Vikings

The term Viking (from Old Norse víkingr) is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.^[1]

These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far west asIceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, and as far south as Al-Andalus.^[2] This period of Viking expansion – known as the Viking Age – forms a major part of the medieval history of Scandinavia, Great Britain, Ireland and the rest of Europe in general.