who are the vikings

The Vikings were seafaring people originating from Scandinavia—specifically present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden—who were active from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries. They were not a single unified group but a diverse mix of peoples from many small tribes and kingdoms that eventually formed into larger Nordic states. The Vikings are well known as raiders, pirates, traders, explorers, and settlers. They traveled widely across Europe and beyond, reaching as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, Greenland, and even North America (Vinland, present-day Newfoundland in Canada) around the year 1000. Vikings were expert sailors and navigators, famous for their longships, which were swift and capable of beach landings. Their era—known as the Viking Age—is marked by their deep influence on early medieval history, including political and social developments in England, parts of France, Russia (Kievan Rus'), and the establishment of Norse colonies in the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland, and Normandy. They also interacted with the Byzantine Empire and ventured to the Caspian Sea and the Caliphate of Baghdad. Culturally, the Vikings originally practiced Old Norse paganism with gods like Thor and Loki but gradually converted to Christianity starting in the 8th century. Despite their reputation for warrior raids and piracy, Vikings were also skilled farmers, traders, shipbuilders, and settlers with a rich and complex society shaped by the rugged Scandinavian environment. In summary, the Vikings were complex, resourceful people whose activities as raiders, traders, and settlers had a profound and lasting impact on European and world history during the Viking Age between approximately 793 and 1066 CE.