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Article Given By Lord Wendell von Bayern 

Vikings! The word conjures up images of wild, barbaric, sea faring men, intent on setting their mark on their less warlike neighbours with fire and sword. From the land of ice and giants, they swept across Europe like a forest fire raping, pillaging and destroying all in their path. Sound familiar? It should do, it's the image that the writers of the time recorded.

It is inescapable that in a bloodthirsty age they were more bloodthirsty than most, but the mask of enduring ferocity slips a little when you consider that the people that did the writing were those that stood between the Vikings and their silver - the clerical staff of churches and abbeys. It is generally accepted that the Viking era existed from the early 6^th century AD to the Norman invasion of England in 1066, so let us look briefly at the roots and achievements of the Viking age.

Origins of the word Viking

The term Viking is used to describe the Norse (Norwegians), Danes, Svear (Swedes), Rus (Russian Vikings), Anglo-Danes, Anglo-Norse, Hiberno-Norse, Icelanders, and Greenlanders.

Whilst the term 'Vikings' is used throughout these pages, it is a generic term used to mean anyone of Scandinavian descent. The word Viking has several meanings. The most usual being a 'pirate', and as such it could be equally well applied to any sea-going raider, even a Saxon, Frankish or Frisian one! Not that it was how the Vikings regarded themselves if you ever had the gall to ask. From the Norse, the term was used in the form of 'to go a-viking', making it sound more like a family day out. I suppose it depends on your point of view. The other common translation is 'a man of the bays or inlets' which comes from the name for the fjords in the area called 'Viks', and in this sense it is generally applied to the Scandinavians.

As there are such a wide variety of Vikings, many of the following articles only deal with them in very broad terms. To confuse matters further, most Vikings would adopt many of the local customs, fashions and social structures of the areas they settled in, so for example, an Anglo-Dane would not look the same as, or act identically to a native Dane. With the naturalisation of Danes and Norwegians in Britain for example, there came divided loyalties and aspirations.