THE NORTH ATLANTIC IN THE VIKING AGE

The term North Atlantic describes the geographical area situated between modern Scandinavia in the east and the east coast of North America in the west; and from Greenland in the north to the south coast of England (see Map, p. xvi). This is the area that people from Scandinavia explored, raided, traded with and settled between c. 750 and 1050 CE. The Norse people who engaged in these expeditions are now called Vikings, and sometimes thought of as sea pirates. However, the word Viking is of uncertain origins. It has been linked to two Old Norse words vikingr (m.) and viking (f.), which refer to an individual who is away from home engaged in group activities, and a group endeavour also taking place away from home, respectively. In turn, these two words may have derived from Vik, The Oslofjord, Viken, The Bay, and/or vik, bay, which could indicate that a vikingr was originally an individual associated with one of these places, either a local or a sea pirate. The etymology of all these words is part of a complex and ongoing debate that has only been touched upon here. The term Viking has become synonymous with a whole society that flourished first in Norway, Sweden and Denmark and, later, in parts of the British archipelago, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and possibly as far west as the coast of North America. To the east, this society or culture spread into Finland, the Baltic and Russia and had trade networks that extended into the Byzantine Empire (the capital of which, Byzantium, is present-day Istanbul, Turkey), and along the silk route, possibly as far as China, although this is still debated. To the south, the Norse penetrated as far as the Iberian Peninsula in the Mediterranean and the north coast of Africa, setting up winter camps and raiding there between c. 859 and 862. Viking Age society was complex and it is not the aim of this volume to unpack what others have already done, and continue to do so well. For many cultures, including those of Scandinavia, the British Isles and Ireland, this period of history is now called the Viking Age.