Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
raided in 844), and the Middle East (they even reached Baghdad) all came under the Vik-
ing sway. Well-defended Constantinople (Istanbul) proved a bridge too far - the Vikings
attacked six times but never took the city. Such rare setbacks notwithstanding, the Viking
raids transformed Scandinavia from an obscure backwater on Europe's northern fringe to
an all-powerful empire.
The Haugelandet region of western Norway is considered by many to be the cradle of Viking culture and
Karmøy island, south of Haugesund, has a Viking Festival in June (
www.vikingfestivalen.no
,
in Norwegi-
an). The website
www.vikingkings.com
covers the region's Viking history.
For all of their destruction elsewhere, Vikings belonged very much to the shores from
which they set out or sheltered on their raids. Viking raids increased standards of living at
home. Emigration freed up farmland and fostered the emergence of a new merchant class,
while captured slaves provided farm labour. Norwegian farmers also crossed the Atlantic
to settle the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland during the 9th and 10th centuries. The world, it
seemed, belonged to the Vikings.
THE KEYS TO WORLD DOMINATION
The main god who provided strength to the Viking cause was Odin (Oðinn), the 'All-
Father' who was married to Frigg. Together they gave birth to a son, Thor (Þór), the
God of Thunder. The Vikings believed that if they died on the battlefield, the all-
powerful Odin would take them to a paradise by the name of Valhalla, where Viking
men could fight all day and then be served by beautiful women.
Not surprisingly, it was considered far better for a Viking to die on the battlefield
than in bed of old age and Vikings brought a reckless abandon to their battles that
was extremely difficult for enemies to overcome - to die or to come away with loot,
the Vikings seemed to say, was more or less the same. Equally unsurprising was the
fact that the essential Viking values that emerged from their unique world view em-
bodied a disregard for death, strength, skill in weapons, heroic courage and personal
sacrifice.
But the Vikings were as much the sophisticates of the ancient world as they were
its fearless warriors. Viking ships were revolutionary, fast, manoeuvrable vessels
capable of withstanding torrid and often long ocean journeys. Longboats were over
30m long, had a solid keel, flexible hull, large, square sails and could travel at up to
12 knots (22km/h hour); they enabled the Vikings to launch and maintain a conquest
that would go largely unchallenged for 200 years.
