a border between this “Danelaw” region and the still-unconquered Wessex kingdom, which was then led by Alfred the Great. Alfred stubbornly refused to yield to the Viking threat. This may be part of why he’s the only English king to be titled “the Great.” The capital city of the Viking Danelaw was the city of York. In this region, the Norse language left a definite mark upon the English language. Although they do not mention it here, this may have even included the pronouns of “they,” “them,” and “their” – possibly the most commonly used of all of the Norse-English loanwords.
Map of the Danelaw region of England, 878 (with Norse territory in red)
Viking colonies in Iceland and Greenland – and even Newfoundland, Canada
The third episode examines some Viking colonies in the North Atlantic. For example, the Vikings were the first human beings to reach Iceland, the tiny island in the North Atlantic. Except for native flora and fauna, it was completely uninhabited when they first arrived there. Despite the volcanic eruption there in 1104, the Vikings thus successfully colonized Iceland for Scandinavia. This explains why the Icelandic language is so similar to the languages of Scandinavia. They are all classified as “North Germanic” languages today, in contrast to “West Germanic” languages like English, Dutch, and German itself. The Viking settlement in Iceland was remarkably successful, but the Viking settlements elsewhere in the North Atlantic were somewhat less successful. They settled in Greenland, which may explain why Greenland still belongs to Denmark today. (Although there was also Danish colonization of Greenland in the eighteenth century.) This also explains why the Danish language has a strong presence in Greenland today. But most astoundingly, the Vikings also made it as far as Newfoundland, Canada. Their settlement in L’Anse aux Meadows is the first known European settlement anywhere in the Americas, showing that there were Europeans here far before Columbus. They also influenced the island of Shetland.
Baptism of King Harald Bluetooth, the namesake of today’s “Bluetooth” technology
Second Viking invasion of England, and the Vikings’ conversion to Christianity
When the Vikings ran short of money, they extorted some English kings to raise some funds. They bled England dry, in part because of its preexisting mechanisms for collecting taxes. This led to a second Viking invasion of England. An Anglo-Saxon ruler known as “Ethelred the Unready” responded by exterminating many of the Norse-descended Englishmen. This amounted to a kind of genocide. But back in Scandinavia, there was a ruler named “Harald Bluetooth,” the namesake of today’s “Bluetooth” technology. He was the first Viking king to convert to Christianity. This conferred many geopolitical advantages upon him in a very Christian Europe. Thus, the Vikings finally abandoned their pagan heritage at this time – something that host Neil Oliver seems to lament in some ways, perhaps because he’s not a big fan of Christianity (as some of his comments seem to imply). They also mention the Danish king Cnut (also spelled “Canute”), who eventually lost control of the Viking empire. Nonetheless, he also ruled England for twenty years. Later on, he was interred in Winchester Cathedral. The host also mentions the rise of the modern nation-states of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. They do not mention the Viking influence upon Northern France, with the aptly-named “Normans” at a place called “Normandy” (both similar to “Norse” and “Norway”). One could even argue that the Vikings (or at least their descendants) invaded England yet again during the Norman conquest. (But that’s a subject for another post.)
Danish king Cnut (also spelled “Canute”), who also ruled England for twenty years
Conclusion: This is a great documentary about the “Viking Age”
But the Vikings then disappeared from the pages of history. This was because they assimilated into the local cultures, and abandoned many of those aspects of their Viking heritage that people most objected to in their own time. Nonetheless, they have many descendants in Britain and its former colonies – not to mention the former Viking colonies, and many other parts of the world. And their influence upon history is inescapable. At times, they were little more than medieval pirates and terrorists, interested only in money and loot. But at other times, they were nation-builders and empire-builders – not to mention merchants and explorers. Their influence is still felt to this day. The host covers virtually all of these things, visiting historical sites from Iceland to Scandinavia to Constantinople. His enthusiastic delivery also adds much to this series. Thus, I highly recommend this series for anyone interested in the Viking Age. It shows their influence upon many parts of the world, from the East to the West to North America. And it’s one of the best documentaries that I’ve ever seen.
If you liked this post, you might also like:
Part of a series about
European history
The Viking Age
This list covers Europe through the Renaissance. For Europe since the Renaissance, click here.
Part of a series about
British history
The Viking Era in Britain
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