Saltvik is a municipality of Åland , an autonomous territory of Finland . The total area is 1 161,8 km, of which 150,7 km is land, 4,7 km lakes and 1006,4 km sea.
135-517: The archipelago north of Saltvik is perhaps the most beautiful one in Åland. Closest to land are the big islands Boxö, Sommarö, Flatö and Ryssö. Beyond, the horizon opens up and after passing Saggö it is more or less unbroken. The municipality has a rich history. When Åland emerged from the sea about 8,000 BC, Saltvik was the first land to be seen. During the Viking ages, Kvarnbo used to be a central crown court- and place of merchandise. Today, people can visit
270-657: A 1947 post-war peace treaty that saw German holdings in Finland transferred to the Soviet Union". About 50% of the people living in Saltvik work in the service industry or in the public sector. 15% work in transport and 14% in industry. Construction and farming/fishing employ, respectively, 10% and 7%. The head office and one factory of the Chips Group is located in the municipality. The company begun its operations in Saltvik in 1969 and
405-538: A continuous entity throughout the entire period. At times the rulers were independent of external control, although for much of the period they had overlords in Norway, Ireland, England, Scotland or Orkney. At times there also appear to have been competing claims for all or parts of the territory. The islands have a total land area of over 8,300 square kilometres (3,205 sq mi) and extend for more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) from north to south. Viking influence in
540-515: A grandson of Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, became overlord of the isles in 1111. Whatever his route to accession, he proved to be an unpopular tyrant and was expelled by the Islesmen after two years, fleeing to Ireland. Two years later Sigurd attempted to appoint Ingemund (whose background is unknown) to take possession of the kingdom of the Isles. However, when Ingemund arrived on Lewis he sent messengers to all
675-590: A major regional political player for another 150 years. The land that now comprises most of the Scottish Lowlands had previously been the northernmost part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria , which fell apart with its Viking conquest; these lands were never regained by the Anglo-Saxons, or England. The upheaval and pressure of Viking raiding, occupation, conquest and settlement resulted in alliances among
810-675: A matter of debate amongst historians. Prior to the Viking incursions the southern Hebrides formed part of the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata (or Dalriada). North of Dál Riata , the Inner and Outer Hebrides were nominally under Pictish control although the historical record is sparse. According to Ó Corráin (1998) "when and how the Vikings conquered and occupied the Isles is unknown, perhaps unknowable", although from 793 onwards repeated raids by Vikings on
945-547: A month by another Viking descendant, William , Duke of Normandy . Scotland took its present form when it regained territory from the Norse between the 13th and the 15th centuries; the Western Isles and the Isle of Man remained under Scandinavian authority until 1266. Orkney and Shetland belonged to the king of Norway as late as 1469. Consequently, a "long Viking Age" may stretch into
1080-568: A more "rational" and "pragmatic" approach to historical scholarship. By the latter half of the 18th century, while the Icelandic sagas were still used as important historical sources, the Viking Age had again come to be regarded as a barbaric and uncivilised period in the history of the Nordic countries. Scholars outside Scandinavia did not begin to extensively reassess the achievements of the Vikings until
1215-648: A naval battle off the Isle of Man. The first four decades of the 10th century are an obscure period so far as the Hebrides are concerned. It is possible that Ragnall ua Ímair , who probably ruled Mann during this period may have had some influence. However, Amlaíb Cuarán is the next King of the Isles on record. After the death of Amlaíb mac Gofraid in 941, Amlaíb Cuarán became King of Northumbria and probably succeeded his cousin Amlaíb as King of Mann. The former
1350-474: A result, Viking raiders found it easy to sack and then retreat from these areas which were thus frequently raided. The second case is the internal "push" factor, which coincides with a period just before the Viking Age in which Scandinavia was undergoing a mass centralisation of power in the modern-day countries of Denmark, Sweden, and especially Norway. This centralisation of power forced hundreds of chieftains from their lands, which were slowly being appropriated by
1485-708: A scribal error the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dates this event to 787 rather than 789), but that incursion may have been a trading expedition that went wrong rather than a piratical raid. Lindisfarne was different. The Viking devastation of Northumbria 's Holy Island was reported by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York , who wrote: "Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared". Vikings were portrayed as wholly violent and bloodthirsty by their enemies. Robert of Gloucester 's Chronicle, c. 1300, mentions Viking attacks on
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#17328521512881620-569: A serious attack was made on Lindisfarne's mother-house of Iona , which was followed in 795 by raids upon the northern coast of Ireland. From bases there, the Norsemen attacked Iona again in 802, causing great slaughter amongst the Céli Dé Brethren, and burning the abbey to the ground. The Vikings primarily targeted Ireland until 830, as England and the Carolingian Empire were able to fight
1755-504: A son or nephew of Imar mac Arailt , King of Dublin and by extension a descendant of Amlaíb Cuarán . He was a survivor of Harald Hardraade 's defeat at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 and fled from there to Man. Little is then heard of him until he succeeded in taking the island from Fingal in 1079, possibly with the help of troops from the Western Isles. The ancestor of many of
1890-403: A story created in later days to legitimise Norwegian claims to sovereignty in the region". There are similar problems with the provenance of Gofraid mac Fergusa , the supposed 9th-century ruler of the Hebrides and ancestor of Clan Donald . It has been suggested that his appearance looks "very much like the product of fourteenth-century propagandists from Clann Donald". In 870 Dumbarton
2025-705: A version of the economic model that points to new economic incentives stemming from a "bulge" in the population of young Scandinavian men, impelling them to engage in maritime activity due to limited economic alternatives. This era coincided with the Medieval Warm Period (800–1300) and stopped with the start of the Little Ice Age (about 1250–1850). The start of the Viking Age, with the sack of Lindisfarne, also coincided with Charlemagne 's Saxon Wars , or Christian wars with pagans in Saxony . Bruno Dumézil theorises that
2160-571: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Viking Age This is an accepted version of this page Chronological history The Viking Age (about 800–1050 CE ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their homeland of Scandinavia but also to any place significantly settled by Scandinavians during
