Who were the Vikings?

What do you already know? What do you think of when you hear the word VIKING?

The Vikings were people who lived long ago in Sweden, Norway and Denmark (Scandinavia). Their land was not fertile. It was rocky. They found it hard to grow crops. Britain was rich with good land for farming and other useful raw materials, such as metals, as well as fine treasures. The climate was also much warmer than where they came from, they preferred it and wanted to settle here.

How did Vikings reach Britain? But Scandinavia was a long way from Britain. How would the Vikings get there? Answer: In longboats!

What can we find out about the Vikings from their longboats? Last week we started to use clues to find out about a person who lived hundreds of years ago. Now we are going to look at a picture of a model of a Viking longboat. It is based on information historians have found about what these boats really looked like. What does it tell us about the Viking people?

Skilled craftsmen; at least 32 men per boat, probably more; had shields and badges to show who they were; etc

So where did they sail to?

Where did they land? The first Vikings to arrive in England landed on the Dorset coast in 787 AD. A Saxon tax officer orders them to appear before the Saxon king. The Vikings are not keen on this idea, so they kill him. In 793 AD, the Vikings attack the monastery on Lindisfarne, a small island off the coast of Northumberland. Monks are taken as slaves or thrown into the sea. 842 AD Vikings attack London 867 AD A great Viking army invades Northumbria. After this time there are many Viking raids around the country. 886 AD The Vikings are given the north-eastern region of England, which becomes known as the Danelaw. 1016 AD The Danish Viking Canute becomes king of England

So what did the Vikings look like? Was it something like this?

So what did the Vikings look like? Or something a bit more like this?

How can we find out the truth? As usual when thinking about people who lived hundreds of years ago, it is very difficult for historians to find out exactly what they looked like. So how do you think they have worked out what Vikings probably looked like?

By using evidence (clues)! Yes! By using the evidence that is still around today from Viking times. These are primary sources. What might these include? We are now going to look at some examples of primary sources from Viking times. You can see these items, and many other objects from the Viking period, if you visit the British Museum in London.