Vikings are often depicted as brutal, bloodthirsty warriors wielding battle axes and wearing horned helmets. In popular culture, they raid, plunder, and kill everyone in their path. But is this reputation justified? An international team of researchers seems to have found the answer.
“It’s not just about whether the Vikings were brutal,” said Daniel Meleno, an assistant professor of medieval and early modern history at the University of Denver. Yes, they were indeed brutal, the scholar acknowledges. The real question is whether they did anything that went beyond the norms of their time.
Debunking the Stereotype
The Viking Age lasted from 793 to 1066 AD, coinciding with the European Middle Ages—a time known for its extreme brutality, as Mr. Meleno pointed out. During this era, wars, slavery, and raids were commonplace. And the Vikings were no exception, as reported by Live Science. With their swift and mobile ships, they became masters of surprise attacks from the sea.
One of the first targets of Viking raids was the wealthy monastery on the British island of Lindisfarne in 793. They frequently attacked poorly defended monasteries filled with treasures. These pagan Viking assaults on Christians were depicted in chronicles as particularly heinous and godless.
Unlike their southern neighbors, the Vikings lacked a written language for a long time. Most written accounts of Viking raids came from either their victims or their descendants. Although the Vikings were not only warriors but also traders, farmers, and fishermen, their victims primarily focused on the violence perpetrated by the attackers, which is entirely understandable, noted Daniel Meleno. However, over the years, stories of Viking brutality have likely been embellished.
Reconstruction of Viking housing
“Some sources that describe the Vikings in the most negative light as extremely fierce barbarians actually date from a later period—around the 12th century,” emphasized Caitlin Ellis, an assistant professor of medieval history at the University of Oslo. So, perhaps the exaggerations found in these sources “played a role in shaping the Viking image we have today,” the researcher added.
Moreover, discrepancies in some documents raise questions about their accuracy, Mr. Meleno said.
It’s important to remember that the Vikings were not the only group conducting raids and conquering cities in medieval Europe. For instance, Saracens attacked territories that are now part of France, Switzerland, and Italy, while the Magyars raided lands in modern Bavaria. Meanwhile, Frankish King Charlemagne waged a years-long war against the Saxons, resulting in mass killings and plundering in what is now Germany.
So, was there a difference between Viking raids and other conquest wars? According to Mr. Meleno, there was hardly any. However, because the Vikings did not formally belong to any state, their actions were viewed as more unpredictable and barbaric.
The Vikings were considered bad simply because they did not represent a state waging war. Thus, in the eyes of historians, they appeared as a “band of pirates.”