The real Viking Age: when did the era of Norse expansion start and end?

Attracted by the wealth in other lands, especially fortunes held by relatively defenceless monastic communities, Scandinavian seafarers left their own shores to raid, trade and ultimately settle in these fertile – and more hospitable – territories. By preying on kingdoms across Europe, and then assimilating with them, the Vikings helped shape centuries of history, and their legacy echoed through the medieval period.

Yet defining when the Viking Age began and ended, exactly, is a difficult task with no simple answers.

When was the Viking Age?

The dates most typically given for the start and end of the Viking Age are 8 June AD 793 and 25 September 1066 – bookended by the raid on Lindisfarne and the Norman Conquest.

These dates mark nearly three centuries of continuous Viking influence across much of Northern Europe, and beyond. But they also represent a limited, Anglocentirc perception of the Viking Age and how it unfolded.

As Viking expert Dr Eleanor Barraclough explained on the HistoryExtra podcast, these dates do not tell the whole story.

Norse activity in Europe started sooner than AD 793 and continued well after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

A wider-ranging interpretation is that the era of Viking influence might have begun in the eighth century and ended as late as the 15th.

When did the Viking Age begin?

Traditionally the event that was said to launch the Viking Age in Europe was the raid on Lindisfarne in AD 793.

As recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Norse warriors plundered the wealthy monastery, off the coast of the kingdom of Northumbria, and slaughtered many of those they found inside.

The raid on Lindisfarne shook the Christian world. This was not only a calamity for the church in England, but across Europe: the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin was serving in the court of Charlemagne at the time and so helped spread the news.

But it also marked the beginning of an intensification in Viking attacks, establishing their reputation as notorious, bloodthirsty heathens willing to desecrate religious sites and plunder coastal settlements in their hunger for wealth and territorial expansion.

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However, Dr. Barraclough notes that the Lindisfarne raid was just the latest example – albeit a headline-grabbing one – in a broader trend. "It's a very useful date, but we have to be aware that it's quite an Anglocentric one," she explains. In fact, Viking activity had been developing well before AD 793.

“We have to have dates to anchor ourselves,” argues Dr Barraclough, “but at the same time, we have to be aware that those dates are imperfect, and they don't necessarily reflect the reality on the ground.”

Evidence of Scandinavian expansion has been found dating to nearly half a century earlier than AD 793, including ship burials from around AD 750 on the island of Saaremaa in modern-day Estonia. These reveal that Vikings from the area near Stockholm had attempted to engage in diplomatic and trading missions in Eastern Europe, only to meet a violent end.

When did the Viking Age end, and why?

The most commonly used end date for the Viking Age is 25 September 1066 with the death of Norwegian king Harald Hardrada – the ‘last great Viking’ at the battle of Stamford Bridge.

On 25 September of that year, just weeks before the battle of Hastings, the invading forces of Norwegian king Harald Hardrada were defeated by Harold Godwinson, the Anglo-Saxon king of England.

Hardrada’s death saw the end of large-scale Norse invasions of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, which make the battle a fitting full stop on the Viking Age.

Away from England, however, Viking activity continued across the continent. For instance, the islands of Orkney, off northern Scotland, remained a Norwegian colony until the 15th century. "You can take the Viking Age up to the 1400s if you're considering the Norse expansion into Greenland,” says Barraclough.

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Elsewhere in Europe, a definable end date for the Viking Age becomes even harder to find. In the Slavic kingdoms are now part of Russia and Ukraine, Vikings settlers would become the Kievan Rus.

Steadily, a distinct ‘Viking’ identity faded, giving way to a cultural melting pot of influences and assimilated peoples.

Why the Viking Age might be longer than we think

During the Viking Age, Norse populations occupied a vast geographical reach that spanned much of Europe, sandwiched between the extremities of North America and Eastern Eurasia. This could not be described as a single continuous territory, however.

Instead, according to Dr Barraclough, it's critical to view the regions of Viking influence as "connected pockets" rather than a monolithic block. "There's a strong sense of shared identity within these pockets, but the character of Viking activity changed depending on where you were."

In Britain and Ireland, Norse settlers left behind enduring legacies in cities like York and Dublin, while the Vikings in Normandy became the Northmen, or Normans. They integrated so thoroughly that the Norman Conquest of 1066 – which brought William the Conqueror to the throne of England – could be said to be partly a Viking invasion.

On the eastern front, Scandinavian traders and warriors moved along the rivers of modern-day Russia and Ukraine, forging deep connections with the Slavic and Byzantine cultures. While in the North Atlantic, Viking ships sailed even further and established colonies in Iceland, Greenland and, briefly, in Vinland (now Newfoundland, Canada).

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