World History
Vikings - BBC Online presents aspects of the history of the Vikings in the British Isles. Includes dig reports, 3D model of a Viking age farm at Ribblehead, Yorkshire, and fun approaches for kids.
From the site:
The Vikings have left many traces of their settlement which are still visible today. Archaeology provides physical evidence of their conquests, settlement and daily life. The study of place-names and language shows the lasting effect which the Viking settlements had in the British Isles, and DNA analysis provides some insights into the effect the Vikings had on the genetic stock of the countries where they settled. All of this provides valuable information, but the only reason that we have an idea of the 'Vikings' as a people is their appearance in the written sources.
Unfortunately, the value of the written evidence is limited. Not a lot of evidence survives, and much of what we have is either uninformative or unreliable. Many popular ideas about Vikings are nineteenth-century inventions. Others are the result of early historians accepting sources which modern scholars now regard as completely unreliable. In Scandinavia the Viking Age is regarded as part of prehistory because there are practically no contemporary written sources. Even in western Europe, the Viking Age is often seen as part of the 'Dark Ages', from which comparatively few historical records have survived.
Detail from the manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Surviving accounts of Viking activity were almost exclusively written by churchmen. These include monastic chronicles, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and similar Frankish and Irish Annals, which outline broadly what happened, at what date. There are also sources of a more directly religious nature, such as the much-quoted letters of Alcuin, and Wulfstan's famous 'Sermon of the Wolf', both of which chose to interpret the Viking raids as God's punishment on the Anglo-Saxons for their sins. Even the chronicles reflect the fact that the Vikings often attacked monasteries for their wealth, which created an obvious bias against them, and the hostile tone of these contemporary accounts has done much to create the popular image of Viking atrocities. However, modern historians have noted that the same sources show Christian rulers behaving equally unpleasantly, but without being condemned on religious grounds.
- Danelaw
Danelaw Danelaw encompassed the areas of northeast England where Danish customs had a strong political and cultural influence throughout much of the early Middle Ages. The area included Yorkshire (southern Northumbria), East Anglia, and the Five Boroughs,...
- Alfred The Great
Alfred the Great Alfred the Great was the fifth son of King Ethelwulf (839–55) of the West Saxons (Wessex) and Osburga, daughter of the powerful Saxon earl Oslac. When Alfred became king of Wessex in 871, his small realm was the last independent...
- Vikings In Russia
Vikings in Russia Vikings (Rus in the Arabic and Varangians in the Greek sources), primarily from central Sweden and the Isle of Gotland, first entered northwestern Russia by way of the Gulf of Finland, the Neva River, and Lake Ladoga, in small exploratory...
- Birka: Trade Center And Gateway For Viking Age Sweden
Birka: Trade Center and Gateway for Viking Age Sweden. Recounts the story of this town in Sweden founded in the 8th century on the island of Björkö. Includes maps, a reconstruction drawing, and description of Birka in the Viking age. This is from a...
- Rise And Fall Of The Vikings And The Little Ice Age
The Rise and Fall of the Vikings and the Little Ice Age - Illustrated, scholarly study by Scott Mandia on the impact of long-term climate changes on the Viking civilization in Greenland and Iceland. As we continue to debate the validity of global warming,...
World History
Vikings
Vikings - BBC Online presents aspects of the history of the Vikings in the British Isles. Includes dig reports, 3D model of a Viking age farm at Ribblehead, Yorkshire, and fun approaches for kids.
From the site:
The Vikings have left many traces of their settlement which are still visible today. Archaeology provides physical evidence of their conquests, settlement and daily life. The study of place-names and language shows the lasting effect which the Viking settlements had in the British Isles, and DNA analysis provides some insights into the effect the Vikings had on the genetic stock of the countries where they settled. All of this provides valuable information, but the only reason that we have an idea of the 'Vikings' as a people is their appearance in the written sources.
Unfortunately, the value of the written evidence is limited. Not a lot of evidence survives, and much of what we have is either uninformative or unreliable. Many popular ideas about Vikings are nineteenth-century inventions. Others are the result of early historians accepting sources which modern scholars now regard as completely unreliable. In Scandinavia the Viking Age is regarded as part of prehistory because there are practically no contemporary written sources. Even in western Europe, the Viking Age is often seen as part of the 'Dark Ages', from which comparatively few historical records have survived.
Detail from the manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Surviving accounts of Viking activity were almost exclusively written by churchmen. These include monastic chronicles, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and similar Frankish and Irish Annals, which outline broadly what happened, at what date. There are also sources of a more directly religious nature, such as the much-quoted letters of Alcuin, and Wulfstan's famous 'Sermon of the Wolf', both of which chose to interpret the Viking raids as God's punishment on the Anglo-Saxons for their sins. Even the chronicles reflect the fact that the Vikings often attacked monasteries for their wealth, which created an obvious bias against them, and the hostile tone of these contemporary accounts has done much to create the popular image of Viking atrocities. However, modern historians have noted that the same sources show Christian rulers behaving equally unpleasantly, but without being condemned on religious grounds.
- Danelaw
Danelaw Danelaw encompassed the areas of northeast England where Danish customs had a strong political and cultural influence throughout much of the early Middle Ages. The area included Yorkshire (southern Northumbria), East Anglia, and the Five Boroughs,...
- Alfred The Great
Alfred the Great Alfred the Great was the fifth son of King Ethelwulf (839–55) of the West Saxons (Wessex) and Osburga, daughter of the powerful Saxon earl Oslac. When Alfred became king of Wessex in 871, his small realm was the last independent...
- Vikings In Russia
Vikings in Russia Vikings (Rus in the Arabic and Varangians in the Greek sources), primarily from central Sweden and the Isle of Gotland, first entered northwestern Russia by way of the Gulf of Finland, the Neva River, and Lake Ladoga, in small exploratory...
- Birka: Trade Center And Gateway For Viking Age Sweden
Birka: Trade Center and Gateway for Viking Age Sweden. Recounts the story of this town in Sweden founded in the 8th century on the island of Björkö. Includes maps, a reconstruction drawing, and description of Birka in the Viking age. This is from a...
- Rise And Fall Of The Vikings And The Little Ice Age
The Rise and Fall of the Vikings and the Little Ice Age - Illustrated, scholarly study by Scott Mandia on the impact of long-term climate changes on the Viking civilization in Greenland and Iceland. As we continue to debate the validity of global warming,...