2295-551: Is because of this, rather than the Norman conquest, that 1066 is often taken as the end of the Viking Age. Nineteen days later, a large army containing and led by senior Normans, themselves mostly male-line descendants of Norsemen, invaded England and defeated the weakened English army at the Battle of Hastings . The army invited others from across Norman gentry and ecclesiastical society to join them. There were several unsuccessful attempts by Scandinavian kings to regain control of England,
2430-500: Is clear that the word "king", as used by and of the rulers of Norwegian descent in the isles, was not intended to convey sovereign rule (that is, that of a High King ). This is different from the way the word was used in the emerging Kingdom of Scotland at the time. It should also be borne in mind that different kings may have ruled over very different areas and that few of them can be seen as exerting any kind of close control over this "far-flung sea kingdom". Precise dates are sometimes
2565-500: Is not clear if this was a completely new term or had originally been used earlier, perhaps to refer to Amlaíb Cuarán 's island kingdom. The complex geography of western Scotland and the lack of written records makes certainty about the extent and nature of these kingdoms hard to fathom. For example, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba indicates that almost all these kings who reigned from
2700-454: Is not easy to pin down a single date that applies to all the Viking world. The Viking Age was not a "monolithic chronological period" across three or four hundred years, but was characterised by various distinct phases of Viking activity. It is unlikely that the Viking Age could be so neatly assigned a terminal event. The end of the Viking era in Norway is marked by the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030, in which Óláfr Haraldsson (later known as Olav
2835-524: Is ongoing as to why the Scandinavians began to expand from the eighth through 11th centuries. Various factors have been highlighted: demographic, economic, ideological, political, technological, and environmental models. Barrett considers that prior scholarship having examined causes of the Viking Age in terms of demographic determinism, the resulting explanations have generated a "wide variety of possible models". While admitting that Scandinavia did share in
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#17328521512882970-566: Is recorded as being the Rex plurimarum insularum , suggesting he may have been the first King of both Mann and the Western Isles of Scotland. Amlaíb , who died some four decades later in 980 or 981 whilst in "religious retirement" on Iona, was succeeded by Maccus mac Arailt , who was probably his nephew. Maccus 's brother Gofraid mac Arailt then succeeded him. During their lifetimes these two "sons of Harald" are known to have launched at least two major expeditions against Ireland, and
3105-519: Is regarded as the beginning of the Viking Age. Judith Jesch has argued that the start of the Viking Age can be pushed back to 700–750, as it was unlikely that the Lindisfarne attack was the first attack, and given archeological evidence that suggests contacts between Scandinavia and the British isles earlier in the century. The earliest raids were most likely small in scale, but expanded in scale during
3240-508: Is some 180 kilometres (110 mi) east-northeast of the Outer Hebrides, Shetland is a further 80 kilometres (50 mi) further northeast and Norway some 300 kilometres (190 mi) due east of Shetland. The total distance from the southern tip of the Isle of Man to the Butt of Lewis , the northern extremity of the Outer Hebrides, is approximately 515 kilometres (320 mi). The presence of
3375-579: The Gàidhealtachd of Scotland, and is known in Gaelic as Somairle mac Gille Brigte , although his Norse name, Somarlidi , has the literal meaning of "summer traveller", a common name for a Viking. Somerled met his death in 1164, possibly assassinated in his tent as he camped near Renfrew during an invasion of the Scottish mainland. At this point Godred re-took possession of his pre-1158 territories and
3510-520: The Heimskringla saga reports that he obtained Muirchertach Ua Briain 's daughter Bjaðmunjo in marriage to his young son, Sigurd , whom he then left in nominal charge of the isles. This arrangement did not last long. On 23 August 1103 Magnus was killed fighting in Ulster and the 14-year-old Sigurd returned to Norway without his bride. The next king was Lagmann Godredsson , Godred Crovan's son, who
3645-529: The Orkneyinga Saga once again becomes the main source of information about the north. In 990 Sigurd the Stout , Earl of Orkney took control of the Hebrides, and placed a jarl called Gilli in charge. By 1004 the isles' independence had been re-asserted under Gofraid 's son Ragnal mac Gofraid , who died in that year. It is possible their rule overlapped, with Gilli 's zone of influence to
3780-657: The Black Sea and then on to Constantinople . The eastern connections of these " Varangians " brought Byzantine silk , a cowrie shell from the Red Sea, and even coins from Samarkand , to Viking York . In 884, an army of Danish Vikings was defeated at the Battle of Norditi (also called the Battle of Hilgenried Bay) on the Germanic North Sea coast by a Frisian army under Archbishop Rimbert of Bremen-Hamburg, which precipitated
3915-509: The Danelaw ( Danalǫg ), Dublin ( Dyflin ), Normandy , and Kievan Rus' ( Garðaríki ). The Norse homelands were also unified into larger kingdoms during the Viking Age, and the short-lived North Sea Empire included large swathes of Scandinavia and Britain. In 1021, the Vikings achieved the feat of reaching North America—the date of which was not determined until a millennium later. Several things drove this expansion. The Vikings were drawn by
4050-659: The Dnieper and Volga trade routes in eastern Europe, where they were also known as Varangians . They also briefly settled in Newfoundland , becoming the first Europeans to reach North America. The Norse-Gaels , Normans , Rus' people , Faroese , and Icelanders emerged from these Norse colonies. The Vikings founded several kingdoms and earldoms in Europe: the Kingdom of the Isles ( Suðreyjar ), Orkney ( Norðreyjar ), York ( Jórvík ) and
4185-502: The High King of Ireland , who took possession of Mann and the Isles until his death in 1072. Godred Sitricson and his son Fingal Godredson then ruled in Mann at least, but the records for the rulers of the Hebrides remain obscure until the arrival of Godred Crovan . "Crovan" probably means "white hand" although the reason is unknown and his origins are also uncertain. Godred may have been
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4320-502: The Kingdom of Alba , whilst the Kings of Mann and the North Isles were vassals of the Kings of Norway. However, both during and after Somerled's life the Scottish monarchs sought to take control of the islands he and his descendants held. Diplomacy having failed to achieve much, in 1249 Alexander II took personal command of a large fleet that sailed from the Firth of Clyde and anchored off
4455-555: The Norsemen as the Suðreyjar , or "Southern Isles" as distinct from the Norðreyjar or Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland . In Scottish Gaelic , the kingdom is known as Rìoghachd nan Eilean . The territory is sometimes called the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles , although only some of the later rulers claimed that title. The historical record is incomplete, and the kingdom was not
