Vikings

IV. Influence

There is no consensus on the extent of Viking migration and their contribution to the population in the lands where they settled. Estimates differ on whether hundreds or thousands settled abroad. There is also disagreement as to whether the settlers were primarily men, who intermarried abroad, or whether whole families came. In Iceland, of course, all life and social organization sprang directly from the Viking settlers, but the impact of the Viking settlers in the British Isles and in France is much harder to determine accurately.

It is also not possible to gauge how disruptive and hostile the Vikings were. Archaeological evidence reveals a culture that was the most advanced in Europe in the manufacture of arms and jewelry, as well as shipbuilding. Many styles of Viking ships were adopted by other European powers, most notably Alfred the Great of Wessex. The Vikings also displayed an ability to mobilize economic resources and to dominate a hostile landscape. These abilities can be seen in their great fortified camps, like that at Visby in Sweden, where hundreds of soldiers and traders lived. Additionally, the Vikings fostered commerce, founding many prominent trading centers in England and France.

In addition, the Vikings created a rich body of vernacular literature in which they celebrated their heroic past. The Icelandic sagas represent a vast collection of both stories and histories. Some concern the great leaders of heroic days and the kings of the 11th and 12th centuries; many others deal with the families, feuds, and changing fortunes of the petty chieftains of Icelandic farmsteads and valleys in the 13th and 14th centuries. The more historical sagas describe what is known about the colonization of Iceland, the voyages to North America, and the rise of the powerful kings who led the efforts toward conversion and political consolidation. The Poetic Edda of Snorri Sturluson, who wrote in the early 1200s, portrays pre-Christian Viking history and mythology. (See Icelandic Literature; Norwegian Literature).

Signs of the Viking influence are found in the languages, vocabulary, and place-names of the areas in which they settled. These offer clues regarding the density of migration, the ease of assimilation, and the preservation of distinct northern institutions and usages. An early form of popular or open government can be seen in the open air Althing of Iceland, where the free farmers came to voice complaints, resolve feuds, and enunciate and interpret the law for free men and their families and dependents. Icelanders view this as the earliest form of parliamentary government in Europe. The jury of English common law was a direct outgrowth of Viking ideas about community obligations and sworn investigations, both vital steps in building a civil society.

The Vikings were one of several waves of attackers to fall on Europe in the centuries after the short-lived eminence of the Carolingian Empire. Others included the Magyars from Asia, who appeared on the eastern frontiers, and the Muslims, who worked outward from Spain and the Mediterranean. At first, the Vikings' impact was primarily disruptive and destructive. Gradually the Vikings became part of the larger European community as they were attracted by a more settled life, and as Christian Europe's ability to resist their attacks grew. The Vikings were great sailors and ferocious enemies, but also storytellers and workers of the highest level.

"Vikings," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Contributed By: Joel T. Rosenthal, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Professor of History, State University of New York at Stony Brook. Editor of Medieval Women and the Sources of Medieval History. Author of Patriarchy and Families of Privilege in 15th-Century England and other books.