Concept in Definition ABC

In the present Nordic countries the Vikings lived in ancient times. It is a warrior people that during the Middle Ages spread throughout Europe and the Middle East and some archaeological remains indicate that they also reached the shores of America from North.

A people with a warrior spirit

Among the Vikings it was very common to fight a duel for reasons of revenge or honor. If one of the contestants refused the fight, he was considered an outlaw and he had to leave his community. His most precious weapon was the sword, which he normally inherited from his father. The warriors did not wear helmets with horns and wings, as their head protection was very simple. It is believed that the great ferocity of these people could be related to a hallucinogenic mushroom that they took before going into combat.

The women wore ornate silk garments and the remains found suggest that they looked very sensual. The Vikings knew healing techniques to heal wounded warriors and only helped those who had a chance of survival.

Great conquerors who engaged in piracy and looting

They were great navigators and their boats moved away from the coasts because they used sundials to guide themselves. In their travels they used a type of boat, the drakkar, which was propelled by rowers and sailed with a single square-shaped sail.

From the Vlll century AD. C began to reach the British and Western European shores in search of loot. You don't really know the reason for which they abandoned their territories and the exact meaning of the term Viking is not known either. According to the chronicles of the Christians, the Viking troops occupied the new territories with extreme violence. To the margin looting, they also engaged in Commerce and the slave trade.

Norse mythology

The Vikings believed that their gods inhabited a sacred city surrounded by walls called Asgard. In it there were superior deities (Odin was the god of gods and Thor was the god of lightning), minor deities such as valkyries, jotuns (giants of great strength) and animals supernatural.

Apart from these characters mythological, among the Vikings stands out a hero and explorer, Erik the Red. It is known that he lived around the year 1000 approximately and that he was the first navigator to reach Greenland.

Some archaeological remains found on the coasts of present-day Canada and the 11th century Vinland Sagas suggest that the descendants of Erik the Red reached the continent American around the 11th century.

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