100 Facts Vikings – Bitesized Facts & Awesome Images to Support KS2 Learning

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The southern coast of the Baltic Sea was ruled by the Obotrites, a federation of Slavic tribes loyal to the Carolingians and later the Frankish empire. The Vikings—led by King Gudfred—destroyed the Obotrite city of Reric on the southern Baltic coast in 808 AD and transferred the merchants and traders to Hedeby. [94] This secured Viking supremacy in the Baltic Sea, which continued throughout the Viking Age. The voice actor of SpongeBob and the voice actor of Karen, Plankton’s computer wife, have been married since 1995.

The Buddha commonly depicted in statues and pictures is a different person entirely. The real Buddha was actually incredibly skinny because of self-deprivation. The human eye is so sensitive that if the Earth were flat and it was a dark night, a candle’s flame could be seen from 30 miles away. The majority of runic inscriptions from the Viking period are found in Sweden. Many runestones in Scandinavia record the names of participants in Viking expeditions, such as the Kjula runestone that tells of extensive warfare in Western Europe and the Turinge Runestone, which tells of a war band in Eastern Europe.

12. A Long Way From Home

A few weeks before the Anglo-Saxons were defeated in the Battle of Hastings in 1066, they defeated Viking warriors near York, led by Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. The Bagheera kiplingi spider was discovered in the 1800s and is the only species of spider that has been classified as vegetarian. Even though the Vikings didn’t stay in Britain, they left a strong mark on society – we’ve even kept some of the same names of towns. They had a large settlement around York and the Midlands, and you can see some of the artefacts from Viking settlements today. Top 10 facts

Leif Erikson (c.970-1020) – Leif Erikson was a famous Viking explorer who sailed all the way to North America. The Vikings spoke Old Norse and made inscriptions in runes. For most of the period, they followed the Old Norse religion, but later became Christians. The Vikings had their own laws, art and architecture. Most Vikings were also farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and traders. Popular conceptions of the Vikings often strongly differ from the complex, advanced civilisation of the Norsemen that emerges from archaeology and historical sources. A romanticised picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century; this developed and became widely propagated during the 19th-century Viking revival. [16] [17] Perceived views of the Vikings as violent, piratical heathens or as intrepid adventurers owe much to conflicting varieties of the modern Viking myth that had taken shape by the early 20th century. Current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. These representations are rarely accurate—for example, there is no evidence that they wore horned helmets, a costume element that first appeared in the 19th century. The essential three elements of the word "Viking" are: the original meaning and derivation or etymology; its medieval usage; and its current modern-day usage. According to some authors, these three elements are often confused in popular and scholarly discussions. Also, the etymology of the word has been much debated by academics, with many origin theories being proposed. [18] [19] Original meaning and derivation of the word Viking Runestone raised in memory of Gunnarr by Tóki the Viking. [20] They may not have even worn helmets! So few complete helmets have ever been found, leading some to believe they never wore helmets during battles. Perhaps they wore leather headwear, which is much less likely to survive for so long. There have been several archaeological finds of Viking ships of all sizes, providing knowledge of the craftsmanship that went into building them. There were many types of Viking ships, built for various uses; the best-known type is probably the longship. [170] Longships were intended for warfare and exploration, designed for speed and agility, and were equipped with oars to complement the sail, making navigation possible independently of the wind. The longship had a long, narrow hull and shallow draught to facilitate landings and troop deployments in shallow water. Longships were used extensively by the Leidang, the Scandinavian defence fleets. The longship allowed the Norse to go Viking, which might explain why this type of ship has become almost synonymous with the concept of Vikings. [171] [172]Christopher Columbus is usually credited as being the European who discovered the 'New World', however, it was a Viking explorer (called Leif Erikson) who beat him to it by 500 years! The last known people to use the Runic alphabet were an isolated group of people known as the Elfdalians, that lived in the locality of Älvdalen in the Swedish province of Dalarna. They spoke the language of Elfdalian, the language unique to Älvdalen. The Elfdalian language differentiates itself from the other Scandinavian languages as it evolved much closer to Old Norse. The people of Älvdalen stopped using runes as late as the 1920s. Usage of runes therefore survived longer in Älvdalen than anywhere else in the world. [154] The last known record of the Elfdalian Runes is from 1929; they are a variant of the Dalecarlian runes, runic inscriptions that were also found in Dalarna. The Viking Age in Scandinavian history is taken to have been the period from the earliest recorded raids by Norsemen in 793 until the Norman conquest of England in 1066. [63] Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. There is a town in Nebraska called Monowi with a population of one. The only resident is a woman who is the Mayor, Bartender, and Librarian.

Excuse me. Yes, you… would you like to learn about the Vikings? Great! Well let’s start at the beginning…The Vikings lived over 1000 years ago, but they don’t look that old to me, what’s your secret?The Vikings were Norse people who came from an area called Scandinavia. You might know it better asNorway, Sweden and Denmark.The word is a verb: Or at least, it was! The term ‘viking’ is believed to have originally referred to the act of raiding. Only over time did its usage change to refer to the Norsemen doing the raiding.