4590-621: The Seine with near impunity. Near the end of Charlemagne's reign (and throughout the reigns of his sons and grandsons), a string of Norse raids began, culminating in a gradual Scandinavian conquest and settlement of the region now known as Normandy in 911. Frankish King Charles the Simple granted the Duchy of Normandy to Viking warleader Rollo (a chieftain of disputed Norwegian or Danish origins) in order to stave off attacks by other Vikings. Charles gave Rollo
4725-505: The islands of Scotland including the Hebrides of the west coast, and the Northern Isles. Harald pursued his enemies and incorporated the Northern Isles into his kingdom in 875 and then, perhaps a little over a decade later, the Hebrides as well. The following year the local Viking chieftains of the Hebrides rebelled. Harald then sent Ketill Flatnose to subdue them, which he did quickly, but then he declared himself an independent "King of
4860-402: The monastery on Iona led to this part of Scotland being relatively well documented from the mid-6th to the mid-9th centuries. However, from 849 on, when Columba 's relics were removed in the face of Viking incursions, written evidence from local sources all but vanishes for three hundred years. The sources for information about the Hebrides and indeed much of northern Scotland from the 8th to
4995-599: The 11th century are thus almost exclusively Irish, English or Norse. The main Norse text is the Orkneyinga Saga , which should be treated with care as it was based on oral traditions and not written down by an Icelandic scribe until the early 13th century. The English and Irish sources are more contemporary, but may have "led to a southern bias in the story", especially as much of the Hebridean archipelago became Norse-speaking during
5130-439: The 12th century. Only three rune stones are known from the west coast of Scotland, on Christian memorials found on Barra , Inchmarnock and Iona. Gaelic continued to exist as a spoken language in the southern Hebrides throughout the Norse settlement period, but place-name evidence suggests it had a lowly status. The obliteration of pre-Norse names is almost total. There is little continuity of style between Pictish pottery in
5265-498: The 15th century. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles , Viking raiders struck England in 793 and raided Lindisfarne, the monastery that held Saint Cuthbert 's relics, killing the monks and capturing the valuables. The raid marked the beginning of the "Viking Age of Invasion". Great but sporadic violence continued on England's northern and eastern shores, with raids continuing on a small scale across coastal England. While
5400-587: The 1890s, recognising their artistry, technological skills, and seamanship. The Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were mainly pagans from the same area as present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. They also settled in the Faroe Islands , Ireland, Iceland, peripheral Scotland ( Caithness , the Hebrides and the Northern Isles ), Greenland, and Canada. Their North Germanic language , Old Norse , became
5535-498: The 9th century, the first references to the Gallgáedil ( i.e. , "foreign Gaels") appear. This term was variously used in succeeding centuries to refer to individuals of mixed Scandinavian–Celtic descent and/or culture who became dominant in southwest Scotland, parts of northern England and the isles. According to the Orkneyinga Saga , in about 872 Harald Fairhair became king of a united Norway and many of his opponents fled to
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5670-510: The 9th century. In the Lindisfarne attack, monks were killed in the abbey, thrown into the sea to drown, or carried away as slaves along with the church treasures, giving rise to the traditional (but unattested) prayer— A furore Normannorum libera nos, Domine , "Free us from the fury of the Northmen, Lord." Three Viking ships had beached in Weymouth Bay four years earlier (although due to
5805-457: The Black (Raghnall's half-brother), who instead became overlord of Lewis. In 1228, Olaf battled Raghnall at Tynwald and the latter was slain. On 21 May 1237, Olaf died on St Patrick's Isle , and was succeeded by his three sons who all ruled the kingdom in turn: Harald (reigned 1237–1248), Ragnvald (1249), and Magnus (1252–1265). Magnus Olafsson was the last of the Norse kings to rule Mann, which
5940-624: The British Isles are recorded. "All the islands of Britain" were devastated in 794 with Iona being sacked in 802 and 806. Various named Viking leaders, who were probably based in Scotland, appear in the Irish annals: Soxulfr in 837 , Turges in 845 and Hákon in 847 . Another early reference to the Norse presence in the Irish records is that there was a king of "Viking Scotland" whose heir, Thórir , took an army to Ireland in 848. In
6075-514: The Clyde", the Brythonic name for Dumbarton Rock , which had become the metonym for their kingdom) was besieged by the Viking kings Amlaíb and Ímar . After four months, its water supply failed, and the fortress fell. The Vikings are recorded to have transported a vast prey of British, Pictish, and English captives back to Ireland. These prisoners may have included the ruling family of Alt Clut including
6210-799: The English kingdoms, being in turmoil, could not stand against the Vikings. In 867, Northumbria became the northern kingdom of the coalescing Danelaw , after its conquest by the Ragnarsson brothers, who installed an Englishman, Ecgberht , as a puppet king. By 870, the "Great Summer Army" arrived in England, led by a Viking leader called Bagsecg and his five earls . Aided by the Great Heathen Army (which had already overrun much of England from its base in Jorvik), Bagsecg's forces, and Halfdan's forces (through an alliance),
6345-544: The Great , won the throne of England in 1016 through conquest. When Cnut the Great died in 1035 he was a king of Denmark, England, Norway, and parts of Sweden. Harold Harefoot became king of England after Cnut's death, and Viking rule of England ceased. The Viking presence declined until 1066, when they lost their final battle with the English at Stamford Bridge . The death in the battle of King Harald Hardrada of Norway ended any hope of reviving Cnut's North Sea Empire , and it
6480-490: The Hebrides and Man. These areas were ruled over by local Jarls , originally captains of ships or hersirs . The Jarl of Orkney and Shetland, however, claimed supremacy. Kingdom of the Isles The Kingdom of the Isles , also known as Sodor was a Norse-Gaelic kingdom comprising the Isle of Man , the Hebrides and the islands of the Clyde from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The islands were known to
6615-555: The Hebrides and Mann and all rights that the Norwegian crown "had of old therein" were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland as a result of the 1266 Treaty of Perth . In Man, having overcome his usurper brother Ragnald who reigned for a brief time in 1164, Godred the Black resumed his kingship of Mann and the North Isles. On his death in 1187, the kingship passed to his eldest son, Raghnall mac Gofraidh , rather than his chosen successor, Olaf
6750-514: The Holy ), a fervent Christianiser who dealt harshly with those suspected of clinging to pagan cult, was killed. Although Óláfr's army lost the battle, Christianity continued to spread, and after his death he became one of the subjects of the three miracle stories given in the Manx Chronicle . In Sweden, the reign of king Olof Skötkonung ( c. 995–1020 ) is considered to be the transition from
