We've all heard about the Vikings. Sometimes this word evokes in a person the idea of ​​evil and bloodthirsty people who are dressed in coarse wool, and on their heads they have horned helmets, armed with axes, looking for profit. But in reality everything is different. Who the Vikings really were, where they came from and where they lived, you will find out by reading this article. Everything important about the history of the Vikings is told here.

Vikings - origin story

The term "Viking" comes from the Old Norse word "vikingr". This word is associated with the designation of bays and fjords. In addition, there is a region in Norway called Vik, and some scientists believe that the Vikings began to gather there. The Vikings were ordinary free peasants of Scandinavia. Archaeologists have not found a single “helmet with horns”; this is just a trick by directors to give the Vikings a more bloodthirsty look in films. They lived in groups in villages with small populations. They were a harsh people, because... it was impossible to survive otherwise in Scandinavia. While vassal-suzerain relations began to develop in Europe and castles were built, this was not the case in Scandinavia; all peasants were free and worked for themselves.

The Viking customs were very interesting. So, if a child was born, he was immediately taken out naked into the street in order to show the baby to nature to his mother. From childhood, children were trained in military affairs, because the Scandinavian tribes were often at enmity with each other. After reaching the age of sixteen, young men were taken to an “obstacle course” that they had to complete within a certain time and then fight an adult member of the tribe. If a young man passed the test successfully, he received warrior status and was allowed to marry. As for the family, the Vikings lived in a large house with the whole family. The concept of family included not only parents, but also sons and their families. Children from siblings were considered relatives to each other. If one brother died, the other was to marry his wife and take the children.

Vikings - history of conquest

Conditions for survival in the north were not the best, which pushed the northern peoples to wander and conquer. Initially, the Viking campaigns were aimed at finding new lands to live in, but over time they began to raid the settlements of Britain and Northern Europe. However, first things first.

Viking ships

In order to cross the seas, the Vikings needed suitable ships. And they had such ships. Often the name of the ship of the warring Vikings appears in crosswords and scanwords - they were called “Drakkars”. The name of the ships on which the Vikings traveled was given in honor of dragons, mythical creatures that the Vikings respected and believed that they existed and could bring good luck to sailors, and they installed a dragon statue on the bow of the ship. The Drakkar was an excellent ship for that time. Narrow and long, with a wide bottom, it could reach a length of up to 60 meters and a width of 5 to 12. Such a ship was propelled by a sail or oars. On such a ship it was convenient not only to sail across seas, but even across oceans. If you are wondering how to draw a Viking ship, then the answer is simple: look at the thematically relevant illustrations on this page. You'll immediately get an idea of ​​what these rugged ships looked like.

The first Viking raid occurred in 789. Three ships sailed to South-West England, attacked the settlement of Dorset and plundered it. This date is considered to be the starting point of the Viking expansion. The Vikings were pagans, and often began to attack the coastal monasteries of Britain and Northern Europe. They killed the monks, took out all the jewelry and their conscience did not torment them. Over time, the people of Scandinavia realized that robbery was quite profitable, and the number of Vikings increased, and the territory of their expansion expanded. In 839, the Norwegians founded their kingdom in Ireland, and in 844 they reached the shores of Muslim Spain. In the same year, Cordoba, the capital of Muslim Spain, was captured and partially plundered. In 845 Paris was captured. After 15 years, the Vikings Askold and Dir became princes in the city of Kyiv, and in the same year the Vikings appeared under the walls of Constantinople. This was the apogee of their expansion; all of Europe knew and feared the Vikings. Nowadays, many people confuse the concepts of Normans, Vikings and Varangians. In fact, everything is very simple - in northern Europe and Italy the Vikings were called Normans, in Rus' and Byzantium Varangians. Thus, in Rus' and Byzantium, the courage and fighting skills of the Varangians were highly valued, and the rulers of these states had personal Varangian guards. Over time, the Vikings would conquer England, create their own states in northern France and southern Italy, and become rulers of Russian lands.

Some geographical discoveries of the Vikings

However, the Vikings were not only engaged in robbery and robbery, but also discovered new lands for themselves. So, in 860 the island of Iceland was discovered. Several colonies were built on it, which grew greatly over time, the largest population numbering 40,000 people. Soon the Vikings sailed to Greenland, and then to the shores of North America. There they began to try to found colonies (around the year 1000), but the distance from the main lands of residence, the harsh climate and poor relations with the indigenous American peoples forced the Vikings to abandon this idea. Despite this, it was the Vikings who were the first to reach America, and not Christopher Columbus.

In Ancient Scandinavia, during the Viking Age (VIII - XI centuries), there were 3 important cities: Hedeby (Denmark), Birka (Sweden), Kaupang (Norway). Important because they formed early as large trading centers along trade routes. They are mentioned in the sagas. All noble people, and not only from Scandinavia, tried to own them or the estates in them. What is known about Hedeby, which was located in Denmark?

The history of the settlement on the site of the future city begins in the first years of the 8th century. At this time, there were already dugouts, half protruding from the ground.

First mention of the city Hedeby (Hedeby, Haithabu — Haitaby, literally - the city of the pagans) are found in the “Annals of the Frankish Kings” in 804. The king of the Danes, Godfrey (originally from Sliestorp), having defeated the Slavic tribe of Obodrites, destroys their trading city of Rerik and resettles all the traders in his hometown. It was initially believed that the Sliestorp in these records was Hedeby. But just a few years ago, a real one was discovered near Hedeby. Sliestorp (Sliastorp, Sliesthorp) - a city on the Shleya River. Other names for Hedeby that are mentioned in the sagas and on rune stones: Schleswig, Schleiswig, Hatoum, Haita bay.

Hedeby is located in the southern part of the Jutland Peninsula, at its narrow point. On the shore of Lake Haddebi Nura, from which the Shleya River flows. It allowed control of the trade route connecting the North Sea and the Baltic. To the south there was also an important trade road - the Voyskovoy/Volovy tract, as it would be called later.

