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Vikings in the Nordic

Vikings in the East

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The Nordic countries soon became overcrowded and the inhabitants felt the need to expand. An easy way of doing this was to sail to Scotland, Shetland, Orkney and the Outer islands... So they did, not just to find better farmlands, but also to plunder the already existing farms owned by the Picts and other westmen. The first recorded attack was that of the monastery Lindisfarne, it happened year 973 Anno Domino and is regarded as the beginning if the Viking era. After plunder came colonization and Danelagen was formed. It consisted largely of Northumberland. Irelands coasts were totally won over and cities such as Dublin and Waterford were formed. From those sites further raids were made inland.

The westman naturally felt the need for escaping and many a people sailed of to Iceland. The Vikings soon found out about that land in the west and about 860 started to attack even this remote land. As happened so many times before the colonization soon began and Ingolf Arnarsson is said to be the first settler in year 874. The colonization became more and more intense and by year 885, when Harald Fairhair won the battle of Hafrsfiord and united Norway, the settlers were streaming in. The poor westman is said to have fled to Greenland, away from the barbaric Vikings, but as has happened before, they came even here.

From Greenland the Vikings, the first of them is told to be Leif Eiriksson (son of Eirik the Red, first settler of Greenland), discovered America. They called it Helluland (flat stone land), Markland (wood land), Skrallingland ("indian" land, the native people) and Vinland (wine land). But this was to take on too much, and the Vikings were outnumbered by the Indians and forced to leave.

Even France, called Franker riket, and Paris was attacked and Geld (a form of ransom) demanded. I the end the France ruler gave Walking Rolf, also called Rollo (a Viking Warlord), the land of Normandy (Nord man diet, the land of the Northman). They agreed that Rolf had to protect Franker rtiket from further attacks, which he did. It's from Normandy, and the ancestors of the Vikings, that William the conqueror later attacks and takes England. It's also due too him that the Swedes and English nowadays don't talk the same language...

Vikings visit Rome, Lisbon and Africa and even launches attacks against them, but mostly to serve the Emperor of Spain (Spanland) as warriors in his armies and even bodyguard (more famous is the bodyguard in Miklagard - Istanbul, see Vikings in the east.)