7.12 What are some factors that led to the decline and end of the Viking Age? • The French King Charles III ended the Viking raids in France through a diplomatic deal with the Viking Rollo, making him Duke of Normandy in exchange for protection from other Vikings. • The Battle of Hastings ended the Viking Age in England. • When England’s Edward the Confessor died in 1066, he left no direct heir to the throne. • Three main contenders came forward to replace Edward the Confessor: a powerful earl, Harold Godwinson; the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, a descendent of the Danish king Canute who once ruled England; and William of Normandy, who said that he had been promised the throne after Edward’s death. • Godwinson and Hardrada fought, with the Viking king eventually being killed. After this, Harold Godwinson was defeated by William and the Normans, who had sailed from France. 7.13 Inquiry: How trustworthy are the sagas? • Determining the accuracy and usefulness of primary sources relies on distinguishing between fact and opinion. • The sagas were written by people with different views, beliefs and biases. 7.14.2 Key terms althing Iceland’s parliament; Icelandic governing national assembly formed during the Viking Age, which met once a year arable land that can be ploughed for crops barbarian uncultured and uncivilised; not Christian berserker Viking warrior who fought naked or near-naked and rushed wildly into battle. The word ‘berserk’ is derived from this. boss metal bulge used as reinforcement in the centre of a shield bronze metal alloy, mainly of copper and tin fjord long, narrow inlet flanked by high cliffs and slopes flax plant cultivated for its seeds and fibres, which can be used to produce many things such as textiles Gulf Stream great warm current of water flowing from the Caribbean Sea all the way to northern Europe heathen one who is not of one’s own religion, and is therefore seen as being uncivilised hemp plant favoured for its tough fibre, useful in the making of rope keel lowest timber running along the length of a vessel, and upon which the framework of the whole boat is built knarr a Viking trading ship linen cloth made from flax literate able to read and write longhouse a Viking farmhouse with a curved shape like an upturned boat. Particularly large longhouses meant for 30–50 people are often called halls. longphort a fortified base mail armour comprising chain links oath breaker someone who goes back on their word pagan someone who is neither Christian, Jewish or Muslim; one who worships many gods, or none polytheistic the belief in or worship of more than one god pommel rounded knob at the end of a sword hilt reconstruction rebuilding or re-making: in archaeology, rebuilding an artefact using archaeological remains as aguide republic a state in which the head of the government is not a ruler who inherits their position, as might a king, queen or emperor rudder broad wooden or metal piece at the end of a boat used for steering; on a longship, it was a broad oar attached to the tiller runes letters of the Scandinavian alphabet based on Roman or Greek letters but modified to be easily carved on wood or stone saga a medieval Scandinavian tale about exploits and adventures in the life of a hero or his family self-sufficient able to provide for its own needs tapestry carpet-like wall-hanging thing regional meeting held to decide local issues in Norway and Iceland during the Viking Age
TOPIC7 The Vikings 201
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator