Viking Raids - Why did the Norse leave Scandinavia to roam the world?

Viking raids were a feature of medieval Scandinavian pirates known as Norse or Vikings, especially during the first 50 years of the Viking Age (~793-850). Raid as a way of life was first established in Scandinavia in the 6th century, as exemplified in the British epic tale of Beowulf ; Contemporary sources call the raiders "ferox gens" (ferocious people). The main theory for the raid is that with the explosion of population and the establishment of trade networks into Europe, the Vikings became aware of the wealth of their neighbors, both in silver and land. Recent scholars are not so sure.

But there is no doubt that the Viking raid ultimately led to political conquest, settlement on a considerable scale across Northern Europe, and far-reaching influences on Scandinavian language and culture. in the east and north of England. After the raid ended, this period was followed by revolutionary changes in land ownership, society, and economy, including the development of towns and industry.

Timeline of raids

The earliest Viking raids outside Scandinavia were small-scale, isolated attacks on coastal targets. Led by the Norwegians, raids on monasteries at Northumberland on the northeastern coast of England, at Lindisfarne (793), Jarrow (794) and Wearmouth (794), and at Iona in the Orkney Islands of Scotland (795). These raids were primarily intended to find portable possessions — metal objects, glass, religious texts for ransom, and enslaved people — and if the Norwegians could not find enough in the the monastic shops, they would redeem the monks themselves back into the church.

By AD 850, the Vikings were wintering in England, Ireland, and Western Europe, and by the 860s, they had established strongholds and occupied land, expanding their lands in a brutal way. By 865, the Viking raids were larger and more substantial. A fleet of hundreds of Scandinavian warships known as the Great Army ("micel here" in Anglo-Saxon) arrived in England in 865 and remained for several years, launching raids on cities in both both sides of the English Channel.

Eventually, the Great Army became settlers, creating the region of England known as Danelaw . The last battle of the Great Army, led by Guthrum, was in 878 when they were defeated by the West Saxons under Alfred the Great at Edington in Wiltshire. That peace was negotiated with the baptism of the Christian Guthrum and his 30 warriors. Then the Norse arrived in East Anglia and settled there, where Guthrum became king in the Western European style, under his baptismal name Æthelstan (not to be confused with Athelstan ).

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Viking raid on imperialism

One reason the Viking raids were so successful was because of the comparative disturbance among their neighbors. England was divided into five kingdoms when the Great Danes attacked; Political turmoil ruled the day in Ireland; the rulers of Constantinople fought against the Arabs, and Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire is collapsing.

Half of England fell to the Vikings in 870. Although the Vikings living in England became just another part of the British community, in 980 a new wave of attacks from Norway and Denmark Circuit has occurred. In 1016, King Cnut controlled all of England, Denmark and Norway. In 1066, Harald Hardrada died at Stamford Bridge , essentially ending Norse control of any land outside Scandinavia.

Evidence of Viking impact is found in landmarks, artifacts and other material cultures, and in the DNA of present-day inhabitants across Northern Europe.

Why do Vikings raid?

What prompted the Norse to attack has long been debated. As summed up by British archaeologist Steven P. Ashby, the most common reason is thought to be population pressure - the Scandinavian lands are overpopulated and overpopulated to find the new world. Other reasons discussed in the academic literature include the development of marine technology, climate change, religious fatalism, political centralism, and the "silver rush". The silver rush is what scholars call a response to the changing availability of Arabic silver flooding into Scandinavian markets.

Raiding during the early medieval period was widespread, not limited to Scandinavia. The raid emerged against the backdrop of a flourishing economic system in the North Sea region, based largely on trade with Arab civilizations: the Arab caliphs were producing demand for the slaves. tears and furs and trade them for silver. That could have led to Scandinavia appreciating an increasing amount of silver entering the Baltic and North Sea regions, Ashby suggested.

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Social factors to raid

A strong driver for mobile wealth building is its use as a bridge asset. Scandinavian society is undergoing a demographic change in which young males make up a disproportionately large portion of the population. Some scholars have suggested that it stems from the murder of women , and some evidence for that can be found in historical documents such as Gunnlaug's Saga and in connection with the sacrifice of women. female children in 10 c Hedeby were described by the Arab writer Al-Turtushi. There are also a small number of adult women's graves of late Iron Age Scandinavia and occasional children's bones found in Viking and medieval sites.

Ashby suggests that the excitement and adventure of young people's travels in Scandinavia should not be dismissed. He suggests that this dynamic could be called status fever: that people who visit exotic locations often gain some sense of the extraordinary for themselves. Thus, the Viking raid was a quest for knowledge, fame and prestige, to break free from the constraints of home society, and along the way, acquire valuable goods. . Viking political elites and shamans had privileged access to Arabs and other travelers who visited Scandinavia, and their sons later wanted to go out and do the same.

Viking Silver Hoards

Archaeological evidence of the success of many of these raids — and the extent to which the loot was seized — is found in Viking silver hoarding collections , found throughout Northern Europe, and contains wealth from all conquered lands.

The Viking hoard of silver (or the Viking hoard) was a storehouse (mainly) of silver coins, ingots, personal ornaments, and fragmented metal remaining in buried mines throughout the Viking empire from around 800 to 1150 AD. Hundreds of hoards have been found in UK, Scandinavian and Nordic caches. They are still found to this day; One of the most recent is the Galloway hoard discovered in Scotland in 2014.

Amassed from plunder, trade and tribute, as well as the bride's wealth and fines, the hoards represent a glimpse into a broad understanding of the Viking economy, as well as silver casting and smelting processes in the world at that time. Around AD 995 when the Viking King Olaf I converted to Christianity, the hoards also began to show evidence of the spread of Christianity by Vikings throughout the region, and their connection to trade and urbanization of continental Europe.