Welsh historian Gwyn Jones assesses the Vikings at the outset of his survey of their history. He examines their motivations and finds them not very different from other groups of humans, but he does find their geographical situation and technological sophistication unique.

Many Vikings became quite wealthy through their exploits, whether they raided, traded, or both. In their buried hoards have been found riches from all over Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

The weakness of the Frankish lands in the late ninth century made it a ripe target for Viking raids. Churches and monasteries were particularly rich pickings, as they contained many precious objects such as golden goblets and silver reliquaries. These accounts from a monastic chronicle (883) recount raids and resistance to them, in this case led by an archbishop. Notice that the Vikings planned to establish a winter camp. Eventually their raids became so severe that France's King Charles III [r. 893-922] was forced to grant lands to a Viking leader named Rollo in return for their cessation. This area became known as Normandy, after the Norsemen who settled there.

Although they were also farmers, explorers, and traders, it is as raiders that the Vikings earned most fame. This passage from Egil's Saga, ca. 1230, relates the events of an attack on Courland (modern Lithuania) from the raiders' perspective. Things do not go quite according to plan, but the saga's hero eventually succeeds. Although written long after the Viking Age, this story probably explains accurately the raiders' operating procedures.

Achieving justice in Iceland was often difficult, a fact reflected in many of the sagas. When a man was killed, his family and supporters usually sought compensation in money or blood. It was possible to achieve these results through the legal process or through self-help, but the latter was more reliable. The unique political situation of Iceland, a commonwealth governed by the Althing (general assembly) and lesser things (assemblies), meant that no king or similar overlord possessed enough power to make unilateral decisions. In this saga, written around 1300 but set in the early tenth century, a rich and powerful man named Hrafnkel kills Einar, the son of his poorer neighbor Thorbjorn, for riding a horse he had told him not to ride. Thorbjorn's case is taken up by his nephew Sam, who achieves much but loses it all. Notice how readily the contestants switch between different modes of conflict resolution, offering settlements, pleading in court, and battling physically. A successful leader had to be good at all three, and know when to employ each.

Scandinavian raiders found England a rich plundering ground in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. When Vikings appeared, the English had two ways to make them go away: pay them off or fight them off. In this instance from 991, Byrhtnoth, an English nobleman in charge of the defense of Essex, decided to fight the Vikings. He chose to surrender a tactically advantageous position in favor of having a fair battle in which all the warriors could fight--a typical thing for an early medieval leader to do. As it happened the English lost at Maldon, and Byrhtnoth was killed. The poem was written soon after the battle, possibly by an English soldier who had been there.

The Vikings could accomplish so much on the sea in part because their ships were so well built. Open-decked and propelled by a combination of oar and sail power, they could be steered with a stern rudder. They came in a variety of sizes, although only small ones have survived in good shape. Cargo ships were broad-beamed and deep-drafted for better sea-keeping, while warships were long and slender for maneuverability. It was probably not possible to brave the stormy North Atlantic from Scandinavia to Iceland or Greenland in anything but a sturdy cargo vessel, and even then the risk of shipwreck was very real. No seafarer was foolish enough to leave port in the winter. Despite the limitation of their vessels, the Vikings ranged farther at sea than any of their contemporaries.

Among the Vikings' most fascinating and least publicized achievements is that they were the first Europeans to visit and attempt to colonize the Americas. Archeological evidence has confirmed what Icelandic sagas, such as the one excerpted here, claim: that around 1000, Vikings sailed to and established settlements in North America, including parts of Canada's Maritime Provinces and the United States' New England region. This passage details the first and only attempt by Greenlanders to settle the region they called Vinland a few years after its discovery in the 990s. Although the hostility of the Native Americans forced the Vikings to abandon hopes of permanent colonization, timber was harvested from Markland (Labrador and Newfoundland) for centuries. During the brief settlement of Vinland, the expedition's leader Karlsefni and his wife, Gudrid, had a daughter, the first child of European ancestry born in the New World. Gudrid herself led a fascinating life: descended from an Irish slave and raised in Iceland, she moved to Greenland and then participated in the attempt to settle North America, returned to Iceland, and after her husband's death made a pilgrimage to Rome, remaining there as a nun.

Iceland was settled by men who felt there was no place for them under the rule of increasingly powerful Scandinavian monarchs. But some Icelanders later found opportunities for advancement under these kings. In this somewhat fanciful tale, a poor Icelander takes a chance to impress a Danish king and is richly rewarded.

Centralization of power by the kings of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden forms the backstory to the Viking Age. Before about 950, trading, raiding, and settlement was often a reaction to the kings, as men squeezed out of power in their Scandinavian homes sought new lives overseas. But afterward, the kings themselves led raids. At this time the monarchies themselves became more secure: the modern Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish monarchies can be said to have their roots in the late tenth century. In this excerpt, Byron Nordstrom examines how and to what degree the change occurred and addresses the impact of the Viking Age on European history.