Definition
The Viking Age was the era, conventionally dated from about 793 to 1066 CE, when seafarers from Scandinavia, the Norse, raided, traded, explored, and settled across a vast swath of Europe, the North Atlantic, and beyond. Its traditional starting point is the raid on the monastery at Lindisfarne in England, and its conventional close is the Norman Conquest of England and the failure of the Norwegian invasion at Stamford Bridge.
Though popular memory emphasizes raiding, the Norse were also farmers, merchants, craftsmen, and colonists. The word Viking referred to the seaborne activity of raiding and voyaging rather than to a single people or nation.
Why it matters
How it works
Several pressures drove Norse expansion: population growth and limited farmland at home, the lure of portable wealth held in poorly defended coastal monasteries, and political fragmentation that produced ambitious chieftains seeking status. Shipbuilding advances made long voyages feasible, allowing raiding parties to strike quickly and withdraw before defenders could respond.
Over time, raiding gave way to settlement and statecraft. Norse leaders carved out territories, intermarried with local populations, adopted Christianity, and were absorbed into the kingdoms they had once attacked. Norse explorers reached Iceland, Greenland, and briefly the North American coast, marking the first known European contact with the Americas.