Through a system of earthen fortifications, the trade route from the Baltic to the North Sea was connected to the port at Holingstedt (Holingstedt), 17 km towards the North Sea. As a result, cargo from the west first arrived at the port, then was transported overland to Hedeby, and then again by boat along the Schlee River (35 km) further to the Baltic. Thus, traders avoided the dangerous route around the Jutland Peninsula. The passage through Hedeby placed demands on the ships. The boats had to be small and high-slung - the entrance to the lake near Hedeby was shallow. And the width of the Trina River near Holingstedt reaches only 15 m.

Hedeby was often confused with Schleiswig, also a trading city, which took the palm of trade in the region after the destruction of its sister city. In fact, trade from Hedeby was moved north to a more convenient location relative to the approaches to the water. Schleiswig existed for some time in parallel with Hedeby and was able to accommodate ships with a larger landing.

At the end of the 9th century, the city was conquered by the Swedish royal dynasty. At this time, Hedeby's prosperity reached its apogee. During this period, a large flow of silver was recorded in the city to the west - the Scandinavians actively traded with the latter. In 934, Hedeby was captured by the German king Henry the Birdcatcher. In a later period, the city constantly suffered from aggressive attacks by both the Danes and the Germans. Hedeby was destroyed and abandoned in the 1060s.

The city was surrounded by a huge earthen rampart, reaching up to 5 meters in height and 1,400 meters in length. Moreover, this shaft appeared only in the late period of the city’s existence, when the degree of debate over its ownership increased. Later, another earthen embankment was built, connecting it to the famous Danevirke rampart. From the side of the lake, the city was protected by a semicircular palisade, wooden piles dug into the coastal bottom. The settlement needed good protection so that trade would be protected from shocks.

A river passed through the city, along which buildings of various sizes were built: 3x3 m, 7x16 m, etc. The buildings were surrounded by a wicker fence. There was a toilet inside the site, and there was also a well. Many areas near the water had steps leading down to the river. The buildings could have belonged to merchants of various nationalities. There is even a hypothesis that the city was founded by Western traders, not Scandinavians. Hedeby was inhabited all year round because it was located in the busiest place of trade in Ancient Scandinavia.

They note the structure of the streets in Hedeby - it was 🙂 Unlike Birka and Kaupang. The city was divided into square blocks. The streets, covered with wooden flooring, were straight, leading to the harbor and turned into piers. One gets the feeling that the city obeyed a single law of construction and adhered to a unanimously dictated style of architecture.

Streets

A typical house in the city consisted of 3 rooms: 2 small ones on 2 sides and a large one in the middle. One of the small rooms served as a kitchen. The large room was well furnished. Typical Scandinavian benches along the walls. The benches were covered with animal skins. There were tapestries on the walls. There was a fire pit in the middle of the room. The floor was covered with leather rugs. Opposite one of the walls stood a loom and a pair of wooden chests of drawers.

Around 850, the missionary Ansgarius received permission from King Horik to build the first church in Denmark on the territory of the city.

The population of the city was approximately 1000 people. But on crowded trading days there were from 2 to 3 thousand people in the city at the same time. From all sides there was trade in colored fabrics, bone and iron jewelry, spices, glassware, walrus tusks, leather, and wool. Finds at the excavation site also confirm trade in leather shoes, glass beads, amber, combs, needles, pipes, playing boards, etc. Craftsmen also lived in Hedeby. It is known that bronze and silver jewelry was cast there, iron was melted, and glass was processed. From Hedeby, goods traveled further to the island of Gotland and Birka. Also in the opposite direction. Data on goods was obtained on the basis of found archaeological artifacts, there are about 340,000 of them.

A witness of that time, the Arab traveler At-Tartushi, notes that the city was terribly dirty and noisy. Already at the port you could feel the stench of the garbage that was accumulating in the city. Debris could even be seen in the water near ships. There was constant noise in the city: grunting, screaming, quarrels, splashing mud. Domestic pigs were running around the streets. It is worth considering that At-Tartushi visited the city in the 10th century, when Hedeby suffered from attacks and fell into decay.

The city's merchants paid tribute to government officials, and in return received protection from attacks and stability in doing business. At the beginning of the 9th century, they were the first in Scandinavia to mint coins. On one side there was an image of an animal, on the other - a ship.

So much is known about Hedeby because the archaeological excavations were very successful. Since the Viking Age, the water in this area has risen by 120 cm. This has had a positive effect on the safety of all the elements found.

Interestingly, the trading cities gradually fell into decline towards the end of the Viking Age. This trend also applies to trading settlements in Western Europe at that time. To remain competitive, trade was moved further north into the fjord, closer to the sea, to Schleiswig.

Since the real town of Sliestorp was recently discovered (2012), important details about Hedeby have come to light. Sliestorp turned out to be an ancient city founded before Hedeby, as the legend about King Godfrey says. And it turns out that the royal estate, the houses of the nobility and warriors were located there. The king lived 5 km from the “business center” of the region, avoiding noise and dirt. A similar structure (a city for the nobility and a trading city) is found at Birka (Sweden).

At the moment, only 6% of Hedeby's 26 hectares have been studied by archaeologists. There are still many discoveries ahead about this important Old Norse trading city.

Vikings, which at the end of the 8th to the 11th centuries attacked from the sea, mainly rampaged in England and France, they were known to contemporaries under various names.

The French called them "Normans" - translated as northern people. In the 11th century in England, the Vikings were called "Ashmans" - translated as people floating on the ash tree. Ash was used as the top planking of ships. In Ireland, the Vikings were called “Finn Galles” - translated as the light of foreigners (if they were Norwegians) and “Dub Gales” - dark wanderers (if they were Danes), in Byzantium - “Varanga”, and in Rus' they were called “Varangians”

Viking legend. Where does the word Viking come from?

At the moment they are most often called Vikings. The term is probably related to the verb Viking, which previously meant "to go to sea to gain wealth and glory."

The origin of the word "Viking" (vi'kingr) is still unclear. Scientists have long associated this term with the word Viken, near the Oslo Fjord.

But in all medieval sources the inhabitants of Vik are not called “Vikings”.

Some believe that the word "Viking" comes from the word "vi", the Viking is the one who hides in the bay.

