What Is a Viking?

What is a Viking? In the narrow sense, a Viking was a Scandinavian who went raiding by sea between the 8th and 11th centuries. In the broad sense we use today, the word covers any Norse person of that age, raider or not.

From the raid on Lindisfarne in 793 to the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, Scandinavian seafarers sailed farther than any Europeans before them. They went west to Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland, nearly 500 years before Columbus, and east down Russia’s rivers to Constantinople and Baghdad’s trade routes. To the people they raided they were terrifying. Monks wrote of sudden attacks, and survivors were often carried off and sold as slaves. Sagas tell of berserkers, warriors who fought in a frenzy and sometimes bit the rims of their shields. But raiding was only part of the story.

The Word “Viking”

Where the word “Viking” comes from is debated. It may derive from vík (‘bay’) or from the Vík region around the Oslofjord. In Old Norse, víkingr meant a person who went raiding by sea, and fara í víking meant ‘to go on an expedition.’ Today we use “Viking” for all Scandinavians of the era, 8th to 11th centuries, but most were farmers who never raided at all. Their neighbors called them Northmen or Norsemen.

Viking Religion and Calendar

The Norse worshipped many gods, among them Odin, Thor, Frigg, Freyr and Freyja, and Christian writers called them pagans (from Latin paganus, originally “country-dweller”). Conversion came slowly, over some 250 years: King Haakon the Good tried to bring Christianity to Norway in the 900s, Harald Bluetooth declared Denmark Christian around 965, and Iceland adopted it by law in the year 1000. Their year followed a calendar of summer and winter half-years, marked by seasonal feasts.

Vikings at Home

At home, most Norse people were farmers. A farm centered on a longhouse shared by several generations, and often by the animals in winter. Women ran the farm when the men were away, held keys and property, and could divorce. Whether women also fought is a lively debate. A famous warrior grave at Birka, Sweden, turned out in 2017 to belong to a woman, though scholars still argue over what that means (see Norse Women Celebration).

At Asgard Alaska we want to help people experience the Viking age, not just read about it. We’re working toward a living village with a longhouse, crafts, archery, and more. Join our newsletter to explore Norse history with us.