Viking History For Kids: Who They Were, How They Lived And More

Vikings developed a name for themselves as fierce tactical warriors, astute traders, and adventurous explorers from the 8-11th century.

The Viking warriors were originally from the area that is now Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Among other areas, they were established in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Greenland, North America, and sections of the European mainland.

They came to America 1,000 years before Columbus, and archaeologists have discovered relics of their civilization as far east as Russia. The Vikings during the 9-11th centuries were known as raiders, pirates, traders, explorers, and colonists. They frequently sailed by water from Scandinavia, seizing control of regions throughout Europe and beyond.

They remained unharmed. The Northmen continued to reside in the Scandinavian nations after the Viking era, as well as in towns established during the Viking era, such as Iceland and Greenland.

When the Northmen stopped raiding, the Vikings were defeated. The fearless explorers known as Vikings were the first Europeans to reach North America, making them the first Europeans to do so.

According to research, rulers established a settlement in North America exactly 1000 years ago, centuries before Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas. They established themselves in Iceland and attempted to invade Greenland.

They were also astute and capable merchants and dealers. All of the north's commodities – fur coats, ivory, metal, and timber – were swapped for all of the south's goods - silver, gold, silk scarves, and spices. Slaves were traded all along the trading routes by the Vikings.

As a result, most of the historiography on the Viking Age has relied heavily on foreign sources, as well as those written down much later, between the 1200–1400s, and based on oral tradition. Chronicles, Viking sagas, skaldic epics, laws, and runic inscriptions are among the Scandinavian literary sources.

The Vikings also possessed a modest physical advantage. Physically, they were stronger and taller than their opponents.

Odin is a God of war and reincarnation. Valhalla — 'the hall of the fallen' – is his domain. He was the owner of all Vikings who perished in combat.

Odin, Thor, and Frey are the several gods worshiped by them. However, there were several minor gods, such as Loki too.

Since there are so few contemporary written documents, the Viking Age is considered prehistoric in Scandinavia. Erik the Red was the embodiment of the classic murderous Viking, murdering his way through life.

Erik was born in Norway and got his nickname because of the color of his hair and beard, but it might also be a reflection of his aggressive character.

If you like this article, you may find it interesting to read these fun facts articles on Viking armor facts and famous Swedish Vikings here on Kidadl.

Viking Daily Life

Vikings were men who were usually farmers, traders, blacksmiths, and artisans from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. They began raiding cities, churches, and monasteries for various causes.

They seized a lot of sites around the beaches since they were the easiest to get to. In the fall, they frequently returned in time for harvest. However, raiding was lucrative, and many farmers became full-time pirate raid men and Viking raiders in Viking society.

Seasons affected Viking life in their settlements, and everyone had a duty to perform in ensuring there was enough food to eat. A Viking would leave his farm and go raiding when he wasn't busy farming, growing crops, for example.

During the summer, male Vikings settled to join raiding groups and sail across the sea to raid villages or monasteries like Iona and Lindisfarne, stealing all the wealth and treasure they could.

The Vikings could rapidly swarm over the settlements, murdering and plundering, and then return to their Viking ships and flee with their speedy and easily landed cargo ships.

They vanished before anybody could mount a defense or counter-attack. During the Viking period, there were just a few settlements strewn over Scandinavia.

In many Viking towns, the harbor was the most significant location. Boats with goods and wild animals were loaded and discharged here.

Some Viking men worked as fishermen, harvesting freshwater and saltwater fish as well as whale hunts. Salt was a necessary product that was generally purchased from traveling merchants.

Almost all of the residences and workshops were built of wood. They were rectangular and long.

Reeds or straw thatch were used for the roofing. There were no chimneys save at a blacksmith's forge and simply apertures to enable smoke from the fire to escape.

The majority of Vikings were farmers. Cows, goats, lambs, pigs, birds, and horses were raised, as well as crops including cereals, oats, and rye.

Some Vikings settled in wooden buildings in much of Scandinavia, but in locations where wood was limited, they constructed with turf or stone instead. Since the majority of Vikings were farmers, communities were uncommon.

The Viking women and children took care of the farms while the men of Vikings raided. The children did not attend school in the way that we do now. Instead, the boys were taught all of the men's jobs by their dads, brothers, and uncles.

The Vikings wore basic, functional clothing made of woolen or linen cloth and animal skins to keep warm in the winter. Women wore loose-fitting gowns with an apron over the front, while males wore pants and a long-sleeved shirt or tunic.

Viking Culture

The Jarls (wealthy Vikings), Karls (lower class), and Thralls (slaves) made up the civilization of Vikings, which was Scandinavian in nature. Slavery was widespread in Scandinavia, and it is said to have been one of the primary motivators for Viking invasions on other territories.

Old Norse language was a North Germanic language that was spoken in Scandinavian regions at one time.

