Vikings Influence On American History

1000 when he was blown off course, and instead found a rocky land barren land in which is now known as present-day Canada, then found with grapevines and named it Vinland. Eriksson gave the land a name Helluland which is Norwegian for “Stone Slab Land.” Researchers believe that this location could possibly have been Baffin Island. Eriksson then voyaged south to a location they called Markland (Forestland), which was most likely present-day Labrador, before they finally set up a base camp most likely on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland. They made their way back soon after and brought back much needed timber, and grapes. Other Vikings continued to sail west to Vinland for at least the ensuing decade. In spite of North America’s bountiful resources, the Viking settlers stayed in desolate Greenland. This was most likely due to the violent happenings—including the slaying of Eriksson’s brother Thorwald–they encountered with the indigenous population of North America.

Coming from Scandinavian countries, predominantly Denmark and Norway, the Vikings began raiding the British Isles in the late 700s (James). The Vikings primarily targeted monasteries, because that is where most of the wealth was concentrated (Loughrey). These raids were very violent, people were killed, and the survivors were sold into slavery (Loughrey). These violent raids earned the Vikings the reputation of barbarians, much like the Mongols a few centuries later in Asia. After some time, once the Vikings exhausted most of the wealth in the monasteries, they turned their interest into settling the British Isles (James). By the late 9th century the Vikings had conquered most of England (James). However, even though these Viking kingdoms did not last very long, the Scandinavians who resided there stayed. These Scandinavians would go on to change the British Isles in many ways. Despite the violent and negative impacts of Viking raids on the British Isles, once the Vikings settled down, they had a significant and positive peaceful impact on the British Isles culturally, politically, and economically.

The reason for the Vikings leaving their homelands and venturing off on trade missions, raids, explorations, and new settlements is largely unknown, due to a lack of evidence (Vikings weren’t huge fans of writing down their day to day lives and history.) However, it can be speculated that they left for a few reasons. The first of those reasons was to escape forced conversion to Christianity by Charlemagne. The Vikings had their own unique religion which differed heavily from Christianity. Add to this the fact that Christians don’t have the best history with accepting other beliefs, it is understandable that the Vikings may have feared Christian conversion and sought to find new lands to escape. This fear of conversion was a large part of the Saxon wars affecting Germanic peoples. It’s worth noting the irony of the Vikings leaving their homeland in fear of Christian conversion considering their leader Harald Bluetooth (935-985), who was the King of Norway and Denmark, eventually converted the Vikings himself to Christianity. The second reason for the Vikings suddenly migrating may be due to their beliefs in relation to inheritance. Vikings gave their first sons all acquired land, this caused younger sons to venture off on their own to gain their own property. Regardless of the reason, the Vikings ventured off in their long ships to raid, pillage,

burn and pillage their way across civilized Europe. During this period much progress was achieved in terms of Scandinavian art and craftsmanship, marine technology, exploration, and the development of commerce. It seems the Vikings did as much trading as they did

The Vikings were a group of Scandinavian raiders that were around from about the 8th century to the 11th. They mainly attacked the British Islands , the Frankish empire, England, but they also plundered places such as the Iberian peninsula and northern Africa. Vikings did not always settle into the places that they found, for instance after exploring North America they left the place never to return again. Even so, after landing on Greenland they colonized themselves there, and ancestors of the Vikings still live there today. So now that you know a little about the history of the Vikings lets go into detail about the specifics of the Viking age. (Peter Sawyer, Oxford Ill. History of the Vikings p. 1-19)

When one sees the word Viking, the mind firstly shifts to men who are uncivilized and unprincipled. Using evidence of achievements and victories will not only show how much they impacted Europe, but how sophisticated Vikings actually were. As Charlemagne’s empire ended, the people of Europe showed extraordinary resilience toward the new movements of the era. From 800 to 1200 CE, Vikings ruled medieval Europe. These Vikings, along with thick soil, are credited with shifting Europe from endemic violence toward cooperation and legal order. An attack on the Lindisfarne monastery off the coast of Northumberland in northeastern England marked the beginning of the Viking Age. Vikings began to appear in Europe due to Scandinavian raiders repeatedly visiting the Christian countries of Europe. At first they were content with just raiding lands, but soon they began to seize land and proclaim rule. They sought riches, not land. With this established rule, Vikings promised safety and began to reform the lands they had acquired. The people agreed due to starvation and possible attacks from eneimes. The new lands had a need for settled agriculture, defensive warfare and commerce. As the Vikings began to fulfill these needs they saw an expansion in cooperation and rule of law among the villagers.

