All about Vikings!
Vikings as explorers
Vikings introduction
Most people think of Vikings as "strong warriors," but in actual fact they were much more… They were the most important European explorers during the period 700 -1000CE.
Who were some famous viking explorers?
Leif Eriksson was an explorer Viking, he travelled round the world to countries, and attacked and raided the Christian Monastery, at Lindisfarne, in north-east England. In the time that he lived he Raided England mostly, as well and finding new land along the way.
Leif Eriksson and his crew landed in Greenland and Canada in 1964, this day was a specialized recognized day, declaring ‘Leif Eriksson’s day ‘on the 9th of October.
Leif Erikson was believed to be the first man to set foot and discover the new world in 1001CE. Once Leif Eriksson discovered this land his crew of Vikings came and explored and took over the land. The vikings only made a few voyages, after Leif Eriksson first discovered ‘the new world’.
After this major event in time, the Europeans were unsure of who the first man, who discovered the new world was, because Leif Eriksson just discovered the land and made no evidence of it, he just left. The vikings were the only ones to aboard the land, and made the changes.
What did the Vikings change for todays modern world?
The Viking Age saw changes in the economy of Scandinavia. At the beginning of the Viking Age, few people in Scandinavia had any knowledge of coinage. Some foreign coins entered the region as a result of trading contacts both with Western Europe and the Islamic world to the East. However, except in major trading centers such as Hedeby and Ribe, in Denmark, the idea of coinage as such was unfamiliar. Coins were valued only for their weight in silver or gold, and circulated alongside many other forms of precious metal.
This is what is known as a bullion economy, in which the weight and the purity of the precious metal are what is important, not what form the metal takes. Far and away the most common metal in the economy was silver, although gold was also used. Silver was made in the form of bars, and some form of jewelry and ornaments. Large pieces of jewelry were often chopped up into smaller pieces to make up the exact weight of silver required. Traders carried small scales which could measure weight very accurately, so it was possible to have a very precise system of trade. Vikings influenced many other things but this was one of the most interesting.
Where did the Vikings venture?
The Vikings ventured to so many countries along the North Sea and Atlantic Sea coasts of Europe including, the Netherlands, France and Spain. They also sailed up the rivers of Germany to venture and invade settlements along the rivers.
In France, an area they ventured and invaded, later settled became known as Normandy. Normandy means land of the Northmen. It was the Vikings of Normandy who later conquered England in 1066 and their leader William the Conqueror became king. When the vikings ventured, they sailed there long boats around to lots of countries to trade, explore, invade, and attack different cultures of people.
What happened when the Vikings discovered unknown land?
Bibliography
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