Why the Vikings Were Successful Raiders

The Vikings were Norsemen from Scandinavia and they terrorised the coasts of Europe for hundreds of years, mainly from the late 8th to the late 11th century.

The Vikings, who were Germanic people inhabiting Scandinavia, were successful raiders for many reasons, some of these reasons include their use of longships, as well as their clever tactics and strategies and their use of powerful weapons. The above 3 reasons were crucial for the Vikings and their planning toward achieving a successful raid. The Vikings needed the best mobility, defence and strategy to get the most out of looting the places they raided.

The Vikings, as already mentioned, used a variety of tactics and strategies to gain an advantage on their opponent during raids. Some of these include surprise attacks, showing terror, speed, ruthlessness, war tactics and hand to hand combat. The Vikings used these to their advantage by killing anyone who got in their way, taking what they wanted before the target could stop them and intimidating their opponent by their appearance and bloodcurring battle cries. These raids were known as the hit and run raids. Surprise attacks were a main strategy that the Vikings used in their first raids, as they didn’t send many ships out during that period of time. Vikings often raided coastal towns and monasteries as (most of the time) they had the essentials that they were looking for. They made a surprise attack in Lindisfarne which was a wealthy but unprotected monastery in 793 which had no English navy to guard the coasts so it made the Viking job a whole lot easier as they caught their target off guard by the surprise attacks.

Another reason the Vikings were successful raiders is because of their use of longships. The Vikings were not only talented sailors, they also had good navigational skills. These longships that they used were mainly made out of timber. The longships were built to carry a lot of Vikings (up to 60 men), which meant that they could have more Vikings available on board to raid their target. The Vikings used the longships to sail and navigate the seas and oceans. These longships could survive stormy seas, rough tides, shallow rivers and were narrow enough to sail down rivers due to its strength and capability. This was an advantage, as their target would have no idea where the Vikings could be coming from. They could come from anywhere and attack their target while the ship would be fine as it could ride onto beaches and shores. The longship could go up to 30 meters in length and was still very light so it could be easily carried over land.

The final reason why the Vikings were successful raiders is their choice and use of weapons. The Vikings used the weapons to protect themselves and to use against the target if they tried to fight back while the Vikings were raiding them. The Vikings used many weapons including swords, axes, bows and arrows, lances, spears, shields and helmets. A key weapon that the Vikings used was the sword that was made out of high-quality iron. The Vikings were very capable of using it as they were trained from a young age of how to use this and had years of experience with it. The blade length could reach up to 77cm. They used shields to attack and protect themselves during raids. They were made out of wood and had a metal boss. These shields weighed between 5 and 7kg. They used axes, which were very light with long handles, which were very balanced but also extremely powerful. The axes were often used for speedy attacks as well as clever decision-making moves during the attacks. The most common weapon was the spear, which was about 2-3 meters in length. The Vikings used it for throwing and for thrusting.

In conclusion the Vikings were raiders from Scandanavia. Their use of longships made them successful seafarers. Their tactics and strategies made them feared by opponents and their training in weapons from a young age lead them to be prepared and subsequently successful during raids.