The Vikings were a people of diverse Scandinavian origin who began to trade with Britain across the north sea as early as the 6th century and who began to attack and raid coastal settlements towards the end of the 8th century. Most famously they attacked and sacked the monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria in 793 and there are records of an attack on Ireland in 795. During this period the attackers were usually called Norseman, or Northmen, the term Viking, deriving from the early Scandinavian

for pirate, being widely used only later.

The aggressive attacks made during the 9th century may derive from a surplus of population in Scandinavian lands – certainly there was an excess of manpower – and their extraordinary technical skill as sailors and warriors whose longships were

575 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Vikings". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 November 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1623, accessed 19 April 2024.]