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SECTION 1 The Land SECTION 2 Daily
Life SECTION 3 Raiders and Adventurers
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Terms to Learn
People to Know (cont.)

• Leif Eriksson

• jarls

• berserkers
• Eddas
• runes

• Canute
• Rollo

Places to Locate
People to Know

• Scandinavia

• Rurik

• Jutland
• Vinland
• Norselaw

• Erik the Red

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The Land

• Scandinavia, the Viking homeland, was mostly
  forests and long, rugged coastlines.

• The southern part, known as Jutland, or Denmark,
  had many natural harbors and was well suited for
  farming grains and pasturing cattle, sheep, and
  pigs.
• As the rest of Scandinavia had rocky soil, a
  short growing season, and many fjords, or narrow
  bays, the people turned to the sea to make a
  living.

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Ships and Trade

• The Vikings built large, long, and narrow ships
  with timber from the dense forests.

• The Vikings plotted their search of good fishing
  areas and trade by the positions of the sun and
  the stars.
• They carried furs, hides, fish, and enslaved
  people to western Europe and the Mediterranean
  they returned with silk, wine, wheat, and silver.

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Towns, Villages, and Jarls

• Trade led to the growth of market towns in
  Scandinavia.

• Most Vikings lived in log or board houses in
  villages scattered all through the country.
• There was no central government as distance and
  cold winters isolated the villages.
• The people were divided into groups ruled by
  elected or inherited military chiefs called
  jarls.
• When a jarl had enough land under his rule, he
  was looked upon as a king.

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Daily Life

• Vikings valued family life, and most households
  had 20 to 30 members, including parents,
  grandparents, married children, and
  grandchildren.

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The People

• Viking warriors were called berserkers.

• They fought to gain wealth, honor, and fame,
  believing that a liking for war brought special
  honors from the gods.
• To call their warriors to battle, the Vikings lit
  bonfires on mountaintops.
• The women encouraged their men to fight, took
  complete charge of the home, and could own
  property and get a divorce.
• The Vikings had no schools.

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Religion

• The Vikings worshiped many gods at first that
  were similar to the Germanic gods, and then they
  changed their gods to suit the hard life of
  Scandinavia.

• The Vikings offered sacrifices and prayed to
  their gods to get what they wanted.
• The Vikings told proud stories of the gods' great
  deeds that later became written poems called
  Eddas.
• Over time, the Vikings language developed into
  fourDanish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic.

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Religion (cont.)

• These languages were written with letters called
  runes, which few people except priests could
  understand or use.

• When the Vikings accepted Christianity, they
  began to write their languages with Roman
  letters.

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Raiders and Adventurers

• By the end of the 800s, many Viking villages were
  overcrowded, food was in short supply, there was
  no central government, and the kings constantly
  fought one another.

• Viking warriors began to set sail to seek their
  fortunes in other lands.

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From East Europe to North America

• Viking adventurers traveled to and raided areas
  from east Europe to North America.

• Swedish Vikings crossed the Baltic Sea and
  traveled down the rivers toward what is now
  Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.
• In 862, a Swedish chief named Rurik founded a
  Viking settlement that became the Kievan Rus
  state.
• Norwegian Vikings set up trading towns in
  Ireland, explored the North Atlantic, and founded
  a colony on Iceland.

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From East Europe to North America (cont.)

• Led by Erik the Red, they founded a colony on the
  island of Greenland in 986.

• Eriks son, Leif Eriksson, landed on the
  northeast coast of North America and named the
  spot Vinland because of the wild grapes growing
  there.
• Viking adventurers went to western and southern
  Europe in search of food and valuables.

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From East Europe to North America (cont.)

• Because they stole, destroyed homes, burned
  churches, and killed or enslaved people, all of
  Europe feared the Vikings.

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The Danes

• The Danes were among those Vikings who raided
  western and southern Europe.

• In 1016, a powerful Danish king called Knut, or
  Canute, conquered England and made it part of his
  North Sea Empire.
• Led by a warrior named Rollo, the Danes began
  settling along the French coast opposite England.
  
• In 911, the French king signed a treaty with
  Rollo to give the Danes this land.

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The Danes (cont.)

• The region in which the Danes settled became
  known first as the Norselaw and then as Normandy
  the people became known as Normans.