Vikings Scandinavian seaborne marauders, traders and settlers, who spread throughout much of Europe and the North Atlantic region in the 9th to 11th centuries. The Viking expansion seems to have been caused by rapid population growth, and consequent scarcity of good farming land, as well as the desire for new sources of wealth. It was made possible by their advanced maritime technology, which enabled them to cross
n European waters in a period when other sailors feared to venture out of sight of land. They were in many respects more advanced than other European peoples, notably in metalwork. Although they first appeared in their ‘longships’ as raiders on the coasts of
nw Europe, later groups came to settle. Swedes, known as Varangians, founded the first Russian state at
Novgorod, and traded via the River Volga in Byzantium and Persia. Danes conquered much of
n and
e England. Norwegians created kingdoms in
n Britain and Ireland, founding Dublin (
c.840) and other cities; they also colonized Iceland and established settlements in Greenland. A short-lived settlement,
Vinland, was established in North America by
Leif Ericsson in
c.1003. In the early 10th century, the Vikings settled in
Normandy. Anarchic conditions in 10th-century Scandinavia resulted in the formation of larger, more powerful kingdoms, and Viking expansion declined. It renewed in a different form with the conquest of England by King Sweyn of Denmark in 1013 and the
Norman Conquest of 1066.