- Amanda Roraback
Vikings
Terminology
"Viking" simply means "raider"
Norse = north
Norsemen = Men from the north
Scandinavia = Norway, Sweden, Denmark
Skraelingar = derogatory term for "wretched ones"
British Isles

Attacked monastery of Lindisfarne in 793
Began the "Viking Age"
878 Danelaw
Name to the part of England in which the laws of the Danes were more in use than those of the Anglo-Saxons
Agreed upon by the King of Wessex, Alfred the Great and the Danish warlord, Guthrum after Guthrum's defeat at the Battle of Edington
Alfred granted Guthrum the kingdom of East Anglia on condition that he convert to Christianity
At his baptism, Guthrum adopted Anglo-saxon name Ethelstan II.
Danlaw coins often included Christian sybols nd inscriptions and featured both the name of a Norse ruler nd n Anglo-Saxon moneyer
Others had Thor's hammer with the name of St. peter.
In 886, the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum was formalized, defining the boundaries of their kingdoms.
France
Caraolingian Empire
Danish raiders infested waters in Charlemagne France around AD 800
Danish king called Godfred laid waste to the northern regions of teh Caroingian Empire
Rivers (Seine, Loire, Elbe, Rhine) became routes to heart of WEstern europe
First seige of Paris 845 (ships sialed up Senie)
Defeated king's rmy and hanged 111 of his men as sacrifice to Odin, then occupied the city
How Frankish rulers tried to deal with Vikings
Converted them to Chrsitiantity
Became friends with their leaders
Pitted them against each other
Normandy
Norwegian raider called Rollo granted lands in northwest Frnce in 911
In return for converting to Christianity
and loyalty to Charles the Simple, king of West Franks
Rollo along the Seine
Stopped other priates sailing up the river to attack further inland.
As a Christian
Rollo would not attack monasteries
But he still sacrificed slaves to pagan gods (Odin and Thor) on his deathbed just in case
Nuisance
Rollo changed allegiances few times and became a nuisance.
Assimilation
Nordmanni ("Northmen") assimilated
Married local woen
Spoke local language (by early 11th c. no one spoke Norse language)
Region became known as Normannia ("Land of the Northmen") or Normandy
Norse place names around the coast (where Scandinavian settlement was most concentrated)
Russia
The Rus were descended from Norse traders 9mostly Swedes)
who crossed Baltic sSea and sailed up waterways
862 a Norse prince called Rurik established his base in Novgorod
Power center shited south to Kiev where they formed Kievan Rus
Multicultural
Names
From 912 to 945 ruler of Kievan Rus was Igor, wife was Olga
Igor comes from Ivarr (a norse name)
Yngvarr and Olga come from Helga
Their son, Svyatoslav was a typial Slavic ruler
Worshipped Slavic gods Perun (thunder and lighttingin) n Volos (god of flocks0
Enemies covered his skull in gold and used it as a drinking vesse
BATTLE OF HASTINGS 1066
William the Conquer
Descendent of Rollo
Crossed English Channel
shattered Ango-Saacon England in 1966
Normans were "Northmen" only in name
Bayeux Tapestry
Hairstyles (shaved at back and long at the front)
Normans hold up war banners depicting ravens (assoc. with Norse rulers and wariors)
God Odin was said to be accompanied by two ravens - Huggin ("thought") and Muninn ("memory")
rvens are carrion birds - emblems of croprpes and battles
Fest on flesh
Battle of Stamford Bridge (outside York)
Harald Hardrada killed by Harold Godwinson
NORSE CULTURE IN ENGLAND
Place names
Kirkwall, Twatt (cleared piece of land) and any island ending in ay)
Vikings assimilated
Vikings did not wipe out the pre-existing population
Some stone sculptures have Norse mythology
Like Sigurd the dragon-slayer or one-eyed god Odin
some stones have Christian crosses
Norse names
"by = farm
"thorpe" = village
"thwaite" = cleared area of land
others have mixed anaguae