Recorded history is nothing but the belief or bias of the man who wrote it. Often when discussing history, people us the popular phrase, “the winner writes the history books” or something along the lines. But nevertheless, the phrase does hold true. All history that is written is biased, but it is up to the reader to find the truth in within history. No matter what history is written, there will always be a different perspective, a different society, and a different perception of what is truly going on. History does not tell us the absolute truth, but it gives us a morphed version of the truth that we, as readers, must interpret to find the truth.

The Vikings escaped from tyranny and fled Europe. They found and settled in Iceland and Greenland. They made expeditions to find new lands were others wouldn't dare go. If it wasn't for the Vikings, the world would be drastically change. Some lands might not have even been discovered or even inhabited. Thankfully, the Vikings were there so, they we could find them and discover new and precious metals and resources. That of which, the world uses and is grateful for today. Vikings really cherished time spent voyaging with their family and closest friends. One of the reasons their

Some of the motivational factors that initiated the Viking invasions were: The death of Charlemagne, the consecutive weakening of the Frankish Empire and a Baltic Sea with a fragile and broken down trade. But one of the main factors for the actions of the Vikings was the growing population of young Vikings looking for settlement, adventure and wealth.

1000, The Vikings were the first Europeans to sail to North America. Sailed from Scandinavia which is now in the countries Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. They need sailing west into North Atlantic. They found a settlement in Iceland. Erik the red the sailed to Greenland for further discovery. Leif Eriksson, following in his father's footstep sailed to Greenland from Norway. On the way, winds blow his ship off course into present day Canada. Then the other Vikings settled in NewFoundLand. Leif then went on to settle Vinland. There they were getting mauled by the natives and left due to the fact they couldn't get back up from the Vikings in other locations They didn’t come back to Vinland for another few centuries.

The sleek and compact design of the Viking long ships allowed for easy landings on land masses which in turn led to easier invasions of empires and other civilizations. Because of the ease of landing the ships the Vikings were able

They soon heard of how successful and rich they had became and how easy it was to do it, so many Vikings joined together to invade many different countries. Some Vikings decided to stay in the area they conquered and expand in the places they had taken. The Vikings invaded many places along the north sea and Atlantic sea of Europe including, the Netherlands, France and Spain. They also sailed the rivers of Germany to invade settlements along the rivers. The Vikings traveled the sea in ships called longships.

Moving on to the third factor, the author explains that the Norse were definitely faced with hostile neighbors in Greenland. He states that “Inuit attacks and threats may have played a direct role in the Vikings’ extinction” (Diamond, 255). The Norse had a bad attitude towards the Inuit, and probably attacked and killed the first ones they say. The Inuit had

American society is known for having the highest standard of living across the globe; this is solely due to the consumerist culture that is brought forth by capitalism. Americans in the U.S. take pride in these standards and in the freedoms that this democratic nation has established. The 20th century will always be remembered in American history as a century of radical changes on the social and political fronts of the nation. Literature, too, evolved quickly from specific, compartmentalized fields which fit into categories, to works which had no set definition—nobody knew what to do with them. These changes also took place in poetry; artistic expression began to change across the arts and so did the mediums. Poets across the nation

It is here where for many centuries fishermen and traders survived and from these very shores the Vikings organized a vast maritime trading network. The Vikings ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland, Greenland, and ultimately North America in the late 10th century to establish colonies throughout. To this day, Norway retains a robust fishing industry boasting one of the world’s largest merchant marine fleets. During the late 20th century, vast reserves of natural gas and petroleum were discovered in Norway’s North Sea bringing a new source of prosperity to the country according to Sager, R. D. et al. (1997).