Who were the Vikings? What do we really know about the Vikings? Here’s a closer look at the elusive Vikings. At the bottom of the page is one of the best documentaries about Viking history. A lot of what you hear and see about the Vikings is nothing but hyped up drama.
If you’re looking for an interesting book about the topic, I recommend VIKINGS
The Oseberg ship is always a highlight in Scandinavian history. It “is a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, Norway.”
The Viking Ship Museum is in Oslo.
Traces of Viking origin can be found in Gotland, Sweden’s largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea.
The Norse funeral was not anything that we’re accustomed to in today’s world. Tradition in this age called for ship burials. The dead were buried in a ship, along with sacrifices, and sometimes live human beings were also killed. Human sacrifice was a part of the rituals.
While it is often acknowledged that the Vikings settled in England, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and other various islands, what it is overlooked is their important role in Russia. Staraya Ladoga is located in the Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. In the 8th and 9th centuries, it was dominated by Scandinavians.
Staraya Ladoga is sometimes called the first capital of Russia. In western Russia, it is located around 90 miles east of Saint Petersburg and this is where the Viking expansion begins.
Actually the name Rus (or Rhos) refers to the Swedes, and dates back to year 839 AD in a Royal Frankish chronicle Annales Bertiniani.
The name we know as Russia comes from Ρως, an early Greek name for the people of Rus. “The earliest written mention of the word ‘Rus’ or ‘Russian’ appears in the Primary Chronicle under the year 912.”
Vikings Who Were The Vikings? — Part 1
Vikings The Trading Empire — Part 2
Vikings End of the Viking Age — Part 3
