Viking - A Glorious Age (Part 1)

(HIGH) If the sound of the Mongol horse's hooves of Genghis Khan once made residents from Asia to Europe both fear and admire, about three centuries earlier, in northern Europe, the Vikings had become a famous people. created a glorious historical era that spanned the period from 793 to 1066 .

Viking history

This ethnic group consisted of many elements from warriors, merchants, pirates, to farmers from the original Scandinavian peninsula (now Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark) radiating. different directions from east to west in migratory flows, and eventually spread across Europe creating a glorious age that history has called the Viking Age.

When it comes to Vikings , people are most impressed with the role of warriors and pirates. With skillful seafaring, the Vikings built longboats made of oak wood. According to National Geographic, this boat is designed with compartments containing large rocks placed on both sides of the boat to keep the vehicle balanced in the face of storms, combined with weapons compartments on both sides.

In sturdy oak boats, the Vikings sailed across the seas of Europe. When the land was rich, they stopped to invade and plunder. The waves of Vikings continued from Northern Europe to spread in all directions, to settle in newly acquired lands in England, France, the Baltic Sea, Russia to the Iberian peninsula (today Spain, Portugal). Nha), even crossed the Atlantic Ocean to America 500 years before the explorer Christopher Columbus, but today traces are still left in Canada.

The Vikings left their strongest mark on England and Ireland with their expeditions from Denmark to these lands. While another group from Sweden followed the voyages to Russia. The remaining branch of the Vikings from Norway traveled to Scotland, Iceland and the island of Greenland (Denmark).

The villages that the Viking groups initially established throughout Europe later became the medieval nations of the old continent. According to historical records, the Vikings began their conquests from England in 793 with an attack on the island of Lindisfarn. Then, this people began to occupy England between 793 and 850. At one point England had to be divided with the northern part belonging to the Vikings.

Having established strong bases on land, the Vikings began to shift their focus to occupation and plunder, conquering new lands with armed, oarsed oak galleys that gathered into battleships. mighty fleet. Western Ireland and gradually the northern and western coasts of the island were also occupied by the Vikings between 795 and 840. Ireland was then completely in the hands of mighty Viking warriors.

From the 10th century, the kingdom of Denmark became powerful (kingdom of the Vikings) with a series of kings from Svend Tveskæg to Knud II occupying England, until 1066 when the Viking dynasty came to an end.

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Viking victory

Western Europe also became "victims" of the Viking conquests, which began with the Danish king Godfred's attack on the trading port town of Reric in the southern Baltic. After facing a counterattack from the king of this land, Charlemagne, the Vikings withdrew. In 810, the Danish Vikings sent their ships to Friesland (Netherlands) to plunder. Later kings of this ethnic group such as Horik, Sigfred or Chief Rollo continued to promote the "tradition" of mobilizing armies of warships to kill the lands that are now France and Germany. The descendants of this ethnic group then continued to attack southern European regions such as Italy, as far east as Eastern Europe as Russia, or spread to other lands such as North Africa, West Asia, An example is the city of Jerusalem.

The Viking armies are so strong that sometimes between this group of Vikings and the other Viking group can fight each other. The strength of this people has been recreated in the long-running series Vikings (The Vikings. Vietnamese name. : Viking Legend ) attracts viewers all over the globe.

The most prominent in Viking anecdote is the ability to assimilate culture (this can be seen in other peoples such as the Han or the Mongols). To this day, many old words in English still have their roots in the Scandinavian language (where the Vikings originated).

One of the most outstanding anecdotes of this people is that in 911, the then French king Charles III had to bite his teeth to cede part of the kingdom to the Danish Viking chief Rollo so that he agreed to help drive out a group of Vikings. other. The land ceded to the Vikings at that time is now the French region of Normandy (the name Normandy means land of "men from the north", located in northwestern France). This land is located across the English Channel (English Channel) where northern England at that time was in the hands of the Vikings.

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Earlier in 845, the Viking leader then Ragnar attacked Paris (France) with a fleet of 120 ships from the North Atlantic up the Seine to Paris. Panicked with the military strength of this ethnic group, the French king at that time Charles II had to bring in cash equivalent to 50 million USD (in current prices) to this warship so that they could withdraw.