Vikings

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Vikings, Scandinavian adventurers, subsequently known as Ostmen (Old Norse ‘men of the east’) or Lochlannaigh (Irish ‘people from the land of loughs’). They first appear in Irish sources as plunderers and this remains their dominant image in popular memory. In reality their involvement with Ireland lasted almost 400 years, during which time the Scandinavians were transformed into farmers, traders, colonists, and urban developers.

The first Viking raid on Ireland occurred in 795 when Reachrainn, probably Rathlin Island (but Lambay Island has also been suggested), was attacked. During the next 25 years there was, on average, one Viking attack per year. The raids were hit‐and‐run affairs. Monasteries were the prime target, not only because they possessed treasuries of precious objects but also because they were densely populated centres with substantial stores of provisions and potential slaves. Archaeologically this phase of activity has left no trace in Ireland, but about 60 metalwork objects of Irish manufacture have been discovered in graves of 9th‐century date in western Norway. These artefacts are normally interpreted as the result of plundering raids, but it should be noted that most of the objects are domestic in function and may have been the result of trade or exchange.

The pattern of hit‐and‐run raids ceased during the 830s with the arrival of large Viking fleets on the rivers Liffey, Boyne, Shannon, and Erne. The forces transported by these fleets were substantial and, commonly, they terrorized an area for some weeks or months before returning to Scandinavia for winter. The success of these campaigns clearly gave rise to the next development, the foundation of longphorts at Dublin and Annagassan, Co. Louth, in 841. These were the first permanent Viking settlements in Ireland and were originally envisaged as defended bases in which the Scandinavian forces could overwinter and plan the renewal of campaigning in the spring. In the course of the 9th century Dublin developed into an important slaving centre and some of Dublin's rulers, notably Olaf the White (d. 871) and Ivar the Boneless (d. 873), campaigned extensively in Scotland and Northumbria, from where they brought valuables and slaves to the Dublin markets. While the longphorts provided the Vikings with a permanent base, they also gave the Irish kings a fixed objective to attack. In 848 the longphort at Cork was captured, while the assault on Dublin in 902 was so successful that the Vikings abandoned the settlement and moved to northern Britain and the Isle of Man. Archaeologically little is known about the nature of these longphorts. The cemetery of the 9th‐century Dublin Vikings has been uncovered and shows, not surprisingly, that warriors formed a prominent element of the population. There are some hints of rural settlement in the immediate vicinity of Dublin at this time and there are slight indications of rural colonization in underpopulated areas such as western Connemara.

In 914 a great Scandinavian fleet, originating in northern France, landed at Waterford, initiating a new phase of plundering activity. Munster was devastated in 915 and Dublin was re‐established two years later. The Viking position was consolidated in 919 when they defeated the king of Tara, Niall Glúndub, in battle. Other fleets also descended on Ireland. Limerick was founded in 922 by the leader of one such fleet and Wexford (c.921) by another. The kings of Dublin played an important role in Irish political life for much of the 10th century, although most of their attention was expended on controlling Northumbria and in obtaining authority over the other Viking centres in Ireland. Dublin and York were closely connected and were ruled by members of the same family until 952 when Olaf Cuarán (d. 981) was forced out of York and returned to Dublin. After their defeat at the battle of Tara (980) the role of the Scandinavians diminished and their territories were gradually integrated into the Irish political framework.

The significance of the battle of Clontarf (1014) has been much overestimated largely due to the literary skills of the compiler of the Cogadh Gáedhel re Gallaibh, a 12th‐century work eulogizing the Uí Briain. In more recent centuries the battle acquired mythic status in nationalist historiography as a synonym for the defeat and expulsion of invaders. In fact Limerick had been captured by the Dál Cais in 967 and it was to be ruled by their descendants until 1197. Dublin maintained a semblance of independence until 1052 when the king of Leinster, Diarmait mac Máel na mBó, forced the Dubliners to accept his son Murchad as their ruler. Paradoxically, however, as Dublin's political power declined its economic importance increased and from 1049 onwards any king with pretensions to the high kingship of Ireland had to control Dublin.

It has been argued that the Vikings had a negative impact on Irish society, promoting violence, accelerating church abuses, and terminating the ‘golden age’ of Irish art. Modern historiography, however, has largely discredited these views and the port towns of Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, and Limerick are generally regarded as the Scandinavians' most enduring legacy. Archaeological excavations have yielded good evidence of the urban layout and building fabric of these 10th–12th‐century towns but less is known about rural settlement in their vicinity. Each port had a rural hinterland (that of Dublin is referred to as Dyflinarskíri), and the archaeological evidence suggests that they were settled by a mixed community that was heavily Hibernicized. Scandinavian settlement in Ireland is unusual in its urban bias and motives more complex than the provision of pirate bases may have influenced the foundation of these towns. They were all well placed, for instance, to take advantage of trade with the interior. The colonization of large tracts of territory does not seem to have been a primary objective of the Scandinavians in Ireland and it cannot be without significance that they put so much of their resources into the development of towns. an influencing factor in this regard may have been the view that Britain, rather than Ireland, was the principal area in which to achieve conquest and colonization.

