1. The Vikings - a brief history

2. Viking?
Definition - The name Viking is a loan word from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, the British Isles, and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. The word was introduced to the English language with romantic connotations in the 18th century.

3. The Vikings came from three countries of Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They were also known as the Norse people. They were mostly farmers, but some worked as craftsmen or traders. The raids began in the late 8th century.

4. They had various motives for coming to Scotland: - to raid (especially monastic sites e.g. Iona, Eigg and Applecross) - Scotland was close to Scandinavia (24 hours’ sailing from Bergen in Norway to Shetland) - in their sailing path (the wind would naturally blow them from Norway to the Scottish Isles) - similar terrain/environment (coastal waters, anchorage, slightly milder climate, suitable land for farming) - to escape over-population (lack of suitable farmland at home, rising population, plenty of land available in Scotland) - to trade (allowed access to the Atlantic trade routes) - to settle and farm (good for anchorages, pastoral farming, fishing and fowling).

5. Vikings first arrived in Northern Britain in the late 8th century: The English churchman Alcuin of York reported that the monastery on Lindisfarne (Northumbria) was attacked in 793 AD, and Irish annals record the “devastation of all the islands of Britain by the gentiles” in 794 AD. In 795 AD Iona, the centre of Columban Christianity in Northern Britain, was raided for the first time. Edward Cowan states that the pagan Vikings treated Christian monasteries like “drive-in banks”.

6. They came in waves:
1st wave (late 8th-9th century) – relatively small- scale yet brutal pagan raids causing immediate short-term social, economic and political disruption
2nd wave (9th-10th century) – extensive settling of fertile areas together with coordinated large-scale attacks which sought to gain political control over the kingdoms of Northern Britain
3rd wave (10th-12th century) - consolidation of Viking settlements; increasing integration and adoption of Christianity.

7. The classic image of the Vikings – a raid on an Irish monastery

8. Long-term impact of Vikings:
Opinion is split – “raiders or traders”
Varied in time and place
In some places (e.g. SE Scotland) negligible long-term impact - no change to archaeology, toponymy, language, society
In other places (esp. the Northern Isles – Orkney and Shetland) they had a major impact – under Scandinavian political control through the Earldom of Orkney - native place-names gone, Viking burials, Scandinavian settlements, Norse culture and language (Norn) and Norwegian DNA
Western Isles saw a hybrid Gaelic-Norse culture emerge – Gall Gaedhil and “Lords of the Isles”.

9. Viking impact:
Short term destructive - religious chaos, settlements destroyed, trading links shattered, native peoples killed/driven off/enslaved, political leaders slaughtered and political structure fractured
Longer term positive – integration and assimilation, adoption of Christian faith, facilitated trade, farmed successfully, provided impetus to political unification of Scotland – catalyst for the creation of Alba.

10. Sources for Viking Scotland Viking sagas refer to places, events and individuals in Scotland – most notably Orkneyinga Saga (The Saga of the Earls of Orkney). However, many of these traditional stories were not written down until the 13th century, and they therefore cannot be regarded as reliable sources for the Viking Age.

11. Norse place names
Viking place names are the clearest indicator of Scandinavian settlement during the Viking Age. The overwhelming dominance of Scandinavian place names in the Northern Isles and Caithness confirms that this was the densest area of Norse settlement, while the mix of Norse and native Gaelic place names in the Western Isles suggests a greater degree of integration.

12. Viking burials The pagan Vikings buried their dead with grave goods as it was believed these would be needed in the afterlife. Pagan burials are a valuable resource for studying the Vikings in Scotland. The burial below was recently discovered at Ardnamurchan in the far west of the Scottish mainland.

13. Classic oval brooches were worn by Viking women in pairs to fasten the straps of a pinafore. Viking women were often buried with a wide variety of goods, ranging from personal ornaments to household equipment. Along with her brooches, this woman was buried with a necklace, a ring pin, a belt buckle, a comb, a knife, a whetstone, a needle case with needles, and an iron sickle.

14. Vikings as traders Viking merchants used weights and scales to weigh precious materials like silver and later they also used money when they were trading.

15. Viking settlers Jarlshof (Shetland) - classic example of a Norse settlement in Scotland. The Vikings brought a new style of building to the areas in which they settled – the rectangular longhouse. Over a period of several hundred years the original Viking longhouse was substantially altered, added to and rebuilt. The original settlement seems to have been one or more very long halls.

16. Reconstruction of a Viking longhouse

17. The Lewis chessmen
Found buried in sand at Uig on the Isle of Lewis in 1831, the Lewis chessmen (of which over 90 survive) were carved from walrus ivory. They date from the late 12th or early 13th century and were manufactured in Norway. It is possible that they were buried by a merchant who was travelling from Norway to Ireland.

18. Summary views on the Vikings: “mere nuisance value” “ravages of heathen men” “Viking marauders” “their greater significance was as settlers” “The Vikings had momentous effects on the development of the Scottish situation”