Primogeniture was followed by the Vikings, which meant that the oldest son inherited everything while the younger sons received nothing. Younger sons would have to find a method to make a livelihood if they didn't have access to farmland.

At the very least, this notion appears to be one of the forces driving Scandinavian growth throughout Northern Europe.

Women in Scandinavian/Viking culture enjoyed more independence than in many other cultures.

Women could inherit property, live where and how they wanted if they were single, represent themselves in court, and run their own enterprises (such as breweries, taverns, shops, and farms). There were no male religious leaders, thus women became prophetesses of either the goddess Freyja or the deity Odin, who translated the gods' messages for the people.

Scandinavians, like those from other cultures, valued leisure time and participated in sports, board games, and planned festivals. Mock-combat, wrestling, mountain climbing, swimming, javelin throwing, hunting, a display known as horse-fighting, the specifics of which are unknown, and a field game is known as Knattleik, which was akin to hockey, were among the sports.

Their board games comprised dice and strategy games similar to chess.

Despite common perceptions of the Vikings as dirty and barbaric, they were really highly polished and placed a high value on cleanliness and beauty.

Cleanliness held importance in Vikings' religion in addition to being a show of riches and position. As Vikings believed in Ragnarok, the Norse gods' twilight, and the end of the world, when the ship Naglfar would come floating on the waters released by the enormous serpent Jormungand, they took care to keep their finger and toenails short.

Swords, axes, bows and arrows, lances, and spears were among the weapons employed throughout the Viking Age.

Second Viking Age

Denmark began to emerge as a prominent power in the mid-10th century, ushering in what is known as the Second Viking Age. Following the early Viking assaults, Britain had a period of relative calm, with Viking hostilities ceasing for a while. Viking invaders began to target the British Isles with greater violence as the Danish realm grew stronger.

Denmark, commanded by King Harald Bluetooth, was establishing itself as a prominent force during the time. Viking armies were formidable, and these Viking armies were well-organized, and Viking raids were mostly conducted for the purpose of obtaining money, implying that the people in Denmark may grow even more powerful.

King Edgar, who reigned from 959 to 975 AD, was able to focus on reorganizing the Christian church and constructing several new churches and religious structures.

Swein Forkbeard, the Danish king, came to Kent with almost 90 narrowboats in 991 and won a terrible victory against Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Maldon. Swein conducted numerous more devastating operations in England during the next two decades.

While Norse attacks had been targeting the British Isles since the seventh century, this was the first time the king himself commanded one.

During the Early Middle Ages, Vikings invaded the British Isles. Properties Vikings raided were bigger than they'd ever been, and Swein's Danish armies were unstoppable as they wrecked the largest cities in England and extorted money from its rulers.

The Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 changed the course of England's history, shifting it away from its former Scandinavian orbit and into a more European one.

At the same time, the Norman Conquest strengthened a monarchy that was already one of Europe's most formidable, and the English monarchy would grow so powerful that it ruled more of France than the kings of France themselves within a century after the Norman Conquest.

Despite the fact that Norman conquerors from Normandy in northern France snatched the English monarchy from Anglo-Saxon monarchs in 1066, Anglo-Saxon England and Normandy had enjoyed very tight contacts in the decades preceding up to the Norman Conquest (in Northern France, Normandy is the province). The intimacy of these ties would pave the path for England's Norman Conquest.

The Norman control of England began with William the Conqueror's (Duke of Normandy) invasion of the Kingdom of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the Norman domination of England that followed. For a variety of reasons, it is a significant turning point in English history.

Through the introduction of a Norman nobility, the conquest strengthened the ties of England with Continental Europe, reducing Scandinavian dominance.

End Of The Viking Era

The events of 1066 in England basically brought the Viking period to a close. From that time, all of the Scandinavian countries had converted to Christianity, and Viking 'culture' had been absorbed into Christian Europe's culture to a large extent.

Until the 12th century, old Norse beliefs remained. The Viking period came to an end when Olof became the final monarch in Scandinavia to convert to Christianity. Scholars have offered several dates for the end of the Viking Age, but the majority believe it ended in the 11th century.

The year 1000 is commonly mentioned because it was in that year that Iceland converted to Christianity, marking the beginning of the Christianization of all of Scandinavia. Harthacnut, the Danish King of England, died in 1042, which has also been cited as an end date.

The unsuccessful invasion effort by Harald III, King of Norway, is generally associated with the end of the Viking period in England.

The Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 marks the end of the Viking Age in Norway. Despite the fact that Olafr Haraldsson's (after known as Olav the Holy) army lost the fight, Christianity flourished.

Norsemen would no longer be referred to as Vikings as he was Sweden's first Christian monarch, and he is linked to the church's growing influence in what is now southern and central Sweden. The reign of King Olov Skötkonung (c. 995–1020) is regarded as the transition from the Viking Age to the Middle Ages in Sweden.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Viking history for kids, then why not take a look at Vikings in Ireland facts or how tall Vikings were.