LESSON 7.11 What are some of the extraordinary achievements of the Vikings?
LEARNING INTENTION By the end of this lesson you should be able to describe the Viking settlements of Iceland and Greenland, and explain the extraordinary exploration of North America.
Tune in While many Vikings were plundering and settling in established areas of Europe, there were also those who set off in search of uninhabited new lands to explore and perhaps settle for farming. The Vikings explored, expanded, raided and settled many places in western and eastern Europe. They were a very hardy people. Curiosity as well as a desire for resources saw them also head west into the unexplored Atlantic Ocean. 1. Look at a map of Scandinavia and the Atlantic Ocean. • What land is north-west of Norway? • What is west of that country? • What happens if you keep going further west, and a little south? 2. Map this route and discuss what it might be like to cross it in a longship. Hint: It would be around 2000 km.
SOURCE1 Rugged Scandinavian landscape
7.11.1 A Viking republic? Around 874 CE, Iceland was colonised by Norwegian settlers, who fled to escape the Norwegian king’s authority. By 930 CE, Iceland had established its own government with regional assemblies called things , each led by a local chieftain called godar . These things combined to form the althing , a national assembly rejecting monarchical rule, which is seen as one of Europe’s earliest forms of democracy.
SOURCE2 One of the earliest written versions of the Icelandic legal code. It dates from 1260, two centuries after the end of the Viking Age. Because the Vikings did not keep records in the form of a book, the code was originally recited by heart.
TOPIC7 The Vikings 189
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