The Realm of the Vikings
From their mastery of the seas to their influence over lands as far from home as Russia and North America, the Scandinavian raiders known as the Vikings shaped the world for centuries. Swift and deadly, the Vikings dominated the seas of northern Europe from the late eighth century to the 11th.
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The mast could be raised within minutes
to take advantage of prevailing winds or lowered to improve rowing maneuverability.
Sailors perched on movable storage chests while rowing.
Lookout
Cask for fresh water
Spears
Mast
(pine)
Captain
Mast lock
Stored weapons
The ship was primarily constructed from oak, with the keel made from a timber almost 58 feet long.
Rudder
RETURNING RAIDERS
Sails were adopted in Scandinavia by approximately the seventh century. Only fragments survive, but evidence suggests Viking sails were roughly square shaped and made of wool dyed in bold colors or stripes to signify ownership, group identity, and status.
The mast could be raised within minutes
to take advantage of prevailing winds or lowered to improve rowing maneuverability.
The top of the Gokstad ship’s stems didn’t survive, but evidence suggests that dragon heads and metal ship vanes (similar to weather vanes) adorned other Viking ships.
A Viking fleet nears home with slaves and other plunder in this imagined scene aboard an actual vessel—the ninth-century Gokstad ship.
Sailors perched on movable storage chests while rowing.
Vikings raided for status, loot, slaves, and provisions.
The tack spar helped control the sail’s front corner.
Oar-holes could be closed when under sail, sealing out water in heavy seas.
Shields could be
tied to the sides of the ship with ropes.
Lookout
Cask for fresh water
Spears
Mast
(pine)
Captain
Deck
(pine)
Oars
Mast lock
Mast fish
Keelson
Rudder
The keelson and mast fish formed a base structure for the mast and helped absorb stress while under sail. A mast lock could be removed to lower the mast.
Large stones were placed in the hull as ballast to help stabilize the ship.
Stored weapons
Removable planks helped Vikings easily store items belowdecks.
The ship was primarily constructed from oak, with the keel made from a timber almost 58 feet long.
- Keelson
- The keelson and mast fish formed a base structure for the mast and helped absorb stress while under sail. A mast lock could be removed to lower the mast.
- Mast fish
- Large stones were placed in the hull as ballast to help stabilize the ship.
- Vikings raided for status, loot, slaves, and provisions.
- The tack spar helped control the sail’s front corner.
- Deck (pine)
- Removable planks helped Vikings easily store items belowdecks.
- Oar-holes could be closed when under sail, sealing out water in heavy seas.
- Shields could be tied to the sides of the ship with ropes.
- The top of the Gokstad ship’s stems didn’t survive, but evidence suggests that dragon heads and metal ship vanes (similar to weather vanes) adorned other Viking ships.
- Sails were adopted in Scandinavia by approximately the seventh century. Only fragments survive, but evidence suggests Viking sails were roughly square shaped and made of wool dyed in bold colors or stripes to signify ownership, group identity, and status.
Sturdy, Light, and Flexible
The Vikings built their ships starting with the keel and outer planking, only later adding internal framework and supports. This made the boats flexible and light enough for smaller ones to be transported overland.
Tall, straight oak trees were favored for keels and planking. Naturally curved trees and limbs were used for frame components.
Logs were split radially with an ax to create thin but sturdy wedge-shaped planks.
- Construction of the hull started with fore and aft stems fastened to the keel.
- Lower planking was attached with iron rivets and roves.
- Floor timbers were added to support the hull, and upper planking was added.
- The keelson (mast support) was placed on the keel. Crossbeams, knees (curved joints), and other frame components provided further reinforcement, and the mast fish was added.
Clinker Versus Carvel Design
Vikings used clinker design—overlapping planks fastened with rivets and roves (right). The planks were then attached to the frame with lashing. After the Viking age, large vessels were built carvel style (far right), with planks laid edge to edge.
Varieties of Viking Ships
Early vessels were multipurpose, and some—like the Oseberg and Gokstad ships—were also used for burials. By the 10th century ship designs were specialized: short, wide hulls to transport cargo and long, narrow hulls to carry armed crews.
MULTIPURPOSE
CARGO
WAR
Far-Flung Realm
The seafaring Vikings made their dramatic entrance into the annals of European history by plundering the British Isles in the late eighth century. By the 11th, Viking raids, trade, exploration, and influence spanned much of the Northern Hemisphere, from North America to eastern Europe and Central Asia.