But in this case it can be used for peaceful merchants. Next, they tried to combine the word “Viking” with the old English “Vic” (from the Latin “Vicus”), which means a trading point, a city, a fortified camp.

Currently, the most acceptable hypothesis is considered to be that of the Swedish scientist F. Askeberg, who believes that the term Viking comes from the verb “vikya” - “turn”, “deviation”.

A Viking, in its modern interpretation, is a person who sailed from home, left his homeland, i.e., a sea warrior, a pirate.

It is interesting that in ancient sources this word is often referred to as - pirate, predatory expeditions. Please note that in the eyes of the Scandinavians, the word "Viking" has a negative connotation.

In the Icelandic sagas of the 13th century, Vikings are described as people who engaged in robbery and rampant piracy and are presented as bloodthirsty.

Viking legend. So where did these Vikings come from?

Initially, it was believed that the Vikings crossed the seas and came from the North Country. These brave and cruel people - pagans were called "Norman", i.e., northern people. Who embarked on long campaigns in search of new lands, engaged in robbery or robbery.

Today we know that the northern country unknown to us is Scandinavia, the lands that are located in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

There, on the sea coast in harsh natural conditions, far from each other, there were a village of fishermen, hunters, farmers and cattle breeders who lived in grueling conditions and fought for their existence.

The heads of these families had unlimited power over women, children and slaves. Weakness there was considered a shame, cowardice and a crime. These young people looked well-mannered. But they did not spare either their own or others’ lives. It was considered a disgrace to die in open battle for the favor of the gods, and to die an old age was considered a disgrace.

Viking legend. What prompted the Viking Normans to go to sea?

Perhaps the climatic weather conditions, with its rocky mountains, poor soil, lack of arable land, which was not able to feed these people? Or were the Vikings so temptingly attracted by the riches of churches and monasteries that were located overseas? Or were they simply drawn to adventure? We can only guess about this.

In the northern countries at all times there was little fertile land suitable for cultivation. The harsh climate was not conducive to obtaining high yields; mainly grain crops such as barley and oats were sown there, from which they baked flat cakes and cooked porridge.

The sea that splashed on their doorstep was much more generous than the earth under their feet. When lean years came, the Vikings fed their livestock fish, which helped these animals survive until the next spring and new grass.

Their food was fish, which they ate in abundance every day. Scandinavians love the sea very much. Their art of shipbuilding at that time had reached great perfection.

And so it happened that several years were poor, the fish went away from their native shores, and their homes were destroyed by enemies or fires - people built ships and went to sea in search of a better life. These people called themselves Vikings.

Thus, the Vikings turned into the first ancient northern travelers.

“The Viking sword, similar to a heavy iron stick, recalled an entire era when tall, fair-haired warriors with bulging eyes walked on their boats, as if on sea horses, half the world - from the Caspian Sea to America - leaving here, in Scotland, not only the memory of yourself, but also a part of yourself.”
Vladimir Shcherbakov. "Scottish fairy tale."

De furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine.

Medieval prayer

Origin of the Vikings

The Viking Age is often called the heroic age of the Scandinavian peoples. But many Scandinavians never left their peninsula, and among the Vikings there were Slavs, British, and even Pechenegs.

The Vikings were known in Europe by different names. The most common name was the word "northerner", which sounded different in different languages. The most famous word "Norman", but, for example, in Ireland they used the word Lochlannach . Often the newcomers from the north were simply called "strangers" or "pagans". Since half of all Scandinavians at that time lived in Denmark, in a word "given" often referred to all newcomers from the north, including Norwegians and Swedes. On the lands of the Eastern Slavs, the Vikings were called "Varangians" , or "Rus" .

In a word "Viking" in the Middle Ages only the Scandinavians themselves used it. Originally this word sounded like vikingr and literally meant “man from the fjords.” A “Viking,” unlike a “Norman,” is not any resident of Scandinavia, but only a person who went overseas “to see people and show himself off.” At first, Vikings were called not only sea robbers, but also peaceful traders.

What made thousands of Scandinavians leave their beautiful, although not too warm, homeland and embark on sea voyages? Maybe it's the so-called "agrarian overpopulation", that is, in the inability of the harsh northern lands to feed the ever-growing number of mouths? If there is not enough food for everyone in the country, extreme measures have to be taken. So the most energetic Scandinavians had to go to the devil's horns for an extra crust of bread. At the same time, the number of brawlers on the peninsula has decreased.

On this map, burgundy, red, orange and yellow colors indicate the territories in which in the 8th-11th centuries. there were Norman settlements. Areas shaded green were attacked by Vikings but were never colonized.

This theory is good, but far from ideal. Firstly, it is not entirely clear why the Scandinavians rushed overseas without having yet had time to properly develop the interior of the peninsula. Secondly, no historian has yet been able to convincingly prove with numbers in hand that medieval Scandinavia really suffered from overpopulation.

There are other assumptions. The simplest thing: the Vikings went on predatory campaigns because no one bothered them. After the collapse of the empire Charlemagne in all of Western Europe there is not a single state left capable of effectively defending its borders from the encroachments of northern robbers. The military leaders of the Scandinavians, who were late to the division of the wealth of the Roman Empire, felt somewhat deprived and did not consider it shameful to pocket what was in bad shape.

Some historians see the Viking campaigns as a kind of “pagan jihad.” According to this version, the predatory campaigns of the Vikings were just a “symmetrical response” to the actions of the Christian kings, who diligently baptized the Germanic tribes with “fire and sword.”

The first Viking raids occurred at the very end of the 8th century. It all started with robberies, but soon new opportunities appeared. Having previously suppressed the armed resistance of local residents, the Vikings began intensive colonization new lands. Soon, new states arose on the fertile lands of France and the British Isles, headed by yesterday's Viking leaders. Now Scandinavian warriors could fill their purses without drawing their sword, but simply by collecting taxes. Another means of peaceful enrichment was trade. Vikings created in Northern Europe single distribution network, opening new trade routes and creating new trading centers.

