Viking peoples
The Vikings are a Germanic people of ship navigators, merchants, and warriors of the Scandinavian regions who attacked the British and French coasts and other parts of Europe in the late eighth to eleventh centuries (793-1066), and it is called the Viking Era.
It is also used to a lesser extent to refer to the inhabitants of Scandinavian regions in general. The Scandinavian countries include Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland.
The origins of the term “Viking” remain unknown today. In the Middle Ages, the name carried the meaning of a Scandinavian pirate or invader. The Anglo-Saxons considered the word wicing to be synonymous with pirate, and in many Old English sources the word wicing is translated as the Latin word pirata.
The word did not indicate a specific nationality, but other terms were used for this purpose, such as Nordmen (Northerners) and Dene (Danes). Reverend Asser, author of a biography of Alfred, referred to the Danes as pagani (pagans), which is probably often translated as "Viking" in modern English, which some consider a mistranslation. The first references to wysing in English sources date back to the Epinal Erfurt Dictionary, dating from around the year 700, which mentions the first documented attack by Viking invaders on Lindisfarne in England in 793. The origin of the term wysing is still a matter of debate, with some believing it to be an alien word. From Old Norse.
Despite the bad reputation of the Vikings and their brutal pagan nature, within a century or two the Vikings converted to Christianity and settled in the lands they had previously attacked. At the same time, the Vikings built new settlements in Iceland, Greenland, North America, and the North Atlantic, in addition to establishing kingdoms in The Scandinavian Peninsula is along the border with the European kingdoms in the south.
As a result of their integration into their new lands, they became farmers and merchants, in addition to rulers and warriors.
The Vikings were famous for their navigation prowess and long ships, and in a few hundred years they were able to control and colonize the coasts, rivers and islands of Europe. Where they burned, killed, and plundered, earning their name, Vikings, which means pirates in the Old Norse languages.
The end of the Vikings is considered to be the end of the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.
Source: websites