1. The Vikings

2. Quick Recap After the Western Roman Empire fell, all of Western Europe is up for grabs. During this time, a group of people that the Romans called “barbarians” began to make their presence felt. Some of these people were called the Vikings.

3. The Vikings… Some really quick trivia knowledge…. –The name 'Viking' comes from a language which is called 'Old Norse'. It means 'a pirate raid'. –The Vikings were polytheistic which means what? –Did you know that some of the days of the week were named after Viking gods

4. The Vikings’ Homeland The Vikings were from an area in Europe called Scandinavia. **They were from the present-day countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

5. Geography of Scandinavia The geography of Scandinavia is very diverse Here are some of the different landforms: –Fjords a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffsFjords –MountainsMountains –Tundra a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region in which the subsoil is permanently frozenTundra –GlaciersGlaciers Do you think that this land would be good for farming?

6. The Vikings Move Out The Vikings were farmers and left their homeland to find better farm land. The Vikings were brutal raiders. They took whatever they needed or wanted.

7. What do you think that the Vikings did to the villages and people that they raided?

9. Vikings Invade Europe **Vikings first invaded Ireland and England, then they began to invade other places They went to Iceland and Greenland and set up towns They raided towns and villages all across central Europe and Eastern Europe.

10. The Vikings fought in a hit and run style of warfare The Vikings would attack at night time when everyone was asleep They would also attack on Sundays because they knew that everyone would be at church and not be ready for an attack. This change in fighting tactics would gradually bring out the feudal system of government in most of Europe

11. Vikings… MASTER ship builders The Vikings became experts in all kinds of ship building. They made ships that were big and bulky for trading, moving supplies, moving families to new territories in Europe. They also made ships called Longboats and they were narrow ships that could sail up rivers and streams all throughout central and eastern Europe

12. The Longboat The Longboats were built so the Vikings could get on shore quickly. This allowed the Vikings to attack and defend very quickly

13. Just the sight of these ships was enough to terrify the people who were being attacked. The Vikings had dragon heads on the bow (front) of the ship which was there for the purpose to scaring their victims The ships were usually pulled by oarsmen, but also had a single large, square sail on the boat’s single mast that was used on the open seas. The bottom of the ships were flat, not very deep like most sailing ships, so it made it much easier to travel in shallow water and to pull the ship up to shore.

15. The Vikings as Explorers The Vikings were brave sailors and explorers. They would take their families on long, dangerous journeys on the sea. They also discovered and settled in several remote countries that were in the north Atlantic Ocean: the Faeroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland In 1001, Leif Eriksson 'the Lucky' sailed from Greenland to North America. He was the first European to land in America.