Looking ahead, let's say why the Viking campaigns eventually stopped. Firstly, the Scandinavian countries became united kingdoms, and the Viking freemen were put an end to their homeland. Secondly, in the 11th century. the vast majority of Scandinavians accepted Christianity. Further raids on monasteries, which represented the most tempting targets, became impossible for religious reasons. Finally, the armies of European sovereigns became much stronger than in the 8th-9th centuries, and now even large Viking detachments were not immune from defeat.

Attention - myth: The Vikings' enemies often described them as dirty, unkempt savages. In fact, the Scandinavians at that time were the cleanest among Europeans. If possible, the Vikings washed their face every morning and bathed once a week. In addition, in Scandinavia it was considered indecent to walk around with uncut nails - after all, the nails of the dead served as building material for a giant ship on which an army of giants would sail to their final battle with the gods.

Across the seas, across the waves...

At all times, sea power surpassed land power. The one who has supremacy at sea always has strategic initiative and high mobility, which means he can easily nullify the numerical superiority of the enemy’s ground army. This is the main secret of the Norman victories. Having created a powerful fleet, they easily brought all of Europe to its knees.

There were two main types of Viking ships: long ships And knarrs. Long ships are often called "drakkars", which is not entirely true. In fact, a drakkar is just one type of long ship.

Sneckar (modern reconstruction).

Of all types "long ship" the shortest was snackar (only about seventeen meters). Having a shallow draft, it felt great in shallow water and did not need harbors (if desired, the sneckar was easy to pull onto land). The snekkar's crew consisted of twelve pairs of oarsmen and a helmsman. Because of their cheapness, snekkars formed the backbone of the Norman fleets: the Danish king Canute the Great had 1,400 of them at his disposal, and William the Conqueror had about 600.

Drakkars were much larger (their length exceeded thirty meters). They were not distinguished by good maneuverability, but they could carry a landing party of eighty heavily armed soldiers. The special design of the drakkar's deck allowed its crew to fire at enemy sailors from top to bottom with bows. To protect against enemy arrows, the sides of the drakkars were hung with shields. As a rule, longships entered battle in a tight formation and formed a single platform. If two such platforms collided, a battle broke out, practically no different from a land battle.

Drakkars owe their name to the custom of decorating the bows of ships with figures of snakes or dragons. These figures served as amulets that protected ship crews from sea monsters, the reality of which the Vikings had no doubt. Dragon heads were also a kind of psychological weapon designed to strike fear into the hearts of enemies.

Not a single real longship has survived to this day. We know about the existence of ships of this type only from written sources.

Attention - myth: very often “Gokstad” and “Oseberg” ships found in Scandinavian burials are called longships. However, despite their impressive size (more than twenty meters in length), they are still much shorter than those longships, the descriptions of which have survived to this day.

In 1962 and 1996 Danish archaeologists found two ships of a similar type, thirty and thirty-six meters in length, respectively. From the place where it was first found, this previously unknown type of long ship was named "ship from Roskilde". Both ships were built at the very end of the Viking Age and were most likely intended not for war, but for trade.

Knarr was shorter, wider and heavier than a long ship. She was never used in raids, but served as a primary merchant ship. The only surviving knarr was also discovered in Roskilde in 1962.

Viking ship bow decoration.

A ship found in the Gokstad burial site.

For their time, Viking ships were very fast. It is believed that the “Gokstad ship”, sailing, could reach a speed of twelve knots. One of the ships built in the 20th century. According to ancient descriptions, he was able to cover a distance of 413 kilometers in one day.

The sail was used only during long sea crossings. In headwinds, in rivers, and also during battle, the Vikings used oars. The rowers sat not on special benches, but on boxes with their own belongings, which made it possible to greatly save space. Since on some expeditions the Vikings did not see the shore for a long time, they learned to preserve food in good condition with the help of ice and salt.

There are many interesting hypotheses regarding the seafaring art of the Vikings. For example, some historians claim that the Vikings knew the astrolabe, with which they found their way by the stars. Remained a mystery for a long time "sun stone", mentioned in some sagas and changing its color depending on the position of the sun in the sky, even in cloudy weather or during fog. As it turned out, the mineral has similar properties cordierite, called the "Viking compass" in some parts of Scandinavia. The sagas also mention real compasses, consisting of small magnets attached to a piece of wood and lowered into a bowl of water.

The Vikings entered into naval battles only near the coast. Having approached the enemy ship, the Vikings fired at it with bows or simply threw stones at it. It all ended in boarding. In most cases, the outcome of the battle depended not on seamanship, but on the ability to wield melee weapons.

Shield and ax

The shallow draft of the ships allowed the Vikings to move freely up the rivers. Having reached the place where the river ceased to be navigable, the Vikings landed on the shore and, having fortified the parking of their ships, began to plunder the surrounding area. At first, they avoided major battles and, as soon as they saw an enemy army on the horizon, they quickly loaded onto ships and set off to plunder some other area. Such tactics made the Vikings almost elusive and, as a result, invincible. Later, the Vikings began to build small but very well fortified fortresses on enemy lands, which served as strongholds for new raids.

A very lonely berserker in the middle of a mountain of corpses.

Norwegian berserkers land on peaceful British shores.

There was no room for horses on the ships, so the Vikings always fought on foot. Horses captured from local residents were sometimes still used, but not for combat, but for rapid movement overland (a similar tactic was later used by dragoons). The Vikings were fluent in hand-to-hand combat and always dealt with local militias without any problems. The knight's cavalry was much more dangerous. To fight it on equal terms, the Vikings used dense formations, somewhat reminiscent of a phalanx, and formed a solid wall of shields. At first, this tactic was invariably successful. But later the French learned to break through the “shield wall” with large masses of heavy cavalry, and the British created heavy infantry that was not inferior to the Vikings in military training.

Many Scandinavian armies had shock troops "berserkers" . Little is known about them. The Berserker was distinguished from other warriors by his ability to enter a special state of uncontrollable rage, making him an extremely formidable opponent. In some places, berserkers were considered so dangerous that they were even outlawed.

It has not yet been established exactly how the berserker entered a state of combat madness. There are several opinions on this matter.

