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

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We are still discovering hoards of coins today, believed to have been buried in panic after the Great Viking Army invaded in 865 AD. The word Viking was introduced into Modern English during the 18th-century Viking revival, at which point it acquired romanticised heroic overtones of "barbarian warrior" or noble savage. [45] During the 20th century, the meaning of the term was expanded to refer not only to seaborne raiders from Scandinavia and other places settled by them (like Iceland and the Faroe Islands), but also any member of the culture that produced the raiders during the period from the late 8th to the mid-11th centuries, or more loosely from about 700 to as late as about 1100. As an adjective, the word is used to refer to ideas, phenomena, or artefacts connected with those people and their cultural life, producing expressions like Viking age, Viking culture, Viking art, Viking religion, Viking ship and so on. Bifrost was a rainbow bridge which connected Asgard to Midgard (Earth) and can still been seen on rainy days when sunshine follows! Vikings is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), [2] [3] [4] [5] who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe. [6] [7] [8] They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, Greenland, and Vinland (present-day Newfoundland in Canada, North America). In their countries of origin, and some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age, and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on the early medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Estonia, and Kievan Rus'. [9] Jomsborg was a semi-legendary Viking stronghold at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea (medieval Wendland, modern Pomerania), that existed between the 960s and 1043. Its inhabitants were known as Jomsvikings. Jomsborg's exact location, or its existence, has not yet been established, though it is often maintained that Jomsborg was somewhere on the islands of the Oder estuary. [119] End of the Viking Age

One common theory posits that Charlemagne "used force and terror to Christianise all pagans", leading to baptism, conversion or execution, and as a result, Vikings and other pagans resisted and wanted revenge. [107] [108] [109] [110] [111] Professor Rudolf Simek states that "it is not a coincidence if the early Viking activity occurred during the reign of Charlemagne". [107] [112] The ascendance of Christianity in Scandinavia led to serious conflict, dividing Norway for almost a century. However, this time period did not commence until the 10th century. Norway was never subject to aggression by Charlemagne and the period of strife was due to successive Norwegian kings embracing Christianity after encountering it overseas. [113] Viking-era towns of Scandinavia Researchers have found that flossing your teeth can help your memory. Flossing prevents gum disease, which prevents stiff blood vessels, which cause memory issues. Vikings drove the Picts and Scots from Northern territories and Knorrs full of whole Norse families populated the areas. Some men married local women and set to farming the land. A Viking’s most treasured weapon was his sword. They were handed down generations via inheritance, were often named and could be inscribed with runes by talented smiths to magically increase their power. The Bagheera kiplingi spider was discovered in the 1800s and is the only species of spider that has been classified as vegetarian.Clean freaks though they were, the Vikings had no qualms about harnessing the power of one human waste product. They would collect a fungus called touchwood from tree bark and boil it for several days in urine before pounding it into something akin to felt. The sodium nitrate found in urine would allow the material to smolder rather than burn, so Vikings could take fire with them on the go. 4. Vikings buried their dead in boats. Colonisation of Iceland by Norwegian Vikings began in the 9th century. The first source mentioning Iceland and Greenland is a papal letter from 1053. Twenty years later, they appear in the Gesta of Adam of Bremen. It was not until after 1130, when the islands had become Christianised, that accounts of the history of the islands were written from the point of view of the inhabitants in sagas and chronicles. [87] The Vikings explored the northern islands and coasts of the North Atlantic, ventured south to North Africa, east to Kievan Rus (now – Ukraine, Belarus), Constantinople, and the Middle East. [88] If chainmail or iron helms were too expensive, some Vikings opted for padded leather tunics and leather helmets.

In 2006, a Coca-Cola employee offered to sell Coca-Cola secrets to Pepsi. Pepsi responded by notifying Coca-Cola.They travelled over the sea in longships, which are long, narrow wooden boats that could be sailed in both deep and shallow water.