6885-601: The Irish Sea and environs. Olave reigned for forty years, managing to maintain a degree of peace and stability throughout. Nevertheless, the era was not without incident. During his time Oitir Mac mic Oitir , one of the Hebridean nobles, took Dublin by force and held it for six years before his assassination in 1148. Oitir's son Thorfinn was described as the most powerful of the Hebridean lords in 1150. In 1152 Olave's nephews in Dublin rose against him and attacked Man, killing him in
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#17328521512887020-501: The Islamic world grew, so did its trade routes, and the wealth which moved along them was pushed further and further north. In Western Europe, proto-urban centres such as those with names ending in wich , the so-called -wich towns of Anglo-Saxon England , began to boom during the prosperous era known as the "Long Eighth Century". The Scandinavians, like many other Europeans, were drawn to these wealthier "urban" centres, which soon became frequent targets of Viking raids. The connection of
7155-492: The Isle of Man in 877 and they certainly held it by 900. In 902 the Vikings were expelled from Dublin for up to a dozen years, and a year later Ímar , the "grandson of Ímar " was killed in battle with the forces of Constantine II in mainland Scotland. However these events were setbacks for the Norse rather than a definitive moment. Internecine fighting is recorded in the Annals of Ulster of 914, which describe Ragnall ua Ímair 's defeat of Bárid mac Oitir in
7290-461: The Isle of Man, "many of the other islands of Denmark", Galloway, the Rhinns, and Anglesey. Olaf was an Uí Ímair dynast and it is difficult to reconcile his rule with that of the Norwegians who apparently came before and after him according to the sagas. There is also an obscure reference in The Prophecy of Berchán hinting that King Máel Coluim mac Cináeda of Scotland may have been active in Islay and Arran at about this time, emphasising
7425-416: The Isles", a title he retained for the rest of his life. Ketill is also sometimes equated with Caittil Find , a reported leader of the Gallgáedil fighting in Ireland in 857, although this connection is far from definite. Ketill left no successors and there is little record of the succeeding four decades. However, Woolf (2007) suggests that his appearance in the sagas "looks very much like
7560-491: The Isles. In the same source Amlaíb Conung is also recorded as having gone to the aid of his father Gofraidh , who was under assault from Vikings in Lochlainn in about 872. Gofraidh died in 873 and may have been succeeded briefly by Ímar who also died that year. Amlaíb probably died in 874. A lament for Áed mac Cináeda , a Pictish king who died in 878, suggests Kintyre may have been lost to his kingdom at that time. The Norse may have taken
7695-402: The Northern Isles, possibly owing to a more relaxed political regime. Latterly, the Hebrides sent eight representatives from Lewis, Harris and Skye and another eight from the southern Hebrides to the Tynwald parliament on Man. Colonsay and Oronsay have produced important pagan Norse burial grounds. An 11th-century cross slab decorated with Irish and Ringerike Viking art found on Islay
7830-405: The Norwegian king Harald III ( Haraldr Harðráði ), who was defeated by Saxon King Harold Godwinson in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge ; in Ireland, the capture of Dublin by Strongbow and his Hiberno-Norman forces in 1171; and 1263 in Scotland by the defeat of King Hákon Hákonarson at the Battle of Largs by troops loyal to Alexander III . Godwinson was subsequently defeated within
7965-399: The Oïl languages along with French, Picard and Walloon), and their Norman culture, into England in 1066. With the Norman Conquest , they became the ruling aristocracy of Anglo–Saxon England . The clinker -built longships used by the Scandinavians were uniquely suited to both deep and shallow waters. They extended the reach of Norse raiders, traders, and settlers along coastlines and along
8100-471: The Pictish aristocracy in battle. The sophisticated kingdom that had been built fell apart, as did the Pictish leadership, which had been stable for more than 100 years since the time of Óengus mac Fergusa (The accession of Cináed mac Ailpín as king of both Picts and Scots can be attributed to the aftermath of this event). In 870, the Britons of the Old North around the Firth of Clyde came under Viking attack as well. The fortress atop Alt Clut ("Rock of
8235-468: The Scandinavians to larger and richer trade networks lured the Vikings into Western Europe, and soon the rest of Europe and parts of the Middle East. In England, hoards of Viking silver, such as the Cuerdale Hoard and the Vale of York Hoard , offer insight into this phenomenon. Barrett rejects this model, arguing that the earliest recorded Viking raids were in Western Norway and northern Britain, which were not highly economically integrated areas. He proposes
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#17328521512888370-434: The Scottish seas and islands were completely relinquished after another 200 years. By the mid-9th century, the Norsemen had settled in Shetland, Orkney (the Nordreys- Norðreyjar ), the Hebrides and Isle of Man, (the Sudreys- Suðreyjar —this survives in the Diocese of Sodor and Man ) and parts of mainland Scotland. The Norse settlers were to some extent integrating with the local Gaelic population (see Norse-Gaels ) in
8505-469: The Sudreys lamented that Somerled's marriage to Ragnhildis "was the cause of the ruin of the whole kingdom of the Isles". Somerled's descendants eventually became known as the Lords of the Isles , with Dubgall giving rise to Clan MacDougall , and Raghnall to Clan Donald and Clan Macruari . Aonghas and his three sons were killed on Skye in 1210. In theory Somerled and his descendants' island territories were subject to Norway and his mainland ones to
8640-416: The Thames estuary. In 864, they reverted to Thanet for their winter encampment. The following year, the Great Heathen Army , led by brothers Ivar the Boneless , Halfdan and Ubba , and also by another Viking Guthrum , arrived in East Anglia. They proceeded to cross England into Northumbria and captured York, establishing a Viking community in Jorvik , where some settled as farmers and craftsmen. Most of
8775-407: The Viking Age to the Middle Ages, because he was the first Christian king of the Swedes, and he is associated with a growing influence of the church in what is today southwestern and central Sweden. Norse beliefs persisted until the 12th century; Olof was the last king in Scandinavia to adopt Christianity. The end of the Viking Age is traditionally marked in England by the failed invasion attempted by
8910-554: The Viking attacks may have been in response to the spread of Christianity among pagan peoples. Because of the penetration of Christianity in Scandinavia , serious conflict divided Norway for almost a century. The first of two main components to the political model is the external "pull" factor, which suggests that the weak political bodies of Britain and Western Europe made for an attractive target for Viking raiders. The reasons for these weaknesses vary, but generally can be simplified into decentralised polities, or religious sites. As