The most popular version says that berserkers drank a decoction of fly agarics before the battle. Siberian shamans put themselves into a trance state in a similar way. According to another hypothesis, the cause of the uncontrollable rage of berserkers was not fly agarics at all, but an unusually severe hangover caused by drinking alcoholic beverages with special additives. Recently, an experiment was conducted that debunked both of these hypotheses. It has been proven that a decoction of fly agaric mushrooms and hangover-enhancing additives not only do not increase, but on the contrary sharply lower human ability for hand-to-hand combat.

Some doctors believe that people with epilepsy or with some kind of pathology were specially selected for the berserker squads. It is also possible that the berserker “twisted” himself using special psychological techniques. Finally, the simplest version says that the berserkers went into battle because they were drunk.

As for the Viking weapons, at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th centuries. Scandinavian gunsmiths were still much inferior to their Western European colleagues. One of the main goals of the first raids was to capture high-quality weapons. But soon the Vikings abandoned such “imports” and began to actively support domestic producers. The quality of the weapon could accurately determine the social status of its owner.

Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion. To the axes!

Viking swords.

The Viking's main weapon was spear . It was usually held in one hand so that it could also be used as a shield. Some spears could deliver not only piercing, but also chopping blows.

Initially shields Vikings were round. They were made of wood and covered with leather. The diameter of the shield was usually about a meter, the thickness was slightly less than a centimeter. A hole was made in the center of the shield for holding, covered at the front with a metal knob. By the time of the last campaigns, round shields were replaced by long shields.

Battle ax was the second most popular weapon after the spear. The length of the ax could reach one and a half meters. The largest axes had a blade 45 centimeters wide. Sometimes the ax blade was decorated with silver inlays in the shape of runes.

Sword was an extremely expensive and therefore rare weapon. One of the sagas mentions a sword worth half a crown. For the same money you could buy, for example, 16 milk cows. Viking swords were one-handed, their blade length did not exceed 80-90 centimeters.

Helmet was also an extremely rare item. Surprisingly, but true: only one Viking helmet has survived to this day. There are also several depictions of Vikings wearing helmets. All these helmets had the same conical shape.

Attention - myth: contrary to popular belief and many modern depictions Vikings never wore horned helmets. The Vikings did not have helmets decorated with wings like those that can be seen on the helmet of Asterix.

Bows Vikings could effectively hit a target at a distance of 250 meters. The maximum firing range, apparently, was 480 meters. This is the Icelandic measure of length called ordrag (bow shot). The sling was also very popular among the Vikings.

In the mists of Albion

The Vikings first appeared off the English coast in 789. Their first victim was a royal official who mistook the Norwegians who had landed ashore for traders and tried to force them to pay a trade tax. Four years later, the Vikings plundered the monastery on the island Lindisfarne. The monks who did not have time to escape were either drowned in the sea or enslaved. However, it took several more raids to bring the holy monastery to its final desolation.

This map shows the area of ​​Denlo, whose inhabitants lived under Danish rather than English laws, in yellow.

At first the Vikings only raided in the summer, but from 840 onwards winter "visits" became common. In 865, a particularly large detachment of northerners managed to capture York. At the same time, the winners did not retreat back to their Scandinavia, taking the stolen goods, but settled in the vicinity of the city and began peaceful farming. The Viking outrages continued until the king of Wessex Alfred the Great failed to unite all of England under his rule and recapture York from the Danes. To prevent new raids, the British acquired a powerful fleet for the first time in their history.

In 947 York was again captured by troops Eric of the Bloodaxe, former king of Norway. He received his terrible nickname for his not too gentle treatment of his subjects and the murder of four siblings. Matching Eric was his wife Gunnhild, who was fond of black magic and allegedly knew how to turn into a bird. Having lost the Norwegian throne, Eric became one of "sea kings", as the Viking leaders were called then. After the capture of York, Eric became ruler of Northumbria and died in battle in 954.

Not all Viking campaigns against England were successful. For example, an attempt by a small detachment of Vikings to capture a rich monastery Yarrow turned out to be a complete disaster for them. After this failure, the Vikings left the English alone for a time, turning their attention to other parts of Britain.

Many Danes and Norwegians moved to the lands conquered by the Vikings. Soon there were more Scandinavians than Anglo-Saxons in north-east England. These lands were named Denlo(Danelaw), since their inhabitants lived according to Danish, and not Anglo-Saxon laws. Gradually, the descendants of the Vikings merged with the local Anglo-Saxons, becoming one of the components of the modern English nation. The Norwegians also settled in the north and east of Scotland.

In 1015, a huge army of the King of Denmark landed in England Canute the Great. According to sources, there were ten thousand warriors, and the Danish fleet consisted of two hundred long ships. In addition to the Danes, the invasion included the Norwegians, conquered by Canute in 999, and a detachment of Polish soldiers sent by Canute's ally Boleslaw the Brave. Some vassals of the English king also went over to the Danish side. Ethelreda.

Sid Meier's Civilization III. In the distant country of Norway, in the glorious city of Trondheim, there lived a not very kind king Harald Hardrada...

Map of the “northern empire” of Canute the Great.

Using his fleet, Canute could deliver powerful blows to the British in the most unexpected places. Ethelred did not shine with military talents, but his son Edmund managed to organize a defense and hold out for fourteen months. Eventually the Danes blocked the English army in London and occupied Wessex, whose inhabitants were the main support of the descendants of Alfred the Great.

It seemed that Canute had already won, but suddenly military luck turned away from him. Edmund was able to get out of the besieged capital and, having gathered a new army in Wessex, lifted the siege from London. After this, many of Canute's English allies went over to the side of Edmund and Ethelred. A turning point was brewing in the war. However, in the decisive Battle of Ashingdon The Danes won a complete victory, and Canute became the English king. Denmark, Norway and part of Sweden were also under his rule. Many English historians consider Canute one of the best kings in the entire history of England. Canute's reign lasted until his death in 1035, after which the Anglo-Saxon dynasty returned to power.

