Editing Vikings (section)

===Medieval perceptions===
[[File:Züge, Landnahmen und Siedlungsgebiete der Nordmänner - 800-1050.png|thumb|Exploration and expansion routes of [[Norsemen]]]]
In England the Viking Age began dramatically on 8 June 793 when Norsemen destroyed the [[abbey]] on the island of [[Lindisfarne]]. The devastation of [[Northumbria]]'s Holy Island shocked and alerted the royal courts of Europe to the Viking presence. "Never before has such an atrocity been seen", declared the Northumbrian scholar [[Alcuin of York]].<ref>English Historical Documents, c. 500–1042 by Dorothy Whitelock; p. 776</ref> Medieval Christians in Europe were totally unprepared for the Viking incursions and could find no explanation for their arrival and the accompanying suffering they experienced at their hands save the "Wrath of God".<ref>Derry (2012). ''A History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland'', p. 16.</ref> More than any other single event, the attack on Lindisfarne demonised perception of the Vikings for the next twelve centuries. Not until the 1890s did scholars outside Scandinavia begin to seriously reassess the achievements of the Vikings, recognising their artistry, technological skills, and seamanship.<ref>''Northern Shores'' by Alan Palmer; p. 21; {{ISBN|0-7195-6299-6}}</ref>

[[Norse Mythology]], sagas, and [[Old Norse literature|literature]] tell of Scandinavian culture and religion through tales of heroic and mythological heroes. Early transmission of this information was primarily oral, and later texts relied on the writings and transcriptions of Christian scholars, including the [[Icelanders]] Snorri Sturluson and [[Sæmundur fróði]]. Many of these sagas were written in Iceland, and most of them, even if they had no Icelandic provenance, were preserved there after the Middle Ages due to the continued interest of Icelanders in Norse literature and legal codes.

The 200-year Viking influence on [[History of Europe|European history]] is filled with tales of plunder and colonisation, and the majority of these chronicles came from western European witnesses and their descendants. Less common, although equally relevant, are references to Vikings in chronicles that originated in the east, including the [[Nestor the Chronicler|Nestor]] chronicles, [[Novgorod Chronicle|Novgorod chronicles]], [[Ibn Fadlan]] chronicles, [[Ibn Rusta]] chronicles, and brief mentions by [[Photius]], patriarch of Constantinople, regarding the first Viking attack on the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Other chroniclers of Viking history include [[Adam of Bremen]], who wrote, in the fourth volume of his ''Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum'', "[t]here is much gold here (in [[Zealand (Denmark)|Zealand]]), accumulated by piracy. These pirates, which are called ''wichingi'' by their own people, and ''Ascomanni'' by our own people, pay tribute to the Danish king." In 991, the [[Battle of Maldon]] between Viking raiders and the inhabitants of [[Maldon, Essex|Maldon]] in Essex was commemorated with a poem of the same name.