9045-551: The Viking frontier and take York. A new wave of Vikings appeared in England in 947, when Eric Bloodaxe captured York. In 1003, the Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard started a series of raids against England to avenge the St. Brice's Day massacre of England's Danish inhabitants, culminating in a full-scale invasion that led to Sweyn being crowned king of England in 1013. Sweyn was also king of Denmark and parts of Norway at this time. The throne of England passed to Edmund Ironside of Wessex after Sweyn's death in 1014. Sweyn's son, Cnut
9180-407: The Vikings off. However, after 830 CE , the Vikings had considerable success against England, the Carolingian Empire, and other parts of Western Europe. After 830, the Vikings exploited disunity within the Carolingian Empire, as well as pitting the English kingdoms against each other. The Kingdom of the Franks under Charlemagne was particularly devastated by these raiders, who could sail up
9315-444: The Vikings to sail farther and longer to begin with. Information about the Viking Age is drawn largely from primary sources written by those the Vikings encountered, as well as archaeology, supplemented with secondary sources such as the Icelandic Sagas . In England, the Viking attack of 8 June 793 that destroyed the abbey on Lindisfarne , a centre of learning on an island off the northeast coast of England in Northumberland ,
9450-401: The air, and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons flying across the firmament. These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island (Lindisfarne) , by rapine and slaughter. In 794, according to the Annals of Ulster ,
9585-610: The area began in the late 8th century, and whilst there is no doubt that the Uí Ímair dynasty played a prominent role in this early period, the records for the dates and details of the rulers are speculative until the mid-10th century. Hostility between the Kings of the Isles and the rulers of Ireland, and intervention by the crown of Norway (either directly or through their vassal the Earl of Orkney ) were recurring themes. The Laxdaela Saga contains mention of several persons who are said to have come to Iceland from Sodor, which appears to be these Suðreyjar , before or around
9720-674: The battles of Glenmama (999 CE ) and Clontarf (1014 CE ). After the battle of Clontarf, the Dublin Vikings could no longer "single-handedly threaten the power of the most powerful kings of Ireland". Brian's rise to power and conflict with the Vikings is chronicled in Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib ("The War of the Irish with the Foreigners"). While few records are known, the Vikings are thought to have led their first raids in Scotland on
9855-563: The beginning of this age was the result of some combination of the aforementioned hypotheses. The Viking colonisation of islands in the North Atlantic has in part been attributed to a period of favourable climate (the Medieval Climactic Optimum), as the weather was relatively stable and predictable, with calm seas. Sea ice was rare, harvests were typically strong, and fishing conditions were good. The earliest date given for
9990-509: The cause of the Viking invasions; the will to explore likely played a major role. At the time, England, Wales, and Ireland were vulnerable to attack, being divided into many different warring kingdoms in a state of internal disarray, while the Franks were well defended. Overpopulation, especially near the Scandes , was a possible reason, although some disagree with this theory. Technological advances like
10125-491: The chalk drawings on the walls have first been painted, then covered and then uncovered again. Around and under the church, there are traces of houses from Viking Age . This is not so strange, considering the church is located in the middle of the biggest grave field from Iron Age in Åland. A former Finnish government lands official claims a 17,800-square-meter (0.004 acre) plot on the island of Saltvik "had been handed over to Russia's Foreign Ministry in 2009, in accordance with
10260-442: The chiefs of the Isles to summon them to assemble and declare him king. In the meantime he and his followers spent the time in "plundering and revelling. They violated girls and matrons, and gave themselves up to every species of pleasure amid sensual gratification. When the news reached the chiefs of the Isles, who had already assembled to appoint him king, they were inflamed with great rage, hastened against him, and coming upon him in
10395-462: The city, which he accepted. Then, according to the Manx Chronicle , he inflicted a heavy defeat on his erstwhile Mac Lochlainn allies, following which he and his chieftains returned to the islands, leaving the city to the invading forces of Diarmait Mac Murchada . Godred's dictatorial style appears to have made him very unpopular with the Islesmen, and the ensuing conflicts were the beginning of
10530-450: The coast and overwintering in Ireland. The first were at Dublin and Linn Duachaill . Their attacks became bigger and reached further inland, striking larger monastic settlements such as Armagh , Clonmacnoise , Glendalough , Kells , and Kildare , and also plundering the ancient tombs of Brú na Bóinne . Viking chief Thorgest is said to have raided the whole midlands of Ireland until he
10665-422: The combined Viking forces raided much of England until 871, when they planned an invasion of Wessex. On 8 January 871, Bagsecg was killed at the Battle of Ashdown along with his earls. As a result, many of the Vikings returned to northern England, where Jorvic had become the centre of the Viking kingdom, but Alfred of Wessex managed to keep them out of his country. Alfred and his successors continued to drive back
10800-487: The coming of Vikings to England is 789 during the reign of King Beorhtric of Wessex . According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle three Norwegian boats from Hordaland (Old Norse: Hǫrðalandi ) landed at the Isle of Portland off the coast of Dorset. They apparently were mistaken for merchants by a royal official, Beaduhard, a king's reeve who attempted to force them to come to the king's manor, whereupon they killed
10935-414: The complete and permanent withdrawal of the Vikings from East Frisia . In the 10th and 11th centuries, Saxons and Slavs began to use trained mobile cavalry successfully against Viking foot soldiers, making it hard for Viking invaders to fight inland. In Scandinavia, the Viking Age is considered by some scholars to have ended with the establishment of royal authority and the establishment of Christianity as
11070-530: The dominant religion. Scholars have proposed different end dates for the Viking Age, but many argue it ended in the 11th century. The year 1000 is sometimes used, as that was the year in which Iceland converted to Christianity, marking the conversion of all of Scandinavia to Christianity. The death of Harthacnut, the Danish King of England, in 1042 has also been used as an end date. History does not often allow such clear-cut separation between arbitrary "ages", and it
11205-493: The end for Mann and the Isles as a coherent territory under the rule of a single magnate. The powerful barons of the isles began plotting with an emerging and forceful figure – Somerled , Lord of Argyll . Somerled's parental origins are obscure, but it is known that he had married Ragnhildis , daughter of Olave the Red and Godred's half-sister. It is possible that Somerled first found favour with Olave by helping him wrest control of