In 1066, simultaneously with the army of the Norman Duke William the Conqueror, the army of the Norwegian king invaded England Harald Fairhair. The Norwegians decided to support Tostig Godwinson, one of the contenders for the English throne. While Tostig's elder brother was elected as the new king of England Harold gathered troops, the Norwegians occupied several cities in the northeast of the country and even almost captured York. The British soon managed to defeat the Norwegians in Battle of Stamford Bridge. Hardrada and Tostig died, but Harold did not have time to transfer his main forces from Yorkshire to the south of the country in time and ultimately suffered a complete defeat in the battle with the Normans at Hastings. The Battle of Stamford Bridge is considered the last battle of the Viking Age.

This is interesting: Harald Hardrada was the same Norwegian king whom one of the daughters of Yaroslav the Wise married. Like many other Scandinavian warriors, Harald wrote poetry. One of his poems, written while courting a Russian princess, proves that the harsh Vikings did not shy away from love lyrics.

Battle of Clontarf

Vikings first appeared in Ireland in 795. As in England, at first they were limited to small raids - mainly on monasteries. Having not encountered strong resistance from the Irish, the Vikings already from the middle of the 9th century. began to colonize the north and east of the island. They founded several cities along the coast, including Dublin, Cork, Wexford and Limerick. Founded in 838 Dublin by the 11th century it had become one of the main trading centers of northern Europe and had grown so large that residents had to build new houses outside the city walls.

This late engraving somehow depicts the legendary Irish king Brian Borough along with the English coat of arms.

The relationship between the Scandinavian colonists and the Irish was not limited to war. Mixed marriages were common. The Irish adopted a lot from the Vikings. For example, the Norwegians brought trousers to Ireland, which gradually replaced traditional kilts.

By the beginning of the 9th century. The Irish kings managed to temporarily oust the Vikings from the island, but soon they returned, and everything went as before. The Vikings held a strong hold on the north and east of the country, while several Irish kingdoms existed in the west of the island.

At the beginning of the 10th century. Brian Boru united all of western Ireland under his rule and proclaimed himself "High King". To become the ruler of the entire island, he needed to deal with the Vikings. In 1013, Brian, acting in the best traditions of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav, sent to the ruler of Dublin Sigtrygg Silkbeard formal notification of his aggressive intentions and graciously allowed the Vikings to prepare for defense for a whole year. Sigtrygg did not waste time and enlisted the support of many kings both from the British Isles and from Scandinavia itself. An alliance with the Vikings was concluded by the kings of Leinster and Ulster, who were at enmity with Brian Boru.

In the spring of 1014, six thousand Irish warriors and about a thousand Viking mercenaries under the leadership of Brian moved east and set up camp near the walls of Dublin. Sigtrygg had about five thousand warriors. All the Vikings were well armed, while the equipment of the Irish left much to be desired. On Holy Thursday a large fleet set sail from Dublin. As Brian was informed by his scouts, the ships were taking with them four thousand Vikings who decided not to shed their blood for the sake of Sigtrygg. But this turned out to be a stratagem. During the night the fleet returned and landed troops a mile from Dublin, near Clontarf. Here they were joined by several thousand fighters sent by the King of Leinster. They, however, were of little use due to extremely poor weapons. In the morning, the Vikings suddenly attacked Brian's army.

Seeing the approaching enemy, the Irish managed to line up for battle and moved towards the Vikings. The battle began with several duels and ended with a general massacre. At first, the Vikings had the expected advantage. Only on the right flank of the Irish army, where Scandinavian mercenaries fought, were Sigtrygg’s warriors unable to achieve success.

Modern reconstruction of the battle between the Vikings.

In the center he led the Viking troops Sigurd Lodvesson, Earl of Orkney. According to legend, before the battle he stocked up on a miraculous artifact. It was a magic banner that made the enemy forget about everything and attack the standard-bearer. In theory, such a contraption should have provided the Vikings with a tactical advantage, but no one wanted to take the banner in their hands of their own free will. As a result, Sigurd himself had to become the standard bearer. The banner lived up to its reputation. Soon Sigurd was killed, and his people were left without a leader.

On the left flank, at first everything went well for the Vikings. But then a detachment of Brian Boru’s relatives entered the battle. The brother of the Irish king was able to win the duel and put the Viking leader to flight, and they soon retreated to their ships.

The brutal slaughter continued until the evening. Both armies expended so much effort that the battle had to be stopped several times so that the fighters could rest. By evening, some of the Vikings were thrown into the sea, and the rest fled in disarray towards Dublin. In the heat of pursuit, the Irish did not notice several undead Vikings who were able to break through to Brian’s tent and kill the king.

The battle ended in complete victory for the Irish. They managed to destroy almost all the enemies, but their losses were also enormous. Of the five thousand fighters of Brian Boru, according to various estimates, from 1600 to 4000 were killed. Almost all of his sons died along with Brian.

The next day, the surviving victors scattered in all directions, and Dublin was never taken. Sigtrygg ruled safely in the future capital of Ireland for almost thirty more years, and the union of Irish kingdoms created by Brian Boru fell apart. But the Vikings were soon forced to leave Ireland.

From Paris to Grenada

France suffered from the Vikings no less than England and Ireland, and the western part of the country, open to invasion from the sea, had it especially bad. For a long time, the French kings not only did not fight the Vikings, but also used them for their own purposes. So, Pepin II granted the Vikings lands at the mouth of the Garonne in exchange for help against his rival Charles the Bald. The Vikings stormed Bordeaux several times, killing two Gascon dukes. There were also great losses among Margraves of Neustria, responsible for the defense of the Loire estuary against the Vikings.

Rune stone.

In 865 Karl Baldy, who by that time had finally established himself on the French throne, issued an edict obliging everyone who was able to buy a horse to enlist in the cavalry. This is how the famous French knightly cavalry arose, which had no equal over the next few centuries. In addition, numerous fortified bridges were built on all navigable rivers, blocking the Viking ships' path into the interior of the country. Charles the Bald also forbade his subjects from selling weapons to the Vikings.

All these measures could not have come at a better time. In 885-886, already during the reign Karl Tolstoy, the Vikings laid siege Paris. The Norman army numbered up to 30,000 people on 700 ships. Fortified bridges prevented them from going higher up the Seine, and the Vikings spent the entire winter in fruitless attempts to capture the city, which had only two hundred experienced warriors in its garrison. At critical moments of the siege, all townspeople capable of holding weapons, including priests, went into battle.

