How the Vikings Discovered the European Land

From the eighth to the tenth century, Birka, Sweden was a highly populated Viking city on the Baltic Sea. Bio-archaeologist & paleoscatologist Andrew Jones used ground penetrating radar to map out structures from past Birka, and found jewelry making tools through sifted soil samples. Jones explains, “... materials are vital, mutable, and creative, and archaeologists need to attend to the changing character of materials if they are to understand how past people and materials intersected to produce prehistoric societies.” (Jones, 2012) These artifacts show evidence of an ancient trade capital that housed 600+ residents, with highly skilled craftsmen and traders.

In Viking culture, chieftains earned allegiance through money; whoever was wealthiest ruled. This practice created the need for raiding and expansion; a need answered through their innovative long ships. A site in Dublin, Ireland exemplifies Viking migration. Niels Bonde explains, “Dendrochronology [the study of dating wooden artifacts through tree rings] now provides a date, exact nearly to the year, for three Viking Age burial mounds.” (Christiansen, 1993). Bonde and his team excavated a long ship at Dublin and claimed it was “...the first substantial archaeological evidence of a ship used by the Vikings.” (Christiansen, 1993)The Dublin site shows the development from a raiding site to a colonized settlement. Hygienic tools such as combs and files found on the site confirmed Viking influence through art with animalistic motifs.

The need for more land and wealth drove Vikings to migrate west to areas such Iceland. Scholars are skeptical to validate the Icelandic Sagas because there are over 200 years of oral tradition since the sagas took place. The accounts hold that Vikings settled an Iceland covered in forests and remains in an Icelandic garbage dump confirm remains of such a forest. According to the Sagas, Eric the Red was banished from Iceland and sailed to Greenland. His son, Leif Erikson, is attributed to discovering “Vineland,” possibly the Americas. Erikson’s description of Vineland matches areas of eastern Canada, and remains of a Viking Age settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows in Nova Scotia could be an attempt of colonization. Anne Stine, credited with excavating the L’Anse aux Meadows site, found an iron ship rivet and bronze pin that showed Viking presence. (Stine, 1977) The site remains read more of a fortress than a colonized settlement, and that the natives—referred to as “Scrailings” or barbarians—were able to force the Vikings away.

The Vikings were a raiding and colonizing people in the west, however, in the east they were ferocious traders and merchants. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, monks compiled the known history of Russia. The monk Nestor credited the founding of Russia to the “Rus” people—Scandinavians who were allegedly summoned to bring order to the Slavic tribes—in the Russian Primary Chronicle. Historian Jonathan Shepard confirms Scandinavian presence in modern day Russia in “The Emergence of Rus 750-1200,” which studies the Vikings’ influence in the area from the time of Nestor to the reign of Vladimir. (Shepard & Franklin, 1996).

Through sites like Kiev, Ukraine, we can see how the Viking merchants dominated Eastern Europe and into the Middle East. They used their long ships to go up inland rivers, sometimes having to carry the ships over ground. Settlements were erected along their trade lines, uniting the tribes and connecting the Atlantic with the Caspian Sea. Their skills in trade and war took Scandinavians as far east as Constantinople. Historian Thomas Noonan studies the Vikings’ influence through trade with the east in “The Islamic world, Russia and the Vikings, 750-900: the numismatic evidence” using silver coins of Arabic origin found at Kiev. (Noonan, 1998).

While Vikings influenced everything they touched, they were not left unaffected. Scandinavian culture took a big hit through religion; in 988 Vladimir I converted the Kievan Vikings to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. His decision was heavily influenced by traditional Scandinavian paganism—he rejected Catholicism due to the fasting and Islam because, “Drinking is the joy of the Rus, and we cannot live without this pleasure.” This further united the Slavs, Finns, Balts and Vikings, solidifying the ties to Constantinople. The Rus had control of the east through both trade and religion.

The Vikings are stereotyped as ruthless murdering marauders. However, closer study shows a highly intelligent and enterprising culture of craftsmen, mariners, and merchants. Through their conquests, Scandinavians united the ancient world and created trade routes still used today. They helped spread Christianity to Western Europe. Scandinavians discovered new lands in the west, including the Americas nearly 400 years before Columbus. In essence, the Scandinavians can be considered one of the biggest influencers of ancient Europe.