11340-502: The entire realm. The Hebrides had been difficult to control from a distance since the days of Ketill Flatnose, and even in the time of Magnus Barelegs it is likely that de facto control was that of local rulers rather than nominal governance from over the seas. Somerled took this to its ultimate conclusion, declaring himself an independent ruler of the isles from his power base in the southern Hebrides and Kintyre and he had, in effect, recreated Dalriada. There has been some debate about
11475-436: The formerly enemy peoples that comprised what would become present-day Scotland. Over the subsequent 300 years, this Viking upheaval and pressure led to the unification of the previously contending Gaelic, Pictish, British, and English kingdoms, first into the Kingdom of Alba , and finally into the greater Kingdom of Scotland . The Viking Age in Scotland came to an end after another 100 years. The last vestiges of Norse power in
11610-429: The general European population and settlement expansion at the end of the first millennium, he dismisses 'population pressure' as a realistic cause of the Viking Age. Bagge alludes to the evidence of demographic growth at the time, manifested in an increase of new settlements, but he declares that a warlike people do not require population pressure to resort to plundering abroad. He grants that although population increase
11745-473: The growth of wealthy towns and monasteries overseas and weak kingdoms. They may also have been pushed to leave their homeland by overpopulation, lack of good farmland, and political strife arising from the unification of Norway . The aggressive expansion of the Carolingian Empire and forced conversion of the neighbouring Saxons to Christianity may also have been a factor. Sailing innovations had allowed
11880-651: The holy island of Iona in 794, the year following the raid on the other holy island of Lindisfarne , Northumbria. In 839, a large Norse fleet invaded via the River Tay and River Earn , both of which were highly navigable, and reached into the heart of the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu . They defeated Eogán mac Óengusa , king of the Picts, his brother Bran, and the king of the Scots of Dál Riata , Áed mac Boanta , along with many members of
12015-401: The initial raiding groups were small, a great amount of planning is believed to have been involved. The Vikings raided during the winter of 840–841, rather than the usual summer, having waited on an island off Ireland. In 850, the Vikings overwintered for the first time in England, on the island of Thanet , Kent . In 854, a raiding party overwintered a second time, at the Isle of Sheppey in
12150-461: The island of Kerrera . Alexander became ill and died there, but the action was continued by his successor Alexander III . This strategy eventually led to an invasion by Haakon Haakonarson , King of Norway. After the stalemate of the Battle of Largs , Haakon retreated to Orkney, where he died in December 1263, entertained on his death bed by recitations of the sagas. Following this ill-fated expedition,
12285-461: The islands became part of the Kingdom of Scotland, following the 1266 Treaty of Perth . The principal islands under consideration are as follows: These islands, often referred to as the Sudreys, have a total land area of approximately 8,374 square kilometres (3,233 sq mi) of which: Anglesey in modern Wales may also have been part of the insular Viking world from an early stage. Orkney
12420-427: The islands north of Man, but growing Irish influence in these seas brought a rapid and decisive response from Norway. A high level of political instability is suggested by the battle fought on the Isle of Man at Santwat in 1098. This was internal strife between the men of the north of the island under Jarl Óttar , and the southerners led by a man named MacManus or Macmaras. Perhaps as a result of general disorder in
12555-555: The islands, and to counter Irish influence there, Magnus Barefoot had re-established direct Norwegian overlordship by 1098. He first took Orkney, the northern Scottish mainland and the Hebrides, where he "dyed his sword red in blood" in the Uists. According to the Heimskringla , Magnus had his longship dragged across the isthmus north of Kintyre in 1093 as part of his campaign. By taking command of his ship's tiller and "sailing" across
12690-460: The isthmus he was able to claim the entire peninsula was an island, and it remained under Norwegian rule for more than a dozen years as a result. In 1098, Edgar of Scotland signed a treaty with Magnus that settled much of the boundary between the Scots and Norwegian claims in the islands. Edgar formally acknowledged the existing situation by giving up his claims to the Hebrides and Kintyre. A second expedition in 1102 saw incursions into Ireland;
12825-481: The king Arthgal ap Dyfnwal , who was slain the following year under uncertain circumstances. The fall of Alt Clut marked a watershed in the history of the realm. Afterwards, the capital of the restructured kingdom was relocated about 12 miles (20 km) up the River Clyde to the vicinity of Govan and Partick (within present-day Glasgow ), and became known as the Kingdom of Strathclyde , which persisted as
12960-506: The king of Norway, with the Gaill of Orkney, the Hebrides and Dublin, to seize the kingdom of England, but God consented not to this". This monarch of Norway was Magnus Haraldsson , who may have used the death of Thorfinn as an excuse to exert direct rule of Orkney and the Hebrides. However, in the mid-11th century the Uí Ímair dynast Echmarcach mac Ragnaill is said to be the ruler of Mann. He
13095-426: The kings and dynasties that began to emerge. As a result, many of these chiefs sought refuge elsewhere, and began harrying the coasts of the British Isles and Western Europe. Anders Winroth argues that purposeful choices by warlords "propelled the Viking Age movement of people from Scandinavia." These models constitute much of what is known about the motivations for and the causes of the Viking Age. In all likelihood,
13230-488: The last of which took place in 1086. In 1152, Eystein II of Norway led a plundering raid down the east coast of Britain. In 795, small bands of Vikings began plundering monastic settlements along the coast of Gaelic Ireland . The Annals of Ulster state that in 821 the Vikings plundered Howth and "carried off a great number of women into captivity". From 840 the Vikings began building fortified encampments, longphorts , on
13365-625: The latter is recorded as having won "the battle of Man" in 987. Iona was sacked twice, in 986 and 987, Amlaíb Cuarán 's later piety notwithstanding. This battle of Man, recorded by the Annals of Ulster , is said to have been won by Gofraid and "the Danes" – possibly forces directly from Scandinavia under the command of Olaf Tryggvason . The Annals of Ulster record Gofraid's death in Dalriada in 989, describing him as "king of Innse Gall " although it
13500-602: The major river valleys of north-western Europe. Rurik also expanded to the east, and in 859 became ruler either by conquest or invitation by local people of the city of Novgorod (which means "new city") on the Volkhov River . His successors moved further, founding the early East Slavic state of Kievan Rus' with the capital in Kiev . This persisted until 1240, when the Mongols invaded Kievan Rus' . Other Norse people continued south to
13635-440: The medieval church and at the court place see the memorial monument. The church St:a Maria is located by Kvarnboviken in the east of Saltvik. The red granite church is one of the oldest in Åland, and was once the main church in the province. The church has been rebuilt and extended several times. The oldest parts are from the late 13th century, but various reconstructions have been made from the 14th century until today. For example,
