Vikings
The Vikings were Scandinavian seafarers who raided, traded and settled across Europe from about 800 to 1100 AD.
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The Vikings were Scandinavian seafarers who raided, traded and settled across Europe from about 800 to 1100 AD.
- Longships were fast and shallow
- Lindisfarne was raided in 793
- They settled in Iceland and Normandy
🧠 Quick quiz
Three questions. Score 2 or more to complete the topic.
What is Vikings?
Within History, which covers ancient civilisations, empires, revolutions, world wars and the making of the modern world, this topic explains Vikings. History topics connect events, people and ideas across time, so each one here gives a clear summary and a way to test your understanding.
Check that you can explain Vikings in your own words and give one example from everyday life. If you can do that, you have understood the core idea.
Understanding Vikings helps you explain change over time and judge why events happened, which is the core skill in history essays.
Vikings in detail
The Vikings were seafarers from Scandinavia (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) who raided, traded and settled across Europe from about AD 793, when they attacked the monastery at Lindisfarne. Their longships were fast, shallow and sturdy, allowing them to sail across seas and up rivers.
Reasons for raiding include overpopulation, lack of farmland and the wealth of monasteries. They settled in England (the Danelaw), Ireland, Normandy, Iceland and Greenland, and Leif Erikson reached North America around 1000. They were also farmers, craftsmen and traders. Alfred the Great defended Wessex and made peace with the Danes. Evidence includes sagas, archaeology and place-names.
How the interactive helps you understand Vikings
Watch the timeline in the interactive. Use any sliders or buttons it offers to change the values and see how the timeline responds.
Before you change anything, predict the result. Then change one value at a time and check whether your prediction was right. This is a quick way to build a correct mental model of Vikings.
Real-life uses and examples
- Judge how important Vikings was by weighing evidence from more than one source.
- Explain the causes and consequences of Vikings in a well-structured paragraph.
- Compare Vikings with another event to spot patterns of change and continuity.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Treating one source as the whole story when you study Vikings.
- Describing events without explaining why they happened.
- Learning the definition without testing it. Use the quiz and the interactive to check that you can apply the idea.
Frequently asked questions about Vikings
What is Vikings?
The Vikings were Scandinavian seafarers who raided, traded and settled across Europe from about 800 to 1100 AD.
What are the most important points about Vikings?
The main points are: Longships were fast and shallow; Lindisfarne was raided in 793; They settled in Iceland and Normandy.
Why is Vikings useful?
Understanding Vikings helps you explain change over time and judge why events happened, which is the core skill in history essays.
How can I practise Vikings?
Open the interactive at the top of this page and change the controls one at a time. Predict the result before each change, then take the three-question quiz. A score of two or more marks the topic as complete on this device.
Which topics are related to Vikings?
Related topics in History include Castles and Knights, The Crusades, The Hundred Years' War.