Viking Raids - Looking at the Sagas.
From the eighth century onwards, the Vikings travelled far and wide. They traded with many nations, but they
also raided foreign lands, stealing goods and treasures. These extracts from Egil's Saga
tell about Viking raids from the point of view of the Vikings themselves.
The first extract tells about Egil's uncle Thorald when he was a young man:
That's how things were for a number of years - every summer they'd go on Viking expeditions and
every winter they would stay at home with their families and parents. Thorold brought his parents
a lot of valuable things.
And here is the story of an expedition on which Egil himself was present:
One day they put in near a large estuary that lay beneath a vast area of forest. They decided to go ashore
and divide into groups, each of them twelve strong. They went into the forest and it wasn't long before
they came to the settlements where they started pillaging and killing. Some people made a run for it and
got away, but no one fought back. Late in the day Thorold sounded the horn to call his men back down to
the ship.
A successful raid was not always as easy as it sounds in this extract. People in small villages might run
away when they were surprised by a sudden attack, but things did not always go so smoothly for
the Vikings. Indeed Egil's Saga goes on to tell that Egil did
not return to his ship as he had been captured.
When Thorald was about twenty years old he made up his mind to go on a Viking expedition, so
his father gave him a longship. Evind and Obir joined him with another longship and
a good number of men, and they spent the summer plundering. There was plenty of loot
so each man got a good share.
The story about another Viking says this:
Bjorn was a man of outstanding talents and a great seafarer. He divided his time between Viking raids
and trading voyages.
In the spring they started getting a big longship ready. Once it was manned they went plundering that
summer in the Baltic. They captured a great amount of loot and fought many good battles.
Pretend that television existed in Viking times and organise an interview with Thorald and his
men after their return from a raid. Different people in your class can play different parts
Many of the Viking sagas have been translated into English and can be found in libraries.
The Vinland
Sagas tell the story of how the Vikings reached North America.
King Harold's Saga
gives an account of a Viking leader who became king of England.
Choose a story from one of the Viking
sagas and present it in the form of a short play.
Not everyone saw the Vikings as brave warriors, however. The monks whose monasteries
were attacked by Viking raiders had very different opinions.
Read these extracts carefully and see if you can understand the monks' attitude to the Vikings. The
Annals of Ulster were probably written by an Irish monk. Here is a summary of his entry
for the year 820:
The sea belched forth a flood of foreigners over Ireland. No harbour, no beach, no town, fort or castle
could be found that survived the waves of Vikings and pirates. THe Danes conquered land
throughout Munster. They attacked chiefs, churches and holy sanctuaries, destroying
our shrines and our books.
Along the margins of another manuscript are these words. They were probably also written by an Irish monk. They are probably the most famous words ever written about a Viking raid:
Rough is the wind tonight
Can you say why the monk seems pleased about the bad weather?
Tossing the sea's white hair.
I need not dread the fierce Viking
Crossing the Irish Sea.
This is what a French monk wrote about Viking raids in France:
The endless flood of Vikings is on the increase. Everywhere, Christ's people are the victims of massacre,
burning and theft. The Vikings destroy everything. Towns are emptied and evil triumphs!
Monks, townspeople and everyone else have been slaughtered or taken prisoner.
Monasteries along the river Seine have been destroyed. The Vikings have left the
remaining people in a state of terror.
The Viking sagas give us one picture of the Vikings. The writings of the monks
show us something completely different. In order to form an accurate opinion, historians
must look at all the evidence available.
From the evidence you have read what is your opinion of the Vikings?
Find words in the sagas which describe how the Vikings saw themselves and list these under Vikings.
Why do you think they carried out their raids?
Why did they especially want to attack monasteries?
Then look at what the monks thought of the Vikings
and list their ideas under Monks.
