The Vikings
Warriors or colonialists?
The Vikings certainly took advantage of any victories and/or treasures that might enhance their status. They developed into uncompromising fighters mainly through the early employment of hit-and-run tactics during treasure-hunting forays against relatively undefended foes. The most famous of these was their attack on the monastery on Lindisfarne Holy Island – off the north-east coast of England – in AD 793.
Disorganised targets
In pitched battles against Anglo-Saxon warriors, the two sides would probably have been equally matched. However, the Vikings would often have had the upper hand due to their finely honed organisational abilities and strong commitment to fighting when on such dedicated missions.
At a time when the Anglo-Saxon kings were fully engaged fighting each other, England was ill-equipped to deal with attacks from outside. There was no sense of a united nation and certainly no standing army, and the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms – Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex – were united only in weak regional alliances. The Vikings had a field day attacking its disorganised British targets. As a result, the raiding parties grew into the armies of conquest that captured swathes of northern and central Britain in the mid- to late 9th century.
Economic networks
But fighting wasn't everything. The Vikings were far too clever to continue waging war needlessly once their objectives had been gained. With lands captured and the Danegeld – a tribute, or bribe, akin to protection money – imposed on their Anglo-Saxon neighbours, settlement could begin.
The Vikings’ success at this, seen at sites such as Jorvik (modern York), is due to much more than military bullying. They were shrewd merchants and traders who established economic networks across much of the known world – their artefacts have been found from Newfoundland to Kiev.
Their need to colonise may also have had an environmental trigger. Some academics believe that a deteriorating climate forced many from their homelands as the Scandinavian islands and coastal regions became increasingly waterlogged. Environmental surveys have given credence to this theory.
Further afield
However, the fact remains that the Vikings travelled much further afield than just to drier land. Following their explorations, they ultimately adapted to live within other cultures more successfully than perhaps any other group. With economic power backed by a reputation for fighting, it is hardly surprising that the Vikings flourished.
