The Vikings

• The religious leaders of the Celts - druids = the elders people for insight
• They gather in modern day France

• In the north less integration of Xianity
• The Celts acclimated over years to Xianity
• Iceland was settled by Norwegians
• The language there is the language of the Vikings

• Vikings
• Norwegian
• Swedish

• The Vikings believed in the afterlife
• Odin(God of Battle) would greet them there if they died in battle

• Vikings
• Referred to Norsemen(Norway and Sweden)
• Medieval Sourcebook
• Primary Sources
• Edda - tell the myths of the gods
• Older - poetry
• Younger - prose
• 13th Century
• Written down
• Tell of the cosmology(concept of the universe) of the Norse
• Nine worlds in Norse mythology - we live on Midgard
• North is Alfheimer - world of the elves
• South - Svartalfaheim - black elves
• East - Vanaheimer - Vanir
• Muspellheim - world of fire
• Jotunheimr - world of giants
• West - Niflheim - world of ice
• Up - Asgard
• Down - Hel - netherworld
• Across - Ginnungapap - part of Atlantic Ocean
• Heimskringla - written by Snorri Sturluson - tells the legends of the Kings
• At their height in 8th and 9th century
• Stop in 11th century
• Norse Mythology - Foundational Stories of Norse culture
• Yggdrasil tree
• Ragnarok

• They leave Scandinavia and:
• The Vikings attack a monastery on the coast of England in 793
• They took every thing, raided the village and burned everything else down
• They were:
• Brawny
• Barbaric
• Fierce
• Their weapons:
• Axes

• These attacks on monasteries were only the beginning; they were going to attack cities
• They were looking for silver; most things in a monastery were made of silver
• Viking leaders ambitions grew with their reputations
• ? took a fleet of ships to attack Paris
• They decimate the French forces along the Seine as they head to the city
• Nobody resisted the Vikings
• Paris was well defended, but the king of France decided to give them all their silver and other goods to avoid the destruction
• Two famous Vikings from Greenland are
• Eric the Red
• Leif Ericson
• They start a colony on Greenland and develop systems of law and order
• Leif Ericson sets off to go to Greenland, but was blown off course to a very good land
• Leif returns to Greenland and Christianizes them.