Editing Vikings (section)

===Expansion===
{{Main|Viking expansion}}
[[File:Vikings-Voyages.png|thumb|Viking expeditions (blue line):  depicting the immense breadth of their voyages through most of Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Africa, [[Asia Minor]], the Arctic, and North America. [[Lower Normandy]], depicted as a "Viking territory in 911", was not part of the lands granted by the king of the Franks to [[Rollo]] in 911, but [[Upper Normandy]].]]
[[File:Nicholas Roerich, Guests from Overseas (corrected colour).jpg|thumb|250px|''Guests from Overseas'' (1901) by [[Nicholas Roerich]], depicting a [[Varangian]] raid]]

Colonisation of Iceland by Norwegian Vikings began in the 9th century. The first source mentioning Iceland and Greenland is a papal letter from 1053. Twenty years later, they appear in the ''Gesta'' of [[Adam of Bremen]]. It was not until after 1130, when the islands had become Christianised, that accounts of the history of the islands were written from the point of view of the inhabitants in sagas and chronicles.<ref>Sawyer, ''History of the Vikings'', pp. 110, 114</ref> The Vikings explored the northern islands and coasts of the North Atlantic, ventured south to North Africa, and brought slaves from the Baltic coast and European Russia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rodin.uca.es:8081/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10498/7881/18385953.pdf?sequence=1 |title=Los vikingos en Al-Andalus (abstract available in English) |publisher=Jesús Riosalido |year=1997 |access-date=11 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718171837/http://rodin.uca.es:8081/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10498/7881/18385953.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=18 July 2011}}</ref>{{sfn|Hall|2007|p=25}}

They raided and pillaged, traded, acted as mercenaries and settled colonies over a wide area.<ref>John Haywood: ''Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings'', Penguin (1996). Detailed maps of Viking settlements in Scotland, Ireland, England, Iceland and Normandy.</ref> Early Vikings probably returned home after their raids. Later in their history, they began to settle in other lands.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wNOt9BJh080C&q=vikings+ph+sawyer&pg=PR1|title=Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700–1100|last=Sawyer|first=P. H.|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1134947775|language=en|access-date=29 October 2020|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414031015/https://books.google.com/books?id=wNOt9BJh080C&q=vikings+ph+sawyer&pg=PR1|url-status=live}}</ref> Vikings under [[Leif Ericson|Leif Erikson]], heir to [[Erik the Red]], reached North America and set up short-lived settlements in present-day [[L'Anse aux Meadows]], Newfoundland, Canada. This expansion occurred during the [[Medieval Warm Period]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Haine|first=Thomas|date=1 March 2008|title=What did the Viking discoverers of America know of the North Atlantic Environment?|journal=Weather|language=en|volume=63|issue=3|pages=60–65|doi=10.1002/wea.150|issn=1477-8696|bibcode=2008Wthr...63...60H|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Viking expansion into continental Europe was limited. Their realm was bordered by powerful tribes to the south. Early on, it was the [[Saxons]] who occupied [[Old Saxony]], located in what is now Northern Germany. The Saxons were a fierce and powerful people and were often in conflict with the Vikings. To counter the Saxon aggression and solidify their own presence, the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] constructed the huge defence fortification of [[Danevirke]] in and around [[Hedeby]].<ref name="Haywood2006">{{cite book |last1=Haywood |first1=John |title=Dark Age Naval Power: A Reassessment of Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Seafaring Activity |date=2006 |publisher=Anglo-Saxon Books |isbn=978-1-898281-43-6 |pages=170–171 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dus9AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Danevirke%22 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212185651/https://books.google.com/books?id=dus9AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Danevirke%22 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Vikings witnessed the violent subduing of the Saxons by [[Charlemagne]], in the thirty-year [[Saxon Wars]] of 772–804. The Saxon defeat resulted in their forced christening and the absorption of Old Saxony into the [[Carolingian Empire]]. Fear of the [[Franks]] led the Vikings to further expand Danevirke,<ref name="Haywood2006" /> and the defence constructions remained in use throughout the Viking Age and even up until 1864.<ref name="Kold2014">{{cite web |url = http://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/dannevirke/ |title = Dannevirke |language = da |website = danmarkshistorien.dk |publisher = Aarhus University |last1=Kold |first1=Lotte Flugt |date = 3 November 2014 |access-date = 20 December 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061819/http://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/dannevirke/ |archive-date = 4 March 2016 |url-status = live |quote=Senest i krigen 1864 (2. Slesvigske Krig) fungerede Dannevirke som forsvarsværk, og fortidsmindet har en nærmest mytisk rolle i Danmarks historie." English: "Dannevirke last functioned as a defensive structure in the 1864 [[Second Schleswig War]]; this ancient structure has an almost mythical role in Denmark's history.}}</ref>

