Vikings!

The first mention of Vikings in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

As the 8th century came to an end, Scandinavia was prospering and experts believe that this prosperity led to an increase in population, which the area's limited agricultural land was unable to support. So as a result, Scandinavians began to raid nearby lands, returning home with their ships loaded with looted treasure and slaves. Raiders from both Denmark and Norway sailed west, attacking England and mainland Europe and exploring the Atlantic for new land to settle. Swedish warriors sailed east instead, crossing the Baltic into eastern Europe and beyond.

The increasing number of raids during the ninth century, and their frequency in the tenth, makes the term 'Viking Age' appropriate for this period, which in total spans the 8th to 11th centuries, over 400 years. Although the Vikings weren't actually called such by the peoples of the world at the time; in England they were called 'Danes', the Irish called them 'Gaill', the French knew them as 'Northmen' and in eastern Europe they were known as 'Varangians' or 'Rus'.

The term 'Viking' is a later development and is obscure in origin, possibly arising from the Norse word 'vik', which means bay or creek. To go 'a-viking' probably meant to go sailing, developing into a term applied to sailing across the sea to gain riches and honour.

By about 1100 the Viking Age was over throughout the Viking world: in many areas the Viking settlers and merchants had become absorbed into the local populations; in others, such as Iceland, their heritage lived on, as it does today.

Throughout these times of Viking adventure, there remained at home in Scandinavia farmers, hunters, fishermen and trappers who led the same lives as their forbears. It was those who stayed at home who provided the resources that made the voyages practicable. The ships had to be built, equipped and provisioned. Supplies had to be accumulated for the winter months, and so had the commodities required to make up the cargoes of the traders.

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