13770-456: The mid-10th to the late 11th century were buried on Iona. This may mean that Iona and Mull lay either within or close to the emerging Kingdom of Scotland. Furthermore, two records in the Annals of Innisfallen hint that the Western Isles may not have been "organised into a kingdom or earldom" at this time but rather that they were "ruled by assemblies of freeholders who regularly elected lawmen to preside over their public affairs". At this point
13905-405: The middle of the 10th century. An invasion by Magnus Barefoot in the late 11th century resulted in a brief period of direct Norwegian rule over the kingdom, but soon the descendants of Godred Crovan re-asserted a further period of largely independent overlordship. This came to an end with the emergence of Somerled , on whose death in 1164 the kingdom was split in two. Just over a century later,
14040-605: The night, set fire to the house in which he was, and destroyed, partly by the sword and partly by the flames, Ingemund and all his followers." The next recorded king was Godred Crovan's son Olave Godredsson , also known as "the Red" to the Highlanders and " Bitling " to the Norwegians, the latter apparently on account of his small size. He had spent time at the court of Henry I of England , who may have encouraged his ambitions in an attempt to minimise Ui Briain dominance over
14175-449: The north and Ragnal's to the south. On Ragnal's death Sigurd re-asserted control, which he held until his death at the Battle of Clontarf after which the islands may have been held by Hákon Eiríksson . According to the Welsh text Historia Grufudd vab Kenan Olaf Sigtryggsson is recorded as having been king of a wide variety of places on his death in 1034. These included
14310-497: The north and that of the early Viking period. The similarities that do exist suggests the later pots may have been made by Norse who had settled in Ireland, or by Irish slaves. In the Firth of Clyde , Norse burials have been found on Arran, although not on Bute, and place-name evidence suggests a settlement pattern that was much less well-developed than in the Hebrides. There are numerous Manx Runestones and place names of Norse origin on
14445-520: The north, and they never managed to establish permanent settlements in that region. The Vikings were driven from Dublin in 902. They returned in 914, now led by the Uí Ímair (House of Ivar). During the next eight years the Vikings won decisive battles against the Irish, regained control of Dublin, and founded settlements at Waterford , Wexford , Cork , and Limerick , which became Ireland's first large towns. They were important trading hubs, and Viking Dublin
14580-470: The northern Hebrides from the Earls of Orkney, whose influence had once more spread into the Sudreys. Somerled's popularity led to his son with Ragnhildis , Dubgall , being heralded throughout the Isles (save Man itself) as a future King of the Isles by "Thorfinn, son of Ottar". When Godred heard of this he engaged Somerled's forces in the naval Battle of Epiphany in 1156. There was no clear victor, but it
14715-511: The people of East Anglia wherein they are described as "wolves among sheep". The first challenges to the many negative depictions of Vikings in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly works on the Viking Age reached only a small readership there, while linguists traced the Viking Age origins of rural idioms and proverbs. New dictionaries and grammars of the Old Icelandic language appeared, enabling more Victorian scholars to read
14850-399: The period under consideration. The archaeological record for this period is relatively scant, particularly in comparison to the numerous Neolithic and Iron Age finds in the area. Scholarly interpretations of the period "have led to widely divergent reconstructions of Viking Age Scotland" and Barrett (2008) has identified four competing theories, none of which he regards as proven. It
14985-561: The period. The Scandinavians of the Viking Age are often referred to as Vikings as well as Norsemen , although few of them were Vikings in the sense of being engaged in piracy. Voyaging by sea from their homelands in Denmark , Norway , and Sweden , the Norse people settled in the British Isles , Ireland , the Faroe Islands , Iceland , Greenland , Normandy , and the Baltic coast and along
15120-450: The pirates looked further and further beyond the borders of the Baltic , and eventually into all of Europe. Historian Anders Winroth has also challenged the "overpopulation" thesis, arguing that scholars are "simply repeating an ancient cliché that has no basis in fact." The economic model states that the Viking Age was the result of growing urbanism and trade throughout mainland Europe. As
15255-454: The potentially fluid nature of Scandinavian, Norse-Gael and Scots influence during this period. The next recorded ruler is Sigurd the Stout's son Thorfinn the Mighty , who took control circa 1035 until his own death some two decades later. The continuing close alliance of the Isles with Norway is suggested by a record from the Annals of Tigernach for the year 1058: "A fleet was led by the son of
15390-504: The precursor to present-day Scandinavian languages. By 801, a strong central authority appears to have been established in Jutland , and the Danes were beginning to look beyond their own territory for land, trade, and plunder. In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries. Communities remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in lowland Denmark. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway. The sea
15525-639: The primary texts of the Icelandic Sagas. In Scandinavia, the 17th-century Danish scholars Thomas Bartholin and Ole Worm and Swedish scholar Olaus Rudbeck were the first to use runic inscriptions and Icelandic Sagas as primary historical sources. During the Enlightenment and Nordic Renaissance, historians such as the Icelandic-Norwegian Thormodus Torfæus , Danish-Norwegian Ludvig Holberg , and Swedish Olof von Dalin developed
15660-457: The process. Olave's son Godred the Black succeeded him and had his father's killers executed. Shortly thereafter the warring Mac Lochlainn clan in Ireland along with "the fleet of Galloway, Arran, Kintyre, Man, and the territories of Scotland" are recorded fighting a naval battle off Inishowen against the Ui Briain dynasty. During his reign the citizens of Dublin offered Godred the rule of
15795-576: The reeve and his men. The beginning of the Viking Age in the British Isles is often set at 793. It was recorded in the Anglo–Saxon Chronicle that the Northmen raided the important island monastery of Lindisfarne (the generally accepted date is actually 8 June, not January ): A.D. 793. This year came dreadful fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through
15930-460: The source of legitimacy Somerled used. It has been suggested that claims of his descent from Gofraid mac Fergusa are "preserved in Gaelic tradition and accepted as broadly authentic by modern scholars". However, Woolf (2005) asserts that "contrary to the image, projected by recent clan-historians, of Clann Somhairle as Gaelic nationalists liberating the Isles from Scandinavians, it is quite explicit in our two extended narrative accounts from
16065-425: The southern isles were distributed amongst Somerled's sons as previously agreed: Dubgall received Mull, Coll , Tiree and Jura ; Islay and Kintyre went to Raghnall ; Bute to Aonghas , with Arran possibly divided between him and Reginald. Dugall and Raghnall at least were styled "Kings of the Isles". However, their descendants do not seem to have held this title and The Chronicle of Man and