The southern coast of the Baltic Sea was ruled by the [[Obotrites]], a federation of Slavic tribes loyal to the Carolingians and later the [[Frankish empire]]. The Vikings—led by [[King Gudfred]]—destroyed the Obotrite city of [[Reric]] on the southern Baltic coast in 808 AD and transferred the merchants and traders to Hedeby.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Näsman|first=Ulf|date=1 November 2000|title=Raids, Migrations, and Kingdoms|journal=Acta Archaeologica|language=en|volume=71|issue=1|pages=1–7|doi=10.1034/j.1600-0390.2000.d01-1.x|s2cid=162638243 |issn=1600-0390}}</ref> This secured Viking supremacy in the Baltic Sea, which continued throughout the Viking Age.

Because of the expansion of the Vikings across Europe, a comparison of [[DNA]] and archeology undertaken by scientists at the [[University of Cambridge]] and [[University of Copenhagen]] suggested that the term "Viking" may have evolved to become "a job description, not a matter of heredity", at least in some Viking bands.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Curry|first1=Andrew|date=16 September 2020|title='Viking' was a job description, not a matter of heredity, massive ancient DNA study shows|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/viking-was-job-description-not-matter-heredity-massive-ancient-dna-study-shows|access-date=16 September 2020|website=Science {{!}} AAAS|language=en|archive-date=15 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015230053/https://www.science.org/content/article/viking-was-job-description-not-matter-heredity-massive-ancient-dna-study-shows|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Motives====
The motives driving the Viking expansion are a topic of much debate. The concept that Vikings may have originally started sailing and raiding due to a need to seek out women from foreign lands was expressed in the 11th century by historian [[Dudo of Saint-Quentin]] in his semi-imaginary ''History of The Normans''.<ref name="Wyatt2009">{{cite book|author=David R. Wyatt|title=Slaves and Warriors in Medieval Britain and Ireland: 800–1200|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RWJGynaKSkkC&pg=PA124|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-17533-4|page=124|access-date=11 August 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414031011/https://books.google.com/books?id=RWJGynaKSkkC&pg=PA124|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Sfn|Choi|2016}}<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/12/151228-vikings-slaves-thralls-norse-scandinavia-archaeology/|title=Kinder, Gentler Vikings? Not According to Their Slaves|date=28 December 2015|website=National Geographic News|access-date=2 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802035726/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/12/151228-vikings-slaves-thralls-norse-scandinavia-archaeology/|archive-date=2 August 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> As observed by Adam of Bremen, rich and powerful Viking men tended to have many wives and concubines;<ref name="RaffieldPriceCollard2017a">{{cite journal |last1=Raffield |first1=Ben |last2=Price |first2=Neil |last3=Collard |first3=Mark |title=Polygyny, Concubinage, and the Social Lives of Women in Viking-Age Scandinavia |journal=Viking and Medieval Scandinavia |date=January 2017 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=176–177 |doi=10.1484/J.VMS.5.114355 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323982646}}</ref> and these [[Polygyny|polygynous]] relationships may have led to a shortage of  women available to the Viking male. Consequently, the average Viking man may have felt compelled to seek wealth and power to have the means to acquire suitable women.<ref name="Barrett2008">{{cite journal |last1=Barrett |first1=James H. |title=What caused the Viking Age? |journal=Antiquity |date=September 2008 |volume=82 |issue=317 |pages=680–681 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00097301 |s2cid=59363335 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/9AAD157E488AF39555B64D3529944D43/S0003598X00097301a.pdf/what-caused-the-viking-age.pdf |issn=0003-598X |access-date=13 February 2023 |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213024148/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/9AAD157E488AF39555B64D3529944D43/S0003598X00097301a.pdf/what-caused-the-viking-age.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Several centuries after Dudo's observations, scholars revived this idea, and over time it became a cliché among scholars of the Viking Age.<ref name="RaffieldPriceCollard2017">{{cite journal |last1=Raffield |first1=Ben |last2=Price |first2=Neil |last3=Collard |first3=Mark |title=Male-biased operational sex ratios and the Viking phenomenon: an evolutionary anthropological perspective on Late Iron Age Scandinavian raiding |journal=Evolution and Human Behavior |date=1 May 2017 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=315 |doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.10.013 |bibcode=2017EHumB..38..315R |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513816303075 |language=en |issn=1090-5138 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212215203/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513816303075 |url-status=live |hdl=2164/8759 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Viking men would often buy or capture women and make them into their wives or concubines;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Karras|first=Ruth Mazo|year=1990|journal=Scandinavian Studies|volume=62|issue=2|pages=141–162|issn=0036-5637|jstor=40919117|title=Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Poser|first=Charles M.|year=1994|title=The dissemination of multiple sclerosis: A Viking saga? A historical essay|journal=Annals of Neurology|language=en|volume=36|issue=S2|pages=S231–S243|doi=10.1002/ana.410360810|pmid=7998792|s2cid=36410898|issn=1531-8249}}</ref> such polygynous marriages increase [[male-male competition]] in society because they create a pool of unmarried men who are willing to engage in risky status-elevating and sex-seeking behaviors.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Raffield|first1=Ben|last2=Price|first2=Neil|last3=Collard|first3=Mark|date=1 May 2017|title=Male-biased operational sex ratios and the Viking phenomenon: an evolutionary anthropological perspective on Late Iron Age Scandinavian raiding|journal=Evolution and Human Behavior|volume=38|issue=3|pages=315–24|doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.10.013|issn=1090-5138|doi-access=free|bibcode=2017EHumB..38..315R |hdl=2164/8759|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/vikings-may-have-first-taken-seas-find-women-slaves|title=Vikings may have first taken to seas to find women, slaves|date=13 April 2016|website=Science {{!}} AAAS|language=en|access-date=19 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727122934/https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/vikings-may-have-first-taken-seas-find-women-slaves|archive-date=27 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[Annals of Ulster]]'' states that in 821 the Vikings plundered an Irish village and "carried off a great number of women into captivity".<ref name="DolfiniCrellin2018">{{cite book|author1=Andrea Dolfini|author2=Rachel J. Crellin|author3=Christian Horn|author4=Marion Uckelmann|title=Prehistoric Warfare and Violence: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8e1lDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA349|year=2018|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-78828-9|page=349|access-date=11 August 2019|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414031027/https://books.google.com/books?id=8e1lDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA349|url-status=live}}</ref>

