Where did the Vikings come from?
We know that Vikings travelled to places like York, Ireland and even North America. But that raises an interesting question: where did the Vikings actually come from? What was life like in their homeland, and why did so many of them set sail across Europe?
The Norsemen
When we talk about the Viking Age in Britain, we’re usually talking about the period between AD 800 and AD 1050. That’s over 1,000 years ago!
The Vikings came from an area of northern Europe called Scandinavia. Today, Scandinavia includes Norway, Sweden and Denmark. During the Viking Age, however, these countries did not exist in the way we know them today. Instead, the people who lived there shared similar languages, customs and ways of life.
So how do we know the Vikings travelled and settled so far from Scandinavia? Archaeologists can look for clues in all sorts of evidence, from written sources and place names (we’ve got a whole article on those, by the way!) to language and the objects people left behind. When objects found in York share designs or techniques with those from Scandinavia, particularly when they differ from objects associated with Anglo-Saxon England, they can reveal the influence of Scandinavian cultures and help us understand how people, ideas and goods travelled.
The Vikings had a variety of different lifestyles at home in Scandinavia. Northern Norway was colder and more mountainous than southern Denmark, while different areas had different soils, forests and coastlines. These differences affected what people could grow, catch or make.
Because every region had something different to offer, people traded with one another long before they sailed to places like Britain. A bit like today, different places had different strengths. Yorkshire, Cornwall and Cambridgeshire are all part of England, but each has its own landscape, natural resources and traditions. Viking-age Scandinavia worked in much the same way.
So if the Vikings all came from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, how did they end up travelling across Europe, into the Middle East and even across the Atlantic?
Farming, Fishing and Forging
Just like today, one of the most important parts of everyday life in Viking-age Scandinavia was making sure there was enough food to eat. Unlike us, Vikings couldn’t just pop to the supermarket. Most communities had to be almost completely self-sufficient, meaning they produced nearly everything they needed themselves.
Throughout the year they farmed, fished, hunted animals and gathered natural resources such as timber, berries and useful plants. They also made the most of whatever the landscape could offer, whether that was rich soil for growing crops, good grazing land for livestock or rivers full of fish.
Being able to provide for themselves—and turn those natural resources into tools, clothing and buildings—helped Viking communities thrive for centuries.
Leaving Home
Why the Vikings left Scandinavia is still up for debate. One thing we do know is that they had plenty of land for people to build homes and grow food, so it probably wasn’t because they ran out of space.
One possible explanation is that life was changing. Local chiefs and leaders may have felt threatened by more powerful neighbours or ambitious rulers who wanted to unite smaller territories into larger kingdoms. Rather than stay and risk losing their land or influence, some may have decided to seek new opportunities elsewhere.
What we do know is that Vikings travelled across Europe, including Britain and Ireland, and many eventually settled there. In places such as England and Ireland, archaeologists have found evidence that years of raiding often came before permanent settlements were established.
Elsewhere, such as parts of the Scottish Isles and around the Baltic Sea, there is evidence that Vikings settled much sooner after arriving. Sometimes they may have reached agreements with local rulers to acquire land. Other times… let’s just say the negotiations were a little more aggressive (in other words, it was stolen!).
Raiding and Pillaging
If we don’t know exactly why the Vikings left Scandinavia, one thing we can be much more certain about is what some of them did when they arrived. Raiding and pillaging!
We have evidence from across the Viking world that towns and trading settlements near the coast or along rivers were popular targets for raiders. Why? Well, if you’re looking for somewhere to raid, a busy trading centre is a pretty good place to start! Written records and archaeological evidence tell us about Viking attacks on places such as Portland in Dorset, Hamwic (the Anglo-Saxon name for Southampton), Dorestad in the Netherlands and Quentovic, a French trading town that no longer exists.
Many of these places were home to churches, monasteries or abbeys. A large number of them were accessible by ship too. As well as being places of worship, filled with richly decorated items used in religious services, they were also busy centres of trade. They stored valuable imported goods such as wine and fine textiles, along with food and supplies collected from the surrounding countryside.
There was often even more treasure waiting inside. Wealthy nobles sometimes used monasteries to store valuable possessions such as jewellery, silver coins and precious gemstones because they were thought to be safe places to keep them.
So, if a Viking raiding party successfully captured a wealthy monastery, it’s fair to say they had hit the jackpot!
Blackmail
It didn’t take long for some Vikings to realise they could make even more money from raiding churches. Instead of simply taking valuable objects, they could steal important manuscripts and Bibles, then demand payment to return them.
One piece of evidence comes from a note written on a page of the Codex Aureus, a beautifully decorated Gospel Book. The note records that an Anglo-Saxon noble called Ealdorman Aelfred and his wife paid the Vikings in gold to ensure the book was returned safely to Christ Church, possibly after the Viking attacks on Canterbury in AD 851.
Trading Across the World
The Vikings did not just travel around Europe. Their trade network stretched across a huge area, reaching as far east as the River Volga in modern-day Russia and travelling to Constantinople, the city we now call Istanbul. To the west, they travelled as far as Dublin and even Newfoundland in Canada, while to the north they reached Greenland and the North Cape of Norway.
We also have evidence that the Vikings had contact with the Middle East and even further into Asia. They traded goods such as silver, textiles and luxury items across these vast distances.
We can see evidence of these connections right here in Jorvik. Objects found during the Coppergate dig came from places including Norway, the Rhineland, the Baltic, Uzbekistan and the Red Sea. These discoveries show that Viking-age York was connected to a much bigger world than many people might expect.
A Connected Viking World
When we think about Vikings, it is easy to picture longships, raids and battles. However, the Viking Age was about much more than warfare.
The people of Scandinavia were farmers, craftspeople, traders, explorers and settlers. They built communities, created goods, shared ideas and travelled thousands of miles across seas and rivers.
The objects they left behind show just how connected the Viking world was. From York to the far edges of Europe and beyond, Viking journeys helped shape the communities they visited and left behind stories we can still explore today.