(1) Vikings: Political History and Notable Figures (inc. Explorers)

862 - 879 - Rurik (All Facts)

• He and his brothers led the Varangians, who pioneered a route to their capital of Novgorod via the Baltic Sea and Lake Ladoga

886 - 1066 - Danelaw (All Facts)

• Danish successor state which comprised Northumbria, East Anglia, and the East Midlands

  • Danish successor state which forced the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia, and the East Midlands to yield to Danish rule

  • This was done via the 886 Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum

911 - 1290 - Duchy of Normandy (All Facts)

• Viking State founded by Rollo via the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte and settled by the namesake Norman people

• It was situated in the former Frankish Kingdom of Neustria, during the Migration Period of Germanic Kingdoms

911 - 928 - Rollo (All Facts)

• First Ruler (Duke) and Founder of the Duchy of Normandy

• In the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, he received the lands from Charles the Simple and the West Franks that would come to comprise the Duchy of Normandy and in exchange he swore to

  • Pay homage to Charles the Simple and the Franks thereafter

  • Defend the Duchy of Normandy from other Vikings

  • Accept baptism (convert to Christianity)

950 - 1003 - Erik the Red (All Facts)

• Norse Explorer

  • He was an Icelandic exile

• He is accredited with discovering, founding, colonizing, and establishing settlements on Greenland

  • After he was banished for murder, he sought out new land to the northwest of Scandinavia

  • Up to 3K Vikings had settled on Greenland, which at the time was good for farming

986 - Bjarni Herjolfsson (All Facts)

• Norse-Icelandic Explorer

• He is credited with discovering the mainland of the Americans for the first time amongst the Vikings and amongst Europeans

  • On one voyage, in search of Greenland, he was blown too far south and saw a country “well forested with low hills”

970 - 1025 - Leif Erikson (All Facts)

• Norse Explorer

  • He was the son of Erik the Red

• He bought Bjarni Herjolfsson’s ship in Greenland, sailed west, and discovered what he called Vinland, the “land of wine,” which he stayed on through the winter

  • This was coastal North America

• His travels told of a native people with whom it traded goods and milk from cows it took with it for furs and skins

• Due to his efforts, eventually a Norse colony was established in Newfoundland at L’Anse aux Meadows

1000s - Thorvald Erikson (All Facts)

• Norse Explorer

  • He was the son of Erik the Red and brother of Leif Erikson

• He journeyed with his brother Leif Erikson to set up a colony on the Vinland (coastal North America) but died, the first European to die in North America, and news of his death followed on his brother’s return from the Vinland back to Scandinavia

  • He was killed by an arrow in a fight with the natives of the Vinland