Editing Vikings (section)

===Viking Age===
{{Main|Viking Age}}
[[File:Miscellany on the Life of St. Edmund - MS M.736 fol. 9v.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Sea-faring [[Norsemen]] depicted invading England. [[Illuminated manuscript|Illuminated]] illustration from the 12th-century ''Miscellany on the Life of St. Edmund'' ([[Morgan Library & Museum|Pierpont Morgan Library]])]]

The Viking Age in Scandinavian history is taken to have been the period from the earliest recorded raids by Norsemen in 793 until the [[Norman conquest of England]] in 1066.<ref>Peter Sawyer, ''The Viking Expansion'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=PFBtfXG6fXAC The Cambridge History of Scandinavia, Issue 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022182316/https://books.google.com/books?id=PFBtfXG6fXAC&printsec=frontcover |date=22 October 2015 }} (Knut Helle, ed., 2003), p. 105.</ref> Vikings used the [[Norwegian Sea]] and [[Baltic Sea]] for sea routes to the south.

The [[Normans]] were descendants of those Vikings who had been given [[feudal]] overlordship of areas in northern France, namely the [[Duchy of Normandy]], in the 10th century. In that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe. Likewise, King [[Harold Godwinson]], the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, had Danish ancestors. Two Vikings even ascended to the throne of England, with [[Sweyn Forkbeard]] claiming the English throne in 1013 until 1014 and his son [[Cnut the Great]] being king of England between 1016 and 1035.<ref name="Lund">Lund, Niels "The Danish Empire and the End of the Viking Age", in Sawyer, ''History of the Vikings'', pp. 167–81.</ref><ref>[http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/Sweyn.aspx The Royal Household, "Sweyn"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012256/http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/Sweyn.aspx |date=29 November 2014 }}, ''The official Website of The British Monarchy'', 15 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015</ref><ref name="Lawson">Lawson, M K (2004). "Cnut: England's Viking King 1016–35". The History Press Ltd, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0582059702}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/CanutetheGreat.aspx The Royal Household, "Canute The Great"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129012257/http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheAnglo-Saxonkings/CanutetheGreat.aspx |date=29 November 2014 }}, ''The official Website of The British Monarchy'', 15 March 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015</ref><ref name="Badsey et al.">Badsey, S. Nicolle, D, Turnbull, S (1999). "The Timechart of Military History". Worth Press Ltd, 2000, {{ISBN|1-903025-00-1}}.</ref>

Geographically, the Viking Age covered Scandinavian lands (modern [[Denmark]], [[Norway]] and Sweden), as well as territories under [[Germanic peoples|North Germanic]] dominance, mainly the [[Danelaw]], including Scandinavian York, the administrative centre of the remains of the Kingdom of [[Northumbria]],<ref>[http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/VikingNorthumbria.html "History of Northumbria: Viking era 866 AD–1066 AD"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730071112/http://www.englandsnortheast.co.uk/VikingNorthumbria.html |date=30 July 2013 }} www.englandnortheast.co.uk.</ref> parts of [[Mercia]], and [[Kingdom of East Anglia|East Anglia]].<ref>Toyne, Stanley Mease. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yvGt8gfBlEIC&dq=Viking+Age+East+Anglia&pg=PA27 ''The Scandinavians in history''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101203825/https://books.google.com/books?id=yvGt8gfBlEIC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=Viking+Age+East+Anglia&source=bl&ots=chkBibhiGs&sig=NX79_9WHb2BL7ctaNdj1L1D93f8&hl=en&ei=f28eS-aUHovkswPr4v36CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Viking%20Age%20East%20Anglia&f=false |date=1 January 2016 }} Pg.27. 1970.</ref> Viking navigators opened the road to new lands to the north, west and east, resulting in the foundation of independent settlements in the [[Shetland]], [[Orkney]], and Faroe Islands; Iceland; [[Greenland]];<ref>[http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/greenland/ The Fate of Greenland's Vikings] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111090459/http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/greenland/ |date=11 January 2011 }}, by Dale Mackenzie Brown, ''Archaeological Institute of America'', 28 February 2000</ref> and [[L'Anse aux Meadows]], a short-lived settlement in [[Newfoundland]], circa 1000.<ref>{{cite journal|title= The Norse discovery of America|pmid=16331154|date=4 April 2012 |volume=57 |issue=6|journal=Neurosurgery |pages=1076–87; discussion 1076–87 |author=Langmoen IA|s2cid=37361794|doi=10.1227/01.neu.0000144825.92264.c4}}</ref> The Greenland settlement was established around 980, during the [[Medieval Warm Period]], and its demise by the mid-15th century may have been partly due to [[Climate variability and change|climate change]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/05/31/climate-change-froze-the-vikings-out-of-greenland-say-scientists/#.UV_rr1eSnlw|title=Climate change froze Vikings out of Greenland|last=Ross|first=Valerie|date=31 May 2011|work=Discover|publisher=Kalmback Publishing|access-date=6 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430232629/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/05/31/climate-change-froze-the-vikings-out-of-greenland-say-scientists/#.UV_rr1eSnlw|archive-date=30 April 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The semi-legendary Viking [[Rurik]] is said to have taken control of [[Novgorod]] in 862, while his kinsman [[Oleg the Wise|Oleg]] captured [[Kiev]] in 882 and made it the capital of the [[Rus' people|Rus]].{{sfn|Hall|2007|p=96}} The [[Rurik dynasty]] would rule Russia until 1598.{{sfn|Hall|2007|p=96|loc="Rurik... reportedly settled in Novgorod... and founded the Ryurik dynasty, which ruled Russia until 1598... Although the story of Rurik is at best semi-legendary, the region's links with Scandinavia are confirmed by
archaeological evidence"}}

As early as 839, when Swedish emissaries are first known to have visited [[Byzantium]], Scandinavians served as mercenaries in the service of the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref>Hall, p. 98</ref> In the late 10th century, a new unit of the imperial bodyguard formed. Traditionally containing large numbers of Scandinavians, it was known as the [[Varangian]] Guard. The word ''Varangian'' may have originated in Old Norse, but in Slavic and Greek it could refer either to Scandinavians or Franks. In these years, [[Swedish people|Swedish]] men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that a medieval Swedish law, the ''[[Västgötalagen]]'', from [[Västergötland]] declared no-one could inherit while staying in "Greece"—the then Scandinavian term for the Byzantine Empire—to stop the emigration,<ref>Jansson 1980:22</ref> especially as two other European courts simultaneously also recruited Scandinavians:<ref name="Pritsak386">Pritsak 1981:386</ref> Kievan Rus' {{Circa|980–1060}} and London 1018–1066 (the [[Þingalið]]).<ref name="Pritsak386"/>

There is archaeological evidence that Vikings reached [[Baghdad]], the centre of the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Islamic Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0217_040217_vikings.html |title=Vikings' Barbaric Bad Rap Beginning to Fade |work=National Geographic |date=28 October 2010 |access-date=21 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514031909/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0217_040217_vikings.html |archive-date=14 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Norse regularly plied the [[Volga]] with their trade goods: furs, tusks, seal fat for boat sealant, and [[slaves]]. Important trading ports during the period include [[Birka]], [[Hedeby]], [[Kaupang]], [[Jorvik]], [[Staraya Ladoga]], [[Novgorod]], and Kiev.

Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation, and conquest. In this period, voyaging from their homelands in Denmark, Norway and Sweden the Norsemen settled in the present-day [[History of the Faroe Islands|Faroe Islands]], [[Settlement of Iceland|Iceland]], [[Norse Greenland]], [[Norse colonization of the Americas|Newfoundland]], [[Netherlands|the Netherlands]], Germany, [[Normandy]], Italy, [[Scandinavian Scotland|Scotland]], England, [[Wales]], Ireland, the [[Isle of Man]], [[Viking Age in Estonia|Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]],<ref>Butrimas, Adomas. [https://etalpykla.lituanistika.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2003~1593455293623/J.04~2003~1593455293623.pdf "Dešiniajame Savo Krante Svebų Jūra Skalauja Aisčių Gentis..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806103215/https://etalpykla.lituanistika.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2003~1593455293623/J.04~2003~1593455293623.pdf |date=6 August 2023 }} ''Lietuva iki Mindaugo'' [''Lithuania Before Mindaugas''] (in Lithuanian). 2003, p. 136. [[:lt:Specialus:Knygų šaltiniai/9986571898|ISBN 9986571898]].</ref> [[Ukraine]], Russia and Turkey, as well as initiating the consolidation that resulted in the formation of the present-day Scandinavian countries.

