Vikings

·       Culture

o   Share many practices with Germanians

o   Very focused on war

§  Burned Paris, attacked New Britain

o   People who wrote about the Vikings were those attacked by them

o   Three major classes: the Jarls (nobility), Karls (average), and Thralls (slaves)

o   Were not illterate but did not write books or record history

o   Were not a barbaric society

o   Slavery was important b/c it provided stable labor force that farmed and were used for construction

o   Women had autonomy at age 20

·       Ships

·       Norse Mythology

o   Odin: king of gods, wisdom, poetry, death, and magic. Removed his one eye to drink from a fountain which allowed to gain the knowledge of the universe. Has two pet Ravens named Huginn and Muninn who brought Odin news from the world

o   Thor: son of Odin, god of thunder and storms.

o   Sif: goddess of Earth and married to thor

o   Njord: god of the sea patron of sailors, fishermen, and explorers

·       Raids/Territories

o   Vikings were well known for conducting raids which were conducted swiftly

o   Seafaring lifestyle allowed for them to raid all over

o   Used swords, axes, spears, and bow and arrows

·       Lindisfarne Raid

o   Raided a monetary in Northumberland (near northern England)

o   Ransacked the church looking for anything of value and killed many

o   Took some monks as slaves

o   Was one of the first viking raids

o   Know so much abt this raid b/c the monks who survived it wrote about it

·       Exploration/Iceland/Greenland/Newfoundland

·       Beowulf

o   It was a Christian monk who originally wrote down the tale and Christian elements were added to the story

o   Beowulf was the ideal Viking Warrior King who killed monsters and died an honorable death