Commander of the Parisian garrison Odo, Margrave of Neustria, sent several times to the king for help, but the French army was in Italy at that time and was able to lift the siege only in October 886. However, the king did not finish off the Normans. Instead, he made a deal with their leader Rollo union. In 911, Rollo was baptized and received possession of Neustria, which has since been called Normandy. The new duchy, on whose lands many Scandinavians settled, became a reliable shield covering the interior of France from Viking attacks. Thus, the French kings managed to knock out a wedge with a wedge.

This is interesting: Rollo put a lot of effort into eradicating crime in Normandy. In the end, he intimidated his subjects so much that for a whole year they did not dare to touch the golden hoop left by the duke on one of the trees.

Viking from the fourth "Civilization".

In northern Spain, which was then home to several Christian states, the Vikings became especially famous for kidnapping local rulers for ransom. In 861, they managed to obtain a grandiose ransom of sixty thousand gold bars for the king of Pamplona. Mountainous northern Spain did not attract Scandinavian colonists, but there was one notable exception. In the 9th century, the Vikings founded a colony in northern Portugal. For centuries, the residents of this town avoided marriages with the indigenous population of the country and, as a result, were able to maintain the appearance characteristic of the Scandinavians until the beginning of the 20th century.

Attention - myth: Not all Vikings were naturally blonde. However, in pursuit of beauty, many of them artificially lightened their hair.

In 844, the Vikings first landed in southern Spain and sacked several Muslim cities, including Seville. After this, local emirs were forced to begin building a navy, but this was of little use. In 859, Danish pirates entered the Mediterranean Sea and plundered the coast of Morocco. The raids continued until the end of the 10th century. and were a great success. It even got to the point that the Emir of Cordoba had to buy back his own harem from the Vikings. Only by the 11th century. local pirates managed to oust northern competitors from their fiefdom.

The Vikings made several raids on Provence, and in 860 they plundered the Italian city Pisa. They did not advance further in Italy, although in the 11th century. their descendants from the Duchy of Normandy were able to subjugate the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula and Sicily.

Of the other Western European countries, the Netherlands suffered the most from the Vikings, completely defenseless from attack from the sea. The Normans also moved up the Rhine and Meuse and plundered northwestern Germany.

Varangians, aka Rus'

Tradition says that at the beginning of the 9th century. The Swedish Varangians managed to capture Novgorod and the surrounding lands. But soon the local residents rebelled and drove out the overseas invaders. After which they immediately fought among themselves. Apparently, because of power, or maybe simply from an excess of energy. As a result, it was necessary to invite a Varangian who was capable of stopping the fratricidal war to reign in Novgorod.

In 862, the Danish king responded to the invitation Rurik(the Slavs did not want to see a Swede on the princely throne for reasons of principle). His household and loyal warriors arrived with him in Novgorod. The phrase “Rurik with house and squad” sounds in Swedish as “Rurik sine hus tru thief.” Subsequently, two “brothers” of Rurik arose from this phrase, Sineus And Truvor, which never actually existed.

The dynasty that ruled Russia until the end of the 16th century originated from Rurik. The Russian princes were never ashamed of their foreign origin; moreover, they sought to declare Rurik a direct descendant of the Roman Emperor Augustus.

In the 18th century German historians, having discovered in the chronicle a legend about calling of the Varangians, concluded that the Russian state was founded by the Normans. This extremely offended Russian patriots. First against "Norman theory" M.V. rebelled Lomonosov. Further, the struggle for historical truth took place with varying success, until during the years of Soviet power "anti-Normanists" did not achieve a final victory. The legend of the “calling” was declared a fake, invented in the 12th century. Rurik and his successor Oleg reluctantly recognized the Varangians, but Rurik’s son Igor declared one hundred percent Slavic and, possibly, a descendant of the legendary founder of Kyiv, Kiy. Modern historians recognize that the Eastern Slavs had a state long before the calling of the Varangians (after all, the Slavs did not call Rurik to an empty place, but to the princely throne). But they do not downplay the importance of the Vikings for early Russian history.

This is interesting: the fact that the word “Rus” comes from the name of the Swedish Vikings, and not from the Ros River in Ukraine, as Lomonosov argued, is evident, among other things, from the following fact: in Finnish “Sweden” will be Ruotsi.

What attracted the Scandinavians to the Eastern European expanses? First of all, two trade routes: Volzhsky leading to rich Persia, and the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks", connecting Scandinavia with Byzantium. At one of the most important points on the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” where merchant ships were dragged from the Western Dvina to the Dnieper, archaeologists discovered many Scandinavian burials.

Having barely managed to settle in Novgorod, Rurik sent an expedition to capture Kyiv, the city to which all goods destined for sale in Constantinople flocked. Leaders of the expedition Askold And Dir They completed the task, but refused to obey the Novgorod prince - for which they were killed by Rurik’s successor Oleg. And Askold and Dir, and Oleg, and Igor made predatory campaigns against Byzantium. The most Varangian tactics were used. The main means of transport were ships. Oleg, according to legend, managed to use them even on land.

The Varangians in Rus' quickly became Slavicized, but did not completely lose ties with their historical homeland. The Kyiv princes resorted to the services of Varangian mercenaries until the end of the 11th century. And in the Scandinavian sagas you can find many references to Gardariki(“land of cities”), as the Varangians called Kievan Rus.

Already at the beginning of the 10th century. Byzantines began to use Varangian mercenaries. Even before Oleg’s campaign against Constantinople (912), several hundred Varangians served in the Byzantine fleet as a kind of “marines.” A number of mercenaries from Scandinavia fought against the Arabs in Syria. Some Varangians - most likely traders, not warriors - during this period reached as far as Baghdad.

