< period style= "font-family: arial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" >< img border=" 0" data-original-height=" 450" data-original-width=" 800 "height=" 225" src =" https://everythingviking.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/viking-history-who-were-the-vikings-the-warriors-who-raided-europe-and-explored-the-new-world.webp" width=" 400" > Painting of a fleet of Viking ships crossing the sea by Albert Sebille c1930.( Image credit: Chris Hellier via Alamy Stock Image) The Vikings explored, raided and traded across a huge area stretching
from North America to the Middle East between roughly the late eighth and mid-11th centuries. In Old Norse, the language the Vikings spoke,” a Viking was a sea-borne raider, and to go-a-viking was to undertake sea-borne raiding,” Angus Somerville and Russell Andrew McDonald( opens in brand-new tab), both teachers at Brock University in Canada, composed in their book” The Vikings and Their Age (opens in new tab )” (University of Toronto Press, 2013).” The word is a job description however it applied only to
a small minority of the population,” as many people in Scandinavia would not have actually taken part in raids. Among those who did raid, “being a Viking was a part-time job since Viking explorations were carried out seasonally by small farmers, fishermen, merchants, chieftains, and aristocrats
as a way of supplementing their income and winning fame,” Somerville and McDonald composed. Read the rest of this post …
as a way of supplementing their income and winning fame,” Somerville and McDonald composed. Read the rest of this post …