One common theory posits that Charlemagne "used force and terror to Christianise all pagans", leading to baptism, conversion or execution, and as a result, Vikings and other pagans resisted and wanted revenge.<ref name="Simek2004">{{cite book |last1=Simek |first1=Rudolf |editor1-last=Simek |editor1-first=Rudolf |editor2-last=Engel |editor2-first=Ulrike |title=Vikings on the Rhine: Recent Research on Early Medieval Relations Between the Rhinelands and Scandinavia {{!}} Volume 11 of Studia medievalia Septentrionalia |year=2004 |publisher=Fassbaender |location=Vienna |isbn=978-3-900538-83-5 |pages=24–25 |chapter-url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55887913 |chapter=The Emergence of the Viking Age: Reasons and Triggers|oclc=55887913 }}</ref><ref>Bruno Dumézil, master of Conference at Paris X-Nanterre, Normalien, aggregated history, author of conversion and freedom in the barbarian kingdoms. 5th–8th centuries (Fayard, 2005)</ref><ref name="annals R.20">"Franques Royal Annals" cited in Sawyer, ''History of the Vikings'', p. 20</ref><ref>Dictionnaire d'histoire de France, Perrin, Alain Decaux and André Castelot, 1981, pp. 184–85. {{ISBN|2-7242-3080-9}}.</ref><ref>"the Vikings" R. Boyer history, myths, dictionary, Robert Laffont several 2008, p. 96 {{ISBN|978-2-221-10631-0}}</ref> Professor [[Rudolf Simek]] states that "it is not a coincidence if the early Viking activity occurred during the reign of Charlemagne".<ref name="Simek2004" /><ref>[[François-Xavier Dillmann]], "Viking civilisation and culture. A bibliography of French-language", Caen, Centre for research on the countries of the North and Northwest, University of Caen, 1975, p.&nbsp;19, and "Les Vikings: the Scandinavian and European 800–1200", 22nd exhibition of art from the Council of Europe, 1992, p.&nbsp;26</ref> The ascendance of Christianity in Scandinavia led to serious conflict, dividing Norway for almost a century. However, this time period did not commence until the 10th century. Norway was never subject to aggression by Charlemagne and the period of strife was due to successive Norwegian kings embracing Christianity after encountering it overseas.<ref>"History of the Kings of Norway" by Snorri Sturlusson translated by Professor of History François-Xavier Dillmann, Gallimard {{ISBN|2-07-073211-8}} pp.&nbsp;15–16, 18, 24, 33–34, 38</ref>