In the Viking Age, the present-day nations of Norway, Sweden and Denmark did not exist, but the peoples who lived in what is now those countries were largely homogeneous and similar in culture and language, although somewhat distinct geographically. The names of Scandinavian kings are reliably known for only the later part of the Viking Age. After the end of the Viking Age, the separate kingdoms gradually acquired distinct identities as nations, which went hand-in-hand with their [[Christianisation]]. Thus, the end of the Viking Age for the Scandinavians also marks the start of their relatively brief Middle Ages.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

====Intermixing with the Slavs====
Slavic and Viking tribes were "closely linked, fighting one another, intermixing and trading".<ref name="Smithsonian mag"/>{{sfn|Barford|2001|pp=89–90}}<ref name="University of Nottingham">{{cite web|last1=Radziwillowicz|first1=Natalia|title=Considering the connections between Scandinavia and the southern Baltic coast in the 10th −11th Centuries|url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/documents/innervate/16-17/3.-radziwillowicz-n-q33408-dissertation.pdf|date=2007|publisher=[[University of Nottingham]]|location=Nottingham, England, UK|page=|isbn=|access-date=17 January 2021|archive-date=22 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122052625/https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/documents/innervate/16-17/3.-radziwillowicz-n-q33408-dissertation.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In the Middle Ages, goods were transferred from Slavic areas to Scandinavia, and Denmark could be considered "a melting pot of Slavic and Scandinavian elements".<ref name="Smithsonian mag"/> Leszek Gardeła, of the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literatures at the University of Bonn, posits that the presence of Slavs in Scandinavia is "more significant than previously thought",<ref name="Smithsonian mag"/> while Mats Roslund states that "the  Slavs and their interaction with Scandinavia have not been adequately investigated".<ref name="Roslund2007">{{cite book |last1=Roslund |first1=Mats |title=Guests in the House: Cultural Transmission between Slavs and Scandinavians 900 to 1300 AD |year=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-2185-6 |page=469 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1POvCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA469 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212154738/https://books.google.com/books?id=1POvCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA469 |url-status=live }}</ref>

A 10th-century grave of a female warrior in Denmark was long thought to belong to a Viking. A 2019 analysis suggested the woman may have been a Slav from present-day Poland.<ref name="Smithsonian mag">{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/viking-woman-warrior-was-actually-poland-180972739/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117132710/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/viking-woman-warrior-was-actually-poland-180972739/|archive-date=17 January 2021|url-status=live|title=Viking Woman Warrior May Have Been Slavic |publisher= [[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=17 January 2021}}</ref> The first king of the Swedes, [[Eric the Victorious|Eric]], was married to [[Gunhild of Wenden|Gunhild]], of the Polish [[House of Piast]].<ref name="Olaf Britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117140527/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Olaf|archive-date=17 January 2021|url-status=dead|title=Olaf|publisher=[[Britannica]]|access-date=17 January 2021}}</ref> Likewise, his son, [[Olof Skötkonung|Olof]], fell in love with [[Edla]], a Slavic woman, and took her as his ''[[:sv:Frilla|frilla]]'' (concubine).<ref name="Lindqvist">{{cite book|last1=Lindqvist|first1=Herman|title=Historien om alla Sveriges drottningar: från myt och helgon till drottning i tiden|url=https://brill.com/view/book/9789047421856/Bej.9789004161894.i-557_006.xml|date=2006|publisher=[[Norstedts förlag|Norstedt]]; [[University of Wisconsin]]|location=|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eesnAQAAMAAJ&q=Edla 24; 35; 536]|isbn=9113015249|access-date=17 January 2021|archive-date=2 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602012418/https://brill.com/view/book/9789047421856/Bej.9789004161894.i-557_006.xml|url-status=live}}</ref> They had a son and a daughter: [[Emund the Old]], King of Sweden, and [[Astrid Olofsdotter of Sweden|Astrid]], Queen of Norway. [[Cnut the Great]], King of Denmark, England and Norway, was the son of a daughter of [[Mieszko I of Poland]],<ref name="Cnut Britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Canute-I|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117155542/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Canute-I|archive-date=17 January 2021|url-status=dead|title=Canute (I) king of England, Denmark, and Norway|publisher=[[Britannica]]|access-date=17 January 2021}}</ref> possibly the former Polish queen of Sweden, wife of Eric.