present the history which is the most relevant to the political will and struggle, to
sanction the politics you pursue. The use of history and the focus on the warrior Viking
in Nazi Germany is an obvious example. In post-war Europe, however, battered and
tired of war, it was more welcome and natural to focus on the peaceful side of the
Vikings, as traders.
THE VIKING AGEThe historical period of the Viking Age is a late construction. The Vikings themselves
had, of course, no clue that they were living in the Viking Age. A man-made, con-
structed historical period must have a beginning and an end. Very often some well-
known event has been used as the start and end of a historical period. Regarding the
Viking Age two monumental ‘events’ have framed the period. By tradition the start of
the Viking Age has been set at the year 793 , which is the year we know that Vikings
attacked and plundered the monastery at Lindisfarne, near the coast of Northumberland,
mentioned in Anglo-Saxon chronicles. In the same way, by tradition, the end of the
Viking Age is usually set in 1066 , with the battle at Stamford Bridge, near York, when
the English king Harold defeated a large army of Northmen under the command of the
Norse king Haraldr Harðráði. In the handbooks it says that after this defeat, no Vikings
bothered the British people any more. The Viking era was over.
This is what may be read in a handbook, but it is a qualified truth. In 1070 the
Danish king Sven Estridsson came back to England to demand the crown, backed up
by the English aristocracy. The new king in England, William, thwarted his plans,
and Sven went back to Denmark the same year. In 1075 Knut, son of Sven, came to
England with a Danish fleet. And so on. A historically important aspect for the start of
Scandinavians beginning to travel outside Scandinavia for trade was obviously the
general expansion of trade which took place around 700 , which led to the emergence of
many towns, or emporia, such as Dorestad, Quentovic, Hamwic, York, Ipswich etc.
Here, goods and money were in abundance, and with large quantities of sceattas coins,
minted by the Frisians, these towns probably were tempting goals for pirates and others.
In the light of these circumstances, cases have been made for pulling back the start of the
Viking Age to around 700. On the other side, an obvious end to the Viking Age was
the introduction of the new Christian religion and the establishment of the Church. And
with the Church came a new administration and government based on literacy. This
‘Europeanisation’ of Scandinavia can – with very good arguments – be said to be the end
of the Viking Age. And so we may continue. In my opinion there are no cogent reasons
for changing the start and the end of the Viking Age, which anyhow is just an approxi-
mation and a late construction to help us understand a complicated past.
THE WORD ‘VIKING’The term which has been synonymous with a raiding or trading Northman during this
period is hence Viking. This was, however, not the common word used at the time. In
Francia these Scandinavians were called ‘Northmen’ or ‘Danes’ (in translation), and in
England they were called ‘Danes’ or ‘pagans’ in contemporary chronicles. In Ireland
Scandinavians were at first called ‘pagans’ (‘gentiles’), and then a distinction was made
between Norwegians, called Finngall ‘white foreigners’, and Danes, Dubgall ‘black
–– Who were the Vikings?––