Norse – medieval viking warriors

The True Viking Warriors

The term viking is taken from the word Vikingr from the Old Norse Iceland language, modern use denotes a sea explorer or pirate. "Viking" also {exist|can be found in} in the Icelandic language meaning a predatory voyage. The beginning of the Saga Age (900-1050 AD) saw the origins of Norse literature, and in these times the word vikingr did not refer to a particular class of people. Any young Icelander with the means and a high enough ranking in society as well as any number of young Norsemen, commonly participated in viking expeditions. These expeditions were considered part of a young man’s education, it can be compared to the "grand tours" that were common among upper-class young men in 18th century Europe. However you can still find the word vikingr (appearing|being used) in Saga Age {writing|literature} An example of the use of the word vikingr can be found in passages from the Landnamabok (Sturlabok), specifically a passage relating how Harald Fairhair harassed the vikings of the Scottish isles forcing them to leave and thus leading to the settlement of Iceland and the beginnings of Icelandic literature.

This is how the word "viking" would have been used in those times. Historians have designated period known as the "Viking Age" (Vikingertiden) as the time when those of Scandinavian descent were engaging in widespread piracy and pillaging all throughout Western Europe. Even today historians can’t pinpoint the exact national origins of these pillagers by sea, however we do know they were a constant terror to England, Ireland, Western Scotland, the Frankish empire and others. They were called by many names such as Normanii, Daccii, Danes, and Lochlannoch, the latter of which was what the Irish called them. Although Lochlannoch was etymological for "men of the lakes" we must remember Lochlann was also the Irish word for Norway, so they might as well have been calling them "Norsemen".

The reason why the word "viking" has become so commonly associated with these pillagers is that we simply have no other word to use in referring to these early Scandinavian pirates that were active in the 9th and 10th centuries. Because historians are unsure if they |came from Denmark, Norway or elsewhere we simply cannot peg them with a national identity.

To add to the foggy history of the vikings there is widespread misconception about the style of the helmets they wore. Usually when one thinks of a viking helmet immediately decorative horns and wings leap to mind. However there is absolutely no archeological evidence that vikings wore helmets of this |type. It is liked they wore {plain|unadorned}, domed helmets made from leather. The misconception about viking helmets stems from uncommon 9th century ceremonies in which {decorative|ornamental} helmets with horns or wings were used. However by the time the vikings were pillaging by sea these ceremonies and decorative helmets had {faded|largely disappeared} from their culture. The idea that a viking pillager wore a helmet adorned with horns comes from inaccurate writings by the Greeks and Romans. We could easily posit that the "Viking Age" began sometime around the first recorded sighting of a northern pirate fleet around 789 AD. As well as the appearance of the Normans in modern day Normady via the treaty of St Clair-sur-Epte sometime in 911 or 912 AD.