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Watch: Who were the Vikings?

Find out more about who the Vikings were and where they came from.

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What were the Vikings like?

The name 'Viking' comes from a language called 'Old Norse' and means 鈥榓 pirate raid鈥.

  • Some came to fight, but others came peacefully.

  • They were farmers, and kept animals and grew crops.

  • They were skilful at crafting, and made beautiful metalwork and wooden carvings.

  • Viking warriors fought using long swords and axes.

A Viking family in a landscape.
A viking man holding an axe is jumping off a boat to reach the shore.
  • The first Viking raid recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was around AD787.

  • It was the start of a fierce struggle between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings.

  • The Vikings were pagans, not Christians like most people living in Britain at the time.

  • Christian monasteries in Britain were easy targets for the Vikings.

A viking man holding an axe is jumping off a boat to reach the shore.
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Watch: Viking attack at Lindisfarne

In AD793 the Vikings famously attacked a monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria, north-east England

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What was the Viking invasion?

A group of Vikings invading.
  • In AD865 a Viking army sailed across the North Sea.

  • This time they wanted to conquer land rather than just raid it.

  • Over several years the army battled through Northern England.

  • By AD878, almost all the kingdoms had fallen to the Vikings. All except for Wessex, which was ruled by Alfred the Great.

A group of Vikings invading.
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Where did the Vikings settle?

  • Most Vikings settled in the Danelaw, to the north and east of England.
  • Some sailed to Scotland, and on the Shetland and Orkney Islands.
  • Vikings also settled on the Isle of Man and often raided Wales, but few made homes there. In Ireland, the Vikings founded the city of Dublin.
A map showing the places that the Vikings settled in Britain.
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What was life like in the Danelaw territories?

The Danelaw covered three main areas:

  • Northumbria (which included modern-day Yorkshire)
  • East Anglia
  • The Five Boroughs (also known as a town: they were Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford and Lincoln)

The most important city was York. The Vikings called it Jorvik (pronounced 'your-vick').

A map showing where the Vikings settled from Scandinavia.
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Activity: Quiz 鈥 Who were the Vikings?

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