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North Cape
Greenland
Settled Territory
CANADA
Ranges in the east are approximate. Rus settlement in those areas was sparse, mixing with local tribes.
by A.D. 800
LABRADOR
(MARKLAND)
Iceland
900
To Vinland
1000
FINland
Faroe
Islands
Circular fort
Newfoundland
SWEDES
Ship burial
KAZAKHSTAN
Point Rosee
excavation site
UZBEKISTAN
RUSSIA
Native Viking
ethnic group
GEATS
North
Sea
DANES
British
Isles
Gnezdovo
Khwarezm
(Khiwa)
United
Kingdom
DANES
Raiders, Traders,
and Explorers
Ireland
germany
UKRAINE
Poland
AZERBAIJAN
Celtic Sea
Crimea
Recorded Viking attack
ROMANIA
IRAN
Major trade center
Bay of
Biscay
France
BULGARIA
TURKEY
Route of exploration, plunder, or trade
Portage area
Italy
Corsica
GREECE
Portugal
Areas raided repeatedly
during the Viking age
Sardinia
SPain
Sicily
Crete
400 mi
Modern-day drainage and
political boundaries are shown.
AFRICA
400 km
MOROCCO
Out of the North
Godthåb
North Cape
Greenland
Viking culture was shaped by the unique geography of Scandinavia. While not all Scandinavians chose the life of a raider, scarce arable land and a desire to seek riches abroad drove many to the seas.
CANADA
Brattahlid
Julianehåb
Borg
LABRADOR
(MARKLAND)
Hofstadir
Iceland
Reykjavík
To Vinland
FINland
Thingvellir
L’Anse aux
Meadows
Sarskoye
Gorodische
Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Bolgar
Staraya Ladoga
(Aldeigjuborg)
Newfoundland
Trondheim
VOLGA
BULGARS
Point Rosee
excavation site
Luistari
Faroe Islands
MERYA
Timerevo
Conquering Enlgand
SWEDES
CHUDES
Novgorod
Kyrksundet
Vikings would portage their vessels to access eastern rivers.
Moscow
In 865 Vikings landed a large army in England. They found the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms weak and divided, defeated many of them, and settled in a region
that would later be called the Danelaw.
ESTS
KAZAKHSTAN
Bergen
Oslo
Pskov
UZBEKISTAN
Lerwick
Birka
Kaupang
KRIVICHS
LIVONIANS
Settled Territory
Skien
RUSSIA
Paviken
North
Sea
CURONIANS
Khwarezm
(Khiwa)
Gnezdovo
GEATS
Polotsk
Great
Britain
Ranges in the east are approximate. Rus settlement in those areas was sparse, mixing with local tribes.
SEVERIANS
LETTS
PICTS
DREGOVICHES
Fyrkat
British
Isles
Lindisfarne
Atil
DANES
LITHUANIANS
United
Kingdom
Kaup
Ribe
Sarkel
Elblag
by A.D. 800
York (Jórvik)
Shestovytsya
Hedeby
DREVLIANS
Wolin
PECHENEGS
Ireland
IRISH
WENDS
Kiev
Dublin
900
KHAZARS
Limerick
UKRAINE
Hamburg
Poland
FRISIANS
Rus center
of power, 882
WELSH
GERMANS
POLES
Normandy Peace Deal
1000
Baku
Utrecht
germany
Kerch
MAGYARS
Celtic Sea
After years of raids down the Seine, a deal in 911 between the Viking warlord Rollo and the Frankish king Charles the Simple let the Vikings settle the coast if they would act as a barrier against other attackers.
AZERBAIJAN
Abaskun
Circular fort
Cologne
Antwerp
Barda
Portland
Crimea
Vikings first encount-
ered in England, 789
Ship burial
Chersonesos
Ardabil
ROMANIA
Paris
IRAN
DANES
Native Viking ethnic group
Trebizond
(Trabzon)
BULGARS
Nantes
Sinope
(Sinop)
Noirmoutier
FRANKS
Varna
Preslav
First raiding base in France, 843
Raiders, Traders, and Explorers
Bay of
Biscay
Poitiers
BULGARIA
Lyon
TURKEY
France
Areas raided repeatedly during the Viking age
Valence
Constantinople
Luni
BALKAN
PENINSULA
Bordeaux
Fiesole
Several treaties were ratified
between the Rus and Byzantines.
Gijón
Toulouse
Santiago de
Compostela
Arles
Recorded Viking attack
Pisa
GALICIANS
Narbonne
Italy
Rome
Corsica
Major trade center
SPain
GREECE
Varangian Guard
Route of exploration, plunder, or trade
Portugal
Sardinia
Impressed by the Vikings’ fighting prowess, Byzantine emperors recruited the Norsemen into an elite unit that provided personal protection for nearly two centuries.
EMIRATE
OF
CÓrdoba
Portage area
Ionian
Sea
Lisbon
First Viking raids in Spain, 844
Sicily
Ethnic group in contact with Vikings
IRISH
Vikings may have raided other areas in the Mediterranean.
Crete
Seville
Cádiz
Algeciras
AFRICA
Str. of Gibraltar
200 mi
Modern-day drainage and political boundaries are shown.
200 km
MOROCCO
Vikings in Scandinavia
The peoples of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden—the Viking homelands—shared a rich seafaring tradition and class-based social hierarchy, with slaves, freemen, and nobles ruled by a succession of competing regional kings and chiefs.
