100 Facts Vikings – Bitesized Facts & Awesome Images to Support KS2 Learning

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VIkings sailed all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Newfoundland in North America in their longships!

The word Viking means ‘a pirate raid’, which is a fitting name as they were fearsome warriors and oftenraided monasteries for treasure. The Viking Age in Scandinavian history is taken to have been the period from the earliest recorded raids by Norsemen in 793 until the Norman conquest of England in 1066. [63] Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. It has been suggested that the word viking may be derived from the name of the historical Norwegian district of Víkin, meaning "a person from Víkin", but people from the Viken area were called víkverir, ('Vík dwellers'), not "Viking", in Old Norse manuscripts. The explanation could explain only the masculine grammatical gender ( víkingr) and not the feminine ( víking); the masculine is more easily derived from the feminine than the other way around. [23] [24] [25] A Viking’s most treasured weapon was his sword. They were handed down generations via inheritance, were often named and could be inscribed with runes by talented smiths to magically increase their power. The Vikings spoke Old Norse and made inscriptions in runes. For most of the period, they followed the Old Norse religion, but later became Christians. The Vikings had their own laws, art and architecture. Most Vikings were also farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and traders. Popular conceptions of the Vikings often strongly differ from the complex, advanced civilisation of the Norsemen that emerges from archaeology and historical sources. A romanticised picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century; this developed and became widely propagated during the 19th-century Viking revival. [16] [17] Perceived views of the Vikings as violent, piratical heathens or as intrepid adventurers owe much to conflicting varieties of the modern Viking myth that had taken shape by the early 20th century. Current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. These representations are rarely accurate—for example, there is no evidence that they wore horned helmets, a costume element that first appeared in the 19th century.There is a company in Japan that has schools that teach you how to be funny. The first one opened in 1982. About 1,000 students take the course each year. Because of the expansion of the Vikings across Europe, a comparison of DNA and archeology undertaken by scientists at the University of Cambridge and University of Copenhagen suggested that the term "Viking" may have evolved to become "a job description, not a matter of heredity", at least in some Viking bands. [95] Motives

The Vikings believed in many different gods, and they thought making sacrifices to the gods kept them all happy. They also told stories about the gods, called Norse mythology. Some of the gods included:Jomsborg was a semi-legendary Viking stronghold at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea (medieval Wendland, modern Pomerania), that existed between the 960s and 1043. Its inhabitants were known as Jomsvikings. Jomsborg's exact location, or its existence, has not yet been established, though it is often maintained that Jomsborg was somewhere on the islands of the Oder estuary. [119] End of the Viking Age Ah, ‘The Thing’, an early version of today’s parliament. The Norse people met to discuss new laws andsolve arguments. They’re arguing over who owns your shoes.

Researchers have found that flossing your teeth can help your memory. Flossing prevents gum disease, which prevents stiff blood vessels, which cause memory issues. Coppergate (literally Cup Street) in York was where cupmakers carried out their craft and trade in Jorvik. The Vikings were fearsome warriors that originally came from Scandinavia, the northern part of Europe. They were incredibly talented shipbuilders and created dragon-headed longboats that they sailed all around Europe and even to Africa! The Vikings left their homeland because they were looking for better places to farm than the kind of terrain that Scandinavia had.The mid-10th-century reign of Harald Bluetooth as king of a newly unified, powerful and Christianized Denmark marked the beginning of a second Viking age. Large-scale raids, often organized by royal leaders, hit the coasts of Europe and especially England, where the line of kings descended from Alfred the Great was faltering. Harald’s rebellious son, Sven Forkbeard, led Viking raids on England beginning in 991 and conquered the entire kingdom in 1013, sending King Ethelred into exile. Sven died the following year, leaving his son Knut (or Canute) to rule a Scandinavian empire (comprising England, Denmark, and Norway) on the North Sea. The Nine Worlds were: Asgard (home of the Aesir); Vanaheim (home of the Vanir); Alfheim (home of the Elves); Midgard (Earth); Jotunheim (home of the Giants); Svaltalfheim (home of the Dwarfs); Muspelheim (home of the Fire Giants); Niflheim (Emptiness and a possible afterlife?) and Hel (a grim place for the unworthy dead).