Bibliography

Bradley, J. , ‘The Interpretation of Scandinavian Settlement in Ireland’, in J. Bradley (ed.), Settlement and Society in Medieval Ireland (1988)
Ó Corráin, D. , Ireland before the Normans (1972)
Smyth, A. P. , Scandinavian York and Dublin (2 vols., 1975–9)

John Bradley

Vikings Scandinavian warriors who raided the coasts of Europe and the British Isles from the 9th cent. to the 11th cent. During the Neolithic period the Scandinavians had lived in small autonomous communities as farmers, fishermen, and hunters. At the beginning of the Viking Age they were the best shipbuilders and sailors in the world; they later ventured as far as Greenland and North America (see Vinland ). At the height of the Viking Age, the typical Viking warship, the "long ship," had a high prow, adorned with the figure of an animal, and a high stern (see ship ). It seated up to 30 oarsmen and had an average crew of 90. Its square sails were perpendicularly striped in many colors, and the entire ship was vividly painted and elaborately carved. On both sides of the ship hung a row of painted round shields. This is the most familiar Viking ship; the many other types varied according to purpose and period. Among the causes that drove the Vikings from their lands were overpopulation, internal dissension, quest for trade, and thirst for adventure. Many local kingdoms came into existence in Scandinavia, and from them stemmed the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. The Vikings' religion was paganism of the Germanic type; their mythological and heroic legends form the content of Old Norse literature . The Viking Age ended with the introduction of Christianity into Scandinavia, with the emergence of the three great Scandinavian kingdoms, and with the rise of European states capable of defending themselves against further invasions. Many Vikings settled where they had raided. The Scandinavian raiders in Russia were known as Varangians ; their leader Rurik founded the first Russian state. Elsewhere the Vikings came to be known as Danes, Northmen, Norsemen , or Normans .

Bibliography: See T. D. Kendrick, A History of the Vikings (1930, repr. 1968); J. B. Brondsted, The Vikings (new tr. 1965); G. Jones, A History of the Vikings (1968, repr. 1973); P. Foote and D. M. Wilson, The Viking Achievement (1970); O. Klindt-Jensen, The World of the Vikings (tr. 1971); P. H. Sawyer, The Age of the Vikings (2d ed. 1972); W. W. Fitzhugh and E. I. Ward, ed., Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga (2000); R. Ferguson, The Vikings (2009).

Vikings Scandinavian traders and pirates of the 8th to 12th centuries. In the 8th century the Vikings began one of the most remarkable periods of expansion in history. Setting sail from Denmark and Norway, they voyaged westward in longships through the Shetlands, Iceland, and Greenland, as far as Vinland (modern Newfoundland). They attacked Britain and Ireland, ravaged the coast of continental Europe as far as Gibraltar, and entered the Mediterranean, where they fought Arabs as well as Europeans. From the Baltic they sailed down the rivers of western Russia to a point from which they threatened Constantinople. In Europe they were able to strike far inland, sailing up the Rhine, Loire, and other rivers. Local rulers often preferred to buy them off, rather than resist.

The Vikings were also traders and farmers in the areas they settled, including Normandy, the north of England, and the area around Dublin in Ireland. They were skilled wood- and metalworkers and manufactured superb jewellery. They had a powerful oral poetic tradition, manifest in their sagas. They were an extremely adaptable people, able to absorb the cultures which they encountered while retaining their own vital qualities. This adaptability was perhaps forced upon them because they were greatly outnumbered by the native populations; it was easier to modify existing forms than to impose their own. They adopted languages and quickly modified fighting styles to suit land-based operations. The NORMANS were descendants of the Viking ROLLO's settlement in Normandy, they became a powerful element in Europe, the CRUSADES, and throughout the Mediterranean.

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.

Viking ornament. Style of ornament produced in Scandinavia and in Scandinavian colonies from C8 to C12, consisting of interlacing elements linked to zoömorphic forms in continuous complex designs. For architectural purposes there are three main styles: that featuring S-shaped intertwined animals, with bodies of even, ribbon-like form (Jelling(e) style —mid-C10); that employing semi-naturalistic animals and birds as well as dragon-like forms, with influences from Anglo-Saxon and Ottonian decoration (Ringerike style—C11); and that with extremely stylized animals, ribbon-shaped animals, and snakes, any animal-heads or -feet being reduced to elongated terminals, forming figure of eight and intertwining multiloop lacertine designs of great complexity (Urnes style—later C11). The Urnes style influenced Celtic, Hiberno-Romanesque, and Anglo-Saxon designs. A good example of Ringerike Norse or Viking ornament of the Ringerike type is the carving on the south doorway of the Church of Sts Mary and David, Kilpeck, Herefs. (c.1140–5). Mingled with Celtic motifs, Viking ornament recurred in Art Nouveau design.

Bibliography

Glazier (1926);
O. Jones (1868);
Lewis & and Darley (1986);
Jane Turner (1996);
Tschudi-Madsen (1967)

Viking compass, a bearing-dial or sun-compass that works on the principle that the tip of the sun's shadow on a gnomon will trace curves that, within specific latitudes and dates, can be used to maintain a course at sea. The principle is that of the sundial.

In 1948, at a Greenland farm ruin that can be traced back to the settlement period of about ad 1000, the Danish archaeologist C. L. Vebaek excavated a half wooden dial with what are taken to be gnomon lines incised on the back and compass points cut around the outer edge. The navigational significance of the find has long been discussed and extensive sea trials have over the years been held using reproduction dials. A curve traced from the shadow of the sun over a whole day can certainly, within certain constraints, provide a means of following a particular direction. The extent to which such a device was adopted by the Norsemen is perhaps more open to question.

Mike Richey

Viking ship The type of vessel used by the VIKINGS for trade and warfare c.850–1200 AD. Viking warships were long, open, oared vessels, clinker-built and rowed by 40–80 men. They had a short mast carrying a single square sail that could be braced to allow some measure of travel into the wind. The larger vessels had a part-deck fore and aft. Viking trading ships (‘knorrs’) were broader in beam and relied on sails much more than on oar power. The Vikings sailed in such vessels as far as Vinland (Newfoundland) to the west; northern Africa to the south; and the Black Sea to the east.