By that time, the traditional imperial guard, recruited from the Greeks, had turned into a kind of ancient Roman praetorians. Not trusting them, the Byzantine emperors created a new Varangian Guard. The Varangian Guard served at court and also participated in all wars of the Byzantine Empire. Among the Varangians, service to the emperor was very popular. The Varangian Guard is even mentioned in the Swedish law, which excluded from the number of heirs those serving in Greece. At one time, the commander of the Varangian Guard was the already mentioned Harald Hardrada. The guard disappeared only in 1204, after the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders.

At the ends of the earth

In 874 a Norwegian named Ingolfur Arnarson became the first Scandinavian colonist to settle in the distant Iceland. His estate Reykjavik gradually grew and became the capital of the entire island. Icelanders have long maintained their traditional way of life. Thanks to this, many ancient sagas, legends and poetic works have come down to us, allowing us to learn a lot about the Viking Age.

This portrait of Eric the Red is full of anachronisms.

One of the most famous Icelanders of that time was Eric the Red. His father was outlawed in Norway and forced to flee to Iceland. Eric took after his father. He killed several of his neighbors, one of the murders being caused by a dispute over a shovel. Eventually Eric had to leave the island. In 982, he and a group of loyal people sailed west from Iceland. After a long journey, the expedition discovered a new land. It was Greenland, the climate of which was then much milder than now. So it’s not surprising that Eric called this northern island “the green land.” The colony founded by Eric soon grew greatly. In its best years, the population of Greenland reached five thousand people.

One of the merchant ships sailing between Iceland and Greenland once sailed very far to the west. The captain of the ship noticed land on the horizon and, arriving in Greenland, told his son Eric the Red, Leif, about his discovery.

Leif Erikson went in search of a mysterious land and soon really reached unknown shores. The sagas say that Leif landed at three different places. He named one place Helluland(“land of flat stones”), another - Markland(“land of forests”) and the third - Vinland(“land of meadows”). Vinland had the mildest climate, and Leif founded a small settlement there.

According to the sagas, the settlement in Vinland lasted only a few years: the settlers first fought among themselves over women, and soon quarreled with the local tribes. However, the Scandinavian voyages to the western lands did not stop there. During excavations of an Indian settlement in the northern United States, archaeologists discovered a Norwegian coin minted at the end of the 11th century. And the Icelandic chronicles mention a ship that returned from Markland in 1347.

This is what the site of the Newfoundland Viking settlement once looked like today.

This is interesting: There is a legend that one Irish missionary, after a short stay in Iceland, went with the Vikings to Vinland. There he lived for some time among the aborigines, bringing them the word of God. And many years later, the French discovered an Indian tribe on the Canadian coast that revered the cross as a sacred symbol. But all this could easily be a mere coincidence.

The notorious "map of Vinland".

Although Leif's journey is mentioned in several sagas, for a long time no one believed that the Vikings actually reached America five hundred years before Columbus. In the 19th century the possibility of such a journey was proven theoretically. However, there was still no conclusive evidence. In 1957, a map was discovered allegedly drawn in the 15th century from an even more ancient original. It depicts Europe, Asia, North Africa, Greenland and in the far west... Vinland. Alas, she turned out to be fake. A chemical analysis of the ink with which the map was drawn showed that it contained substances that they learned to synthesize only in 1923. However, chemist Jacqueline Olin suggested that a chain of accidents could well have led to the appearance of ink with a similar composition back in the Middle Ages.

Three years after discovery "maps of Vinland" Archaeologists have found the remains of a Scandinavian settlement on the island of Newfoundland. From that moment on, Leif Erikson's amazing discovery became a generally accepted historical fact. It has not yet been established exactly where Leif visited. Most likely, Vinland is Newfoundland, where the settlement was discovered. Helluland is often associated with Baffin Island, and Markland with Labrador, but this is just speculation.

Vikings in computer games

Medieval Scandinavia has always attracted the minds of game makers. As a result, many games were born that in one way or another exploit the Viking heritage. All of them can be divided into three large groups.

The first includes games in which there are no Vikings or Scandinavians, but full of all kinds of berserkers and other barbarians in horned helmets and with battle axes. This may include fourth "Heroes", And King's Bounty, and much more.

The second group includes games based on Scandinavian mythology. Includes a very old but still great role-playing game Ragnarok, not a bad strategy Age of Mythology, action role-playing Loki and action movie Rune. Here's an online game Ragnarok, despite the name, has nothing to do with the Vikings at all.

The third group includes games that feature Vikings as such, with all their runes and longships. You can feel like a Varangian wandering across the Eastern European expanses in the role-playing game " Prince". And if you want to wander through the wild forests of Scandinavia, you can do it in " Valhalla". Viking cities (for example, Uppsala in Sweden) also look more or less authentic in this game.

Medieval: Total War - Viking Invasion. Vikings fighting on horseback were much less common in reality than in this game.

This is what the Vikings looked like, according to the creators of the role-playing game "Valhalla".

Oddly enough, it is very difficult to immediately name a strategy game dedicated directly to the Vikings. But northern warriors are present in almost every strategy that deals with the history of planet Earth and there is a division into races.

In games of the series Civilization Vikings are endowed with abilities that allow them to fight well, sail far and earn good money. Their special squad, berserkers, are capable of attacking the enemy directly from the ship - long before the marines appear. In one of the scenarios of the third “Civilization,” the Vikings received their own technology tree and can build, in addition to berserkers, long ships and forges that increase production in the city. By the way, Rus' in the same scenario starts with berserkers, but develops in the same direction as Byzantium.

In unforgettable Settlers II Vikings are also represented, but their differences from the Romans or Japanese are purely cosmetic. But in Age of Empires II The Vikings stand out from the crowd. Firstly, they have access to two unique units: the berserker and the longship. Secondly, they cannot create combat-ready cavalry. But their infantry receives a serious increase in health.

Addition to the game Medieval: Total War, named by the developers Viking Invasion, is almost the only strategy dedicated exclusively to Viking campaigns. The game is about the first Scandinavian invasions of the British Isles. The Vikings have a number of tactical advantages over their enemies, and the indigenous population has to make enormous efforts not to lose their belongings, lands, and at the same time their lives. By the way, in playing as the Vikings you often have to use cavalry, which, although not brilliant in combat characteristics, copes well with the pursuit of a defeated enemy.