Who Were the Vikings?

The term, "Viking Age" covers the period A.D. 800 to the 11th century (800-1066) in northern Europe. Scandinavians left their homelands to seek their fortunes elsewhere. These seafaring warriors--known collectively as Vikings or Norsemen "Northmen"; began by raiding coastal sites, especially undefended monasteries, in the British Isles and the areas bordering the Baltic and North Seas.

Over the next three centuries, they would leave their mark as pirates, raiders, traders and settlers on much of Britain and the European continent, as well as parts of modern-day Russia, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. The international trade enjoyed by these areas permitted the free flow of dyestuffs, mordant’s, and textiles across wide distances; accordingly, textile products throughout northern Europe shared a basic set of dyestuffs in the Viking Age.