Free The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction by Julian D. Richards

method requires the sun to be visible for most of the journey, possibly a big assumption for the North Atlantic. The ability to determine one’s longitude, however, only came much later, in the 18th century, with the measurement of speed and time elapsed since departure. Nonetheless, a bearing dial would allow a Norwegian ship to depart from Bergen and sail due west to Shetland, or to sail up the coast before turning west to Iceland, for example. Half of a round disc of wood marked with equidistant s
    notches discovered in 1948 at Narsarsuaq, Greenland, has been g
    kin
    taken as proof of the existence of such nautical aids, but sceptics e Vi
    have pointed to the fact that it was found in the remains of what is Th
    thought to have been a Benedictine convent and have suggested, rather prosaically, that it was a medieval confessional disc.
    So what of the cliché? Viking sails have not survived but we have striped designs from Bayeux. On the Gokstad and Skuldelev 5 ships there are battens for shields to be hung along the sides of vessels.
    Dragon-prowed ships exist as graffiti and as literary metaphors, but the best we can do archaeologically is a beast-headed bedpost from Oseberg! Dragon ships may only exist as part of the modern Viking stereotype, but the existence of a skilled seafaring people is not in doubt. Both ships and navigational skills enabled the migration of people from Scandinavia from the late 9th to the 11th centuries.
    Expansion overseas
    Historians have struggled to find a single cause for Viking expansionism, and it is likely that motives changed and evolved 52
    through time. Competition for scarce resources against a background of population growth was the underlying factor, but competition may have begun as a search for portable wealth, and developed into the quest for new land.
    It has been debated whether Vikings were primarily raiders or traders, but the distinction may not have been a meaningful one.
    The centralization of power in Iron Age Scandinavia was based upon a gift exchange economy in which chieftains had privileged access to imported goods. Status was based upon portable wealth that could be passed down the social hierarchy as rewards to followers. In the early Viking Age it was the shortage of portable Across th
    wealth in Scandinavia that was the driving force for overseas expeditions. Scandinavian leaders took tribute from those who were e ocean: seafarin in a weaker position, and in turn passed on gifts in order to acquire status and gain support. If gifts were not forthcoming then they could be extracted by force instead. In the later saga literature strong leaders were characterized as ring-givers since they gave g an
    silver arm rings to their followers to secure and reward their d o
    allegiance. Silver hoards are characteristic finds in the homelands, ver
    and in areas of Viking raids.
    sea
    s expansion
    When the Hiberno-Norse Vikings were expelled from Dublin c .900
    (p. 78) they took with them the ‘pay chest’ of their army, but in 905
    they were forced to bury it in a lead-lined chest on the banks of the River Ribble at Cuerdale, and were never able to recover it. The Cuerdale hoard had been collected over several decades by an international force. It comprised c .7,500 coins, including c .5,000
    contemporary Viking issues, c .1,000 Anglo-Saxon coins, and c .1,000 Frankish and Italian coins. There were also c .1,000 pieces of bullion silver in ingots and ornaments, including some complete Irish silver arm rings. In total there was c .40 kg of silver; estimates of its value in today’s prices range from £300,000 to £4,000,000.
    The Cuerdale hoard was probably amassed through a mixture of trading and raiding activity; slaves acquired through raiding in 53
    Ireland might have been sold in York, for example. Scandinavians played a decisive role in trade in many of the areas where they took political control. They traded not only in luxury goods, but also increasingly in ordinary