16200-405: The succeeding rulers of Mann and the Isles, he also became King of Dublin, but no contemporary source refers either to him or any of his predecessors as "King of Mann and the Isles" as such. He was eventually ousted from Dublin by Muirchertach Ua Briain and fled to Islay, where he died in the plague of 1095. It is not clear the extent to which Ui Briain dominance was now asserted in
16335-435: The thirteenth century, Orkneyinga saga and The Chronicle of the Kings of Man and the Isles , that the early leaders of Clann Somhairle saw themselves as competitors for the kingship of the Isles on the basis of their descent through their mother Ragnhilt" and that their claim "to royal status was based on its position as a segment of Uí Ímair ". This prince of Argyll is one of the best known historical figures from
16470-475: The title of duke. In return, Rollo swore fealty to Charles, converted to Christianity, and undertook to defend the northern region of France against the incursions of other Viking groups. Several generations later, the Norman descendants of these Viking settlers not only identified themselves as Norman, but also carried the Norman language (either a French dialect or a Romance language which can be classified as one of
16605-491: The use of iron and a shortage of women due to selective female infanticide also likely had an impact. Tensions caused by Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia, and their subsequent attacks upon the Viking peoples, may have also played a role in Viking pillaging. Harald I of Norway ("Harald Fairhair") had united Norway around this time and displaced many peoples. As a result, these people sought for new bases to launch counter-raids against Harald. Debate among scholars
16740-456: Was "a patron of the arts, a benefactor of the church, and an economic innovator" who established Ireland's first mint , in Dublin. In 980 CE , Máel Sechnaill Mór defeated the Dublin Vikings and forced them into submission. Over the following thirty years, Brian Boru subdued the Viking territories and made himself High King of Ireland . The Dublin Vikings, together with Leinster , twice rebelled against him, but they were defeated in
16875-528: Was a factor in this expansion, it was not the incentive for such expeditions. According to Ferguson, the proliferation of the use of iron in Scandinavia at the time increased agricultural yields, allowing for demographic growth that strained the limited capacity of the land. As a result, many Scandinavians found themselves with no property and no status. To remedy this, these landless men took to piracy to obtain material wealth. The population continued to grow, and
17010-455: Was absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland on his death. As with written records, the archaeological evidence for this period is not extensive, and knowledge of the daily lives of the population is lacking. It is known that the Hebrides were taxed using the Ounceland system and evidence from Bornais suggests that settlers there may have been more prosperous than families of a similar status in
17145-619: Was also King of Dublin from 1036 to 1038 and from 1046 to 1052 as well as possibly being the King of the Rhinns in Galloway, suggesting that the overlordship of the Isle of Man and the Hebrides were once again sundered (although it is possible he ruled over part or all of the Hebrides as well). Murchad mac Diarmata from the Kingdom of Leinster is then recorded as having control of Mann and Dublin followed by his father Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó ,
17280-514: Was apparently appointed with Sigurd's consent. He successfully fought off a rebellion by his brother Harald and after reigning for seven years he abdicated "repenting that he had put out his brother's eyes" and went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem , where he died. Lagmann abdicated during his surviving son Olave's minority, and either by force or the invitation of the nobility of the Isles Domnall mac Taidc Ua Briain (Domnall MacTade O'Brien),
17415-634: Was besieged by Amlaíb Conung and Ímar , "the two kings of the Northmen", who "returned to Dublin from Britain" the following year with numerous captives. It is therefore likely that Scandinavian hegemony was already significant on the western coasts of Scotland by then. Amlaíb Conung is described as the "son of the king of Lochlainn " in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland and Ó Corráin (1998) argues that Lochlainn "is Viking Scotland and probably includes Man" at this time suggesting an early date for an organised Kingdom of
17550-531: Was found in 1838. Rubha an Dùnain , today an uninhabited peninsula to the south of the Cuillin hills on Skye, contains the small Loch na h-Airde , which is connected to the sea by a short artificial canal. This loch was an important site for maritime activity for many centuries, spanning the Viking and later periods of Scottish clan rule. There is a stone-built quay and a system to maintain constant water levels. Boat timbers discovered there have been dated to
17685-617: Was killed by Máel Sechnaill I in 845. In 853, Viking leader Amlaíb (Olaf) became the first king of Dublin . He ruled along with his brothers Ímar (possibly Ivar the Boneless ) and Auisle . Over the following decades, there was regular warfare between the Vikings and the Irish, and between two groups of Vikings: the Dubgaill and Finngaill (dark and fair foreigners). The Vikings also briefly allied with various Irish kings against their rivals. In 866, Áed Findliath burnt all Viking longphorts in
17820-401: Was subsequently agreed that Godred would remain the ruler of Man, the northern Inner Hebrides and the Outer Hebrides, whilst Somerled's young sons would nominally control the southern Inner Hebrides, Kintyre and the islands of the Clyde under their father's supervision. Two years later Somerled's invasion of the Isle of Man caused Godred to flee to Norway, leaving the former as undisputed ruler of
17955-464: Was the biggest slave port in western Europe. These Viking territories became part of the patchwork of kingdoms in Ireland. Vikings intermarried with the Irish and adopted elements of Irish culture, becoming the Norse-Gaels . Some Viking kings of Dublin also ruled the kingdom of the Isles and York ; such as Sitric Cáech , Gofraid ua Ímair , Olaf Guthfrithson , and Olaf Cuaran . Sigtrygg Silkbeard
18090-479: Was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. In the eighth century, Scandinavians began to build ships of war and send them on raiding expeditions which started the Viking Age. The North Sea rovers were traders, colonisers, explorers, and plunderers who were notorious in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and other places in Europe for being brutal. Many theories are posited for
18225-516: Was the first potato chip producer in Finland. Through acquisitions, new establishments and growth, the group has grown and is today the market leader within snacks in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The best-known brands are Taffel , OLW, KiMs and Oolannin. In 2005, the Norwegian industrial group Orkla ASA acquired all the shares in the Chips Group. [REDACTED] Media related to Saltvik at Wikimedia Commons This Åland location article
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