[[File:Viking towns of Scandinavia 2.jpg|thumb|Viking-era towns of Scandinavia]]
Another explanation is that the Vikings exploited a moment of weakness in the surrounding regions. Contrary to Simek's assertion, Viking raids occurred sporadically long before the reign of Charlemagne; but exploded in frequency and size after his death, when his empire fragmented into multiple much weaker entities.<ref name="Viking expeditions and raids">{{cite web |url=http://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/expeditions-and-raids/ |title=Viking expeditions and raids |publisher=National Museum of Denmark |access-date=20 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318172137/http://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/expeditions-and-raids/ |archive-date=18 March 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> England suffered from internal divisions and was a relatively easy prey given the proximity of many towns to the sea or to navigable rivers. Lack of organised naval opposition throughout Western Europe allowed Viking ships to travel freely, raiding or trading as opportunity permitted. The decline in the profitability of old [[trade route]]s could also have played a role. Trade between Western Europe and the rest of Eurasia suffered a severe blow when the [[Western Roman Empire]] fell in the 5th century.<ref>{{cite web |last=Macauley Richardson |first=Lloyd |url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/72831997.html |title=Books: Eurasian Exploration |work=Policy Review |publisher=Hoover Institution |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216043007/http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/72831997.html |archive-date=16 December 2009}}</ref> The [[Spread of Islam|expansion of Islam]] in the 7th century had also affected trade with Western Europe.<ref>Crone, Patricia. [https://books.google.com/books?id=VWL-_hRsm2IC&q=Islam+trade+Western+Europe+7th+century ''Meccan trade and the rise of Islam''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101203825/https://books.google.com/books?id=VWL-_hRsm2IC&dq=Islam+trade+Western+Europe+7th+century&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=x3QeS57kBo7ysQPZmvX9CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11&ved=0CDAQ6AEwCg |date=1 January 2016 }}. First Georgias Press. 2004.</ref>

Raids in Europe, including raids and settlements from Scandinavia, were not unprecedented and had occurred long before the Vikings arrived. The [[Jutes]] invaded the British Isles three centuries earlier, from [[Jutland]] during the [[Age of Migrations]], before the [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]] settled there. The [[Saxons]] and the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] did the same, embarking from mainland Europe. The Viking raids were, however, the first to be documented by eyewitnesses, and they were much larger in scale and frequency than in previous times.<ref name="Viking expeditions and raids"/>

Vikings themselves were expanding; although their motives are unclear, historians believe that scarce resources or a lack of mating opportunities were a factor.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Vikings : a very short introduction|last=Richards|first=J.D.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|location=New York|pages=50}}</ref>

The slave trade was an important part of the Viking economy, with most slaves destined to Scandinavia, although many others were shipped east where they could be sold for large profits.{{sfn|Frankopan|2015|pages=117–118}} The "Highway of Slaves" was a term for a route that the Vikings found to have a direct pathway from Scandinavia to Constantinople and Baghdad while travelling on the Baltic Sea. With the advancements of their ships during the 9th century, the Vikings were able to sail to Kievan Rus and some northern parts of Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Worlds Together Worlds Apart Volume One: Beginnings Through the 15th Century |last1=Tignor |last2=Adelman |last3=Brown |last4=Elman |last5=Liu |last6=Pittman |last7=Shaw|publisher=Norton|location=London|pages=352 |edition=Fourth}}</ref>

====Jomsborg====
[[File:The Curmsun Disc - Obverse.png|thumb|[[Curmsun Disc]] – obverse, Jomsborg, 980s]]

[[Jomsborg]] was a semi-legendary Viking stronghold at the southern coast of the [[Baltic Sea]] (medieval [[Wends|Wendland]], modern [[Pomerania]]), that existed between the 960s and 1043. Its inhabitants were known as [[Jomsvikings]]. Jomsborg's exact location, or its existence, has not yet been established, though it is often maintained that Jomsborg was somewhere on the islands of the [[Oder]] estuary.<ref>[[T. D. Kendrick]], ''A History of the Vikings'', Courier Dover Publications, 2004, pp. 179ff, {{ISBN|978-0-486-43396-7}}</ref>