Raiders and
Conquerors
The word ‘Viking’ means raider, and the monks who were on the receiving end of their attacks remembered them as violent marauders.
The earliest Viking raids were carried out for plunder – the Vikings loved precious metal, and to them the churches and monasteries of Europe must have seemed like defenceless stores of valuables. People were valuable to the Vikings too – they could be carried off and sold as slaves or put to work back at home.
Later Viking armies were bigger and better organised, and Viking kings like Svein Forkbeard and Cnut the Great were able to raise large armies and fleets of ships to conquer their rivals in Britain and Scandinavia.
Viking warriors also fought abroad as mercenaries, and were highly valued by Christian monarchs throughout Europe.
What happened when the Vikings reached Britain and Ireland?
Pyx vessel
Weapons and Warriors
Owning a weapon – particularly a sword – marked a person out as a respectable member of society.
Weapons and armour could be individually be given names to personalise them – according to his saga, the Viking king Harald Hard-ruler had a shirt of chain mail called Emma.
But they weren’t just status symbols – axes and swords were lethal tools of war.
Introduction to Viking fighting
Being a Viking Warrior
What equipment did Vikings have to help them fight?
