The Vikings and the Viking Age (A. D. 793-1066)

The Vikings have a big impact on Medieval history. They left their homeland Scandinavia at the end of the VIIIth century and started to raid, pillage and burn down the whole Europe. They were the biggest nightmare of the rest of the Europe. This age started with the attack on Lindisfarne Monastry in today's Scotland and ended after the Stamford Bridge War in 1066. Viking Age effected both Scandinavia and the Europe. They caused so many changes in the medieval history. They explored the North Atlantic Islands such as The Faroe Island, Iceland, Greenland and they went even further to the Americas. Vikings discovered Newfoundland in North America and this made them the first Europeans to discover America. This happened around 500 years before Columbus. Vikings attacked and pillaged the monastries, towns and villages of the continental Europe, especially Carolingian Empire. They repeatedly attached Britain and Ireland as well. They left an enduring mark on Europe. The Vikings who went to Eastern Europe were often called the Rus' or the Varangians. These were mostly traders, merchants not raiders. These Vikings had a very close contact with Turkic people, Arabic world and with the Byzantium Empire. They played an inmortant role on the future of Russia. Vikings took many things along with them back to Scandinavia and this changed the face of Scandinavia dramatically. They also effected Europe in many ways. First of all, the great Viking longships had a big contribution on inproving the ship technology and build the big ocean ships which allowed the Europens to exploit the whole world. In this dissertation, we have dealt with nearly every aspect of the Vikings. We took a look at the history of Scandinavia before the Vikings and we had a wider perspective when we came to talk about the Viking Age. We also tried to have a look at their cultural aspects, mythology, warfare and literature.