Vikings in the East
Swedish traders dominated Scandinavian eastward expansion from the eighth century and became leaders of the Rus, a multiethnic people who traded with the Arab and Byzantine worlds and founded merchant towns like Novgorod.
Scandinavian
high-status
woman
Scandinavian
high-status
warrior
Scandinavian
high-status
woman
Scandinavian
high-status
warrior
Bronze oval
brooches, often
with beads strung between them, fastened apron straps. Fashions varied by region.
Metal helmets
denoted high
status. Only
one complete
Viking metal
helmet has
ever been
discovered.
Scandinavian
Finnish
Gotlandic
Chain mail
armor was worn by Viking elites.
Women hung tools like knives, needle cases, and shears from their brooches or belts.
Swords, often
double-edged
with richly decorated hilts, could be more than three feet long.
Women’s clothing could include
several layers, with an apron and a shawl.
The underdress
was made of linen.
Scandinavian
high-status
warrior
Scandinavian
high-status
woman
Rus man
High-status
Rus woman
Bronze oval
brooches, often
with beads strung between them, fastened apron straps. Fashions varied by region.
Married Viking women may have covered their hair.
Hats could
be made of exotic fabrics, with fur trim and a silver tassel.
Metal helmets
denoted high
status. Only
one complete Viking metal helmet has
ever been
discovered.
Caftans
were often made of
wool, with silk
decorations
and trim.
Scandinavian
Trade with
the Arab
world included
vast amounts
of silver, often
used for
jewelry.
Finnish
Gotlandic
Chain mail armor was worn by Viking elites.
Baggy,
Eastern-style pants worn
by Rus men became
fashionable across
Scandinavia.
Women hung tools like knives, needle cases, and shears
from their brooches
or belts.
The Rus
adopted
Christianity
from the
Byzantine
Empire.
Swords, often
double-edged
with richly
decorated hilts, could be more than three
feet long.
The underdress
was made of linen.
Women’s clothing could include
several layers, with an apron and a shawl.
- Metal helmets denoted high status. Only one complete Viking metal helmet has ever been discovered.
- Chain mail armor was worn by Viking elites.
- Swords, often double-edged with richly decorated hilts, could be more than three feet long.
- Bronze oval brooches, often with beads strung between them, fastened apron straps. Fashions varied by region.
- Women hung tools like knives, needle cases, and shears from their brooches or belts.
- The underdress was made of linen.
- Women’s clothing could include several layers, with an apron and a shawl.
Vikings in the East
Swedish traders dominated Scandinavian eastward expansion from the eighth century and became leaders of the Rus, a multiethnic people who traded with the Arab and Byzantine worlds and founded merchant towns like Novgorod.
Rus man
High-status
Rus woman
Rus man
High-status
Rus woman
Hats could
be made of
exotic fabrics,
with fur trim and
a silver tassel.
Married Viking women may
have covered their hair.
Trade with
the Arab world
included vast
amounts of
silver, often
used for jewelry.
Caftans
were often
made of
wool, with silk
decorations
and trim.
Baggy,
Eastern-style
pants worn by
Rus men became
fashionable
across
Scandinavia.
The Rus
adopted
Christianity
from the
Byzantine
Empire.
- Hats could be made of exotic fabrics, with fur trim and a silver tassel.
- Caftans were often made of wool, with silk decorations and trim.
- Baggy, Eastern-style pants worn by Rus men became fashionable across Scandinavia.
- Married Viking women may have covered their hair.
- Trade with the Arab world included vast amounts of silver, often used for jewelry.
- The Rus adopted Christianity from theByzantine Empire.
VIKING FORTS
Circular, or Trelleborg-style, forts like this one in Denmark were used for defensive and administrative purposes. They display a similar design, implying coordination by a central authority.
LONGHOUSES
Built of various materials including wood, stone, and turf, the Scandinavian longhouse was a large hall where inhabitants ate and slept, with additional rooms for storage.
BURIAL SHIPS
Sometimes afforded to men and women of high status, ship burials could include the entombing of weapons, jewelry, expensive clothing, and sacrificial animals.
DIGITAL PRODUCTION: Daniela Santamarina, Riley Champine, Daisy Chung and Oscar Santamarina.
SOURCES: VIBEKE BISCHOFF AND MORTEN RAVN, VIKING SHIP MUSEUM, ROSKILDE, DENMARK; JAMES GRAHAM-CAMPBELL, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON; NEIL PRICE, UPPSALA UNIVERSITY; Kenneth F. Nordan, Friends of the Viking Ship; The Age of the Dromon: The Byzantine Navy ca 500-1204, John Pryor and Elizabeth Jeffreys; NIELS LUND, UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN; ANNA WESSMAN, UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI; FEDIR ANDROSHCHUK, SWEDISH HISTORY MUSEUM.