By Michelle Styles
In 793 the Vikings exploded on the European stage with their raid on Lindisfarne. The precise cause of the raid is lost in the mists of history, but something happened to make the Nordic people suddenly decide to export war to other countries. One recent theory is that the belligerent Christianity of the Franks under Charlemagne led to an increase in warlike behaviour from various pagan tribes. Other theories have to do with the increased mobility through technological innovation, in particular the Viking long ship. The word Viking means one who goes out on piratical raids and can be used as a verb — to go Viking. Scholars are divided on the origins of the word. Vik in old Norse means bay or inlet. So it is possible that a Viking was originally used to mean a man from a bay or a man with a ship from a bay. It also could be a reference to the Viken, a part of southern Norway, pre-unification of Norway in the 10th century. There is some evidence that the Lindisfarne raid did originate from that area. In general during this period, the Vikings are referred to as Northmen or Norsemen and eventually the Viking who settled in France became the Normans. The Viking age ends in 1066 when the last large Viking invasion force is defeated at Stamfordham, shortly before the battle of Hastings.
Were Vikings warriors as fierce some as they are often portrayed
in various chronicles? It was a war like age. The Vikings at the beginning of
the period were pagan and certainly Christian chroniclers had no reason to praise the pagans . It is clear from
surviving Viking mythology that the society prized warlike behaviour, and dying
gloriously in battle. Unlike most other cultures, Viking mythology predicts the
Doom of the gods and the destruction of the known world as the gods fight the
giants and various other creatures for supremacy.
In the final battle, Odin’s warriors
(those particularly brave warriors who died on the battlefield) will fight. In
the meantime, they reside in Valhalla, fighting every day to keep their skills
honed and then at night they feast in the great hall.
There is no pure warrior caste in Viking society. In the
early part of the Viking period, there was no central government and the region
was divided into a series of tribes or countries which shared a common language
and religion. However at the start of the Viking period, you do have various
countries such as Viken being expansionist and seeking to subject other tribes.
It is a rare king who dies in his bed. It is clear from the surviving sagas and
myths that there was a code of conduct and a concept of honour and shame.
Vikings appear to have fought on foot, using horses for transport only. They used spears, swords, axes as well as bows and arrows. The shields
tend to be round and they wore helms. There is no direct evidence that they
wore helmets with horns for fighting. It is thought that the horned helmet is a
Victorian invention and misinterpretation of some of the sagas.
Overwhelmingly the warriors were male. There are a few
references to female warriors. However,
it is impossible to say if women did fight as the sagas were written down in post Christianity Iceland. No grave of a Viking woman has been yet discovered with weaponry.
Because of the
violent nature of this tribal society, every man had to be prepared to fight
and defend his home. The Vikings also were heavily dependant on trade. Scandinavian
land can be difficult to farm successfully but it also provided other wealth
such as fur, timber, iron and soapstone. The Vikings in the East did follow the
trade routes down to Byzantium and because they did not know what they would
encounter, they did have to be prepared to fight. Their skill at fighting did
not go unnoticed and the Byzantium emperor enlisted various Vikings as his body
guard. This guard became known as the Varangian
guard. Var was the god of solemn vows in Norse mythology. Serving in
this guard provided disposed Viking warriors the opportunity to acquire wealth
and men. Harald Finehair used his time in the Varangian guard to great effect
and was able to launch his bid for supremacy of Norway because of his
experience.
Many of the Viking ideals about the proper behaviour of a
warrior are incorporated into the code of chivalry as the Norman knights are
direct descendants of these earlier warriors.
Michelle Styles writes warm, witty and intimate historical
romances in a wide range of time periods. Her next Viking set romance will be
published in the second half of 2013. Her most current release is a Regency set
romance His Unsuitable Viscountess. You
can read more about Michelle and her books on www.michellestyles.co.uk