4. viking settlers

Question 1

where do archaeologists believe that the vikings settled in scotland?

Answer 1

-the shetlands and orkneys, around 800
-the far north east coast of the scottish mainland, before 825
-the west coast and the hebrides islands, by 825
-the Isle of Man, by 850

Question 2

how do we know that vikings in scotland still followed their
own pagan beliefs?

Answer 2

in 2011, a viking boat-burial was excavated at the most westerly point of the scottish mainland
-dated to the early tenth century

Question 3

when did the vikings covert to christianity

Answer 3

-by 1000

Question 4

buildings in scotland (+ evidence)

Answer 4

-most remains of viking settlements are on sites that were previously inhabited by picts
-these sites are all beside the sea as ships provided links to other islands and back to norway
-they also had fresh water and good land that supported farming

EVIDENCE:
the largest set of viking farmhouses anywhere in britain has been found at jarlshof on shetland
-finds in viking rubbish pits, reveal that they continued to trade widely, ate a lot of fish and also farmed the land, keeping animals and growing crops

Question 5

what do archaeologists believe that the vikings did to the picts?

Answer 5

they don’t know if they completely wiped out the picts and took their lands or whether they simply settled and lived alongside them

Question 6

how did the vikings dominate the shetlands and orkneys?

Answer 6

-vikings brought their wives and families from norway
-people in these islands spoke their own language, norn, which was similar to norwegian
-all the place names on these islands are of norse origin

Question 7

how long did the dane’s hold the danelaw?

Answer 7

from 878 - 927 (less than 50 years)

Question 8

what were the ‘things’ that danes introduced?

Answer 8

scandinavian assemblies with trial by a jury of twelve citizens

Question 9

who was the danelaw divided amongst?

Answer 9

-different danish jarls who each ruled a large region
-they were based in burhs (fortified towns) and their armies were the main decision-making bodies

Question 10

how did danes improve burhs?

Answer 10

they improved their defences and their trading links

Question 11

where did most viking immigrants live?

Answer 11

their defences and their trading links

Question 12

why do some people think that danish lords allowed the peasant farmers greater freedom than they would have had in the rest of england?

Answer 12

when william the conqueror carried out his domesday survey of 1086, there was a far higher proportion of freemen in the danelaw region than in other parts of england

Question 13

scandinavian effect on language

Answer 13

-distinctive scandinavian patterns often appear at the ends of place names
-by = village
-thorpe = new village

(shows how scandinavian terms were adopted by anglo-saxons)

Question 14

genetic research of DNA in the danelaw

Answer 14

genetic research into the DNA of people living in what was the danelaw has found a high correlation with scandinavian origins

Question 15

grave markers (evidence of danes in the danelaw)

Answer 15

-there are over 100 stones in britain, all in places where Vikings settled
-vikings in Scandinavia had no tradition of making sculptured tombstones so they were obviously trying to adapt to what was an established anglo-saxon custom
-the sides feature typical Viking-style carving

Question 16

hoards (evidence of danes in the danelaw)

Answer 16

-hoards of viking silver are still found in england
-they often contain the coins that guthrum started to mint

Question 17

simple brooches (evidence of danes in the danelaw)

Answer 17

-simple brooches in the viking style, are applied sign of the vikings
-hundreds of these brooches have been found in the ground all over the danelaw region
-very few are found in the anglo-saxon parts of england

Question 18

cuerdale hoard

Answer 18

-largest collection of viking silver ever found in western europe
-over 8,000 silver items

Question 19

evidence of viking houses in dublin

Answer 19

-archaeological excavations in modern dublin have found well-preserved remains of rectangular, thatched viking houses

Question 20

the absence of Viking ______ ________ suggests that few Vikings ever moved into the interior of Ireland.

Answer 20

place names

Question 21

viking intervention into ireland

Answer 21

-gradually, the vikings became part of irish life
-they converted to christianity, intermarried and became gaelic-speakers
-the vikings were said to have been m defeated and expelled from ireland at the battle of clontarf in 1014

Question 22

what happened when charles the simple defeated a viking king called rollo in battle (911)?

Answer 22

-he offered rollo lands in northern france
-in return for this land, rollo promised to become christian, to be loyal to charles and to guard the seine against any further viking raids
-rollo and his successors expanded normandy westwards
-the area quickly became known as normandy, the land of northmen

Question 23

DNA testing in people in normandy in 2016

Answer 23

-they found far less evidence of viking ancestry than is the case in the scottish islands or even the east of britain
-it seems that fewer vikings settled in normandy than in the english danelaw.

Question 24

from vikings to normans

Answer 24

-vikings in normandy married into local families and became french-speakers, leaving far less impact on the language or place names than was the case in britain
-they became deeply committed to christianity and by 1050 the church in normandy was particularly strong -vikings adopted the french form of warfare that relied heavily on knights
-trade with scandinavia declined as the viking settlers in normandy developed links with england and the rest of western europe

Question 25

when did the great heathen army capture the city of york?

Answer 25

866, they called it jorvik

Question 26

what changes did the viking make to york?

Answer 26

-the vikings added new streets
-most of these new streets were close to the banks of the river ouse, which was deep enough to allow sea-going ships to sail through the marshes and into jorvik
-this was a port that linked the northern half of danelaw with the wider world

Question 27

what does a viking saga describe jorvik as?

Answer 27

dark and dank

Question 28

what tells us what happened at different parts of york?

Answer 28

-modern street names that date back to the viking age
(eg: skeldergate - shield-maker street, hungate - hounds street, swinegate - pig street)

Question 29

the coppergate dig

Answer 29

-archaeologists have carried out digs at a number of sites across york
-the largest was at a street named coppergate
-an old sweet-making factory was demolished, before a new shopping centre was built on the site, archaeologists excavated an area of about 1,000 square metres
-the unusually wet earth had preserved over 20,000 obiects and structures that gave insight on the lives of the people who had lived in jorvik from 866-1050

Question 30

discoveries from skeletons from the viking period in a nearby church cemetery to the coppergate dig

Answer 30

-few people lived for more than 60 years
-a quarter of all people died in childhood
-half of all women died by the age of 35

(the fact that these bodies were buried in a churchyard strongly suggests that the vikings converted to christianity soon after moving to england)
(several of the churches that still stand in modern york were first built in viking times)

Question 31

what does coppergate mean?

Answer 31

‘cup-maker street’

Question 32

layout of houses on coppergate street

Answer 32

-tightly packed and windowless, -timber-built
-uniform size: 7 metres long by 4.5 metres wide
-some had a little yard outside with a latrine, and some later ones had low cellars for storage
-woven wattles were used to make walls
pathwavs and screens.

Question 33

finds on coppergate street

Answer 33

-wooden cups, plates and bowls
-the cups were for drinking beer
-these and all the other evidence found in coppergate suggest that it had been a street of craftspeople of many kinds, making things from wood, metal, leather, bone and other materials

Question 34

scandinavian integration in coppergate

Answer 34

-while scandinavian styles did affect the shapes of objects, very little evidence was found at coppergate to suggest that Jorvik was an exclusively viking town
-it seems likely that the viking settlers lived in a very similar way to the anglo-saxons around them
-two groups probably intermarried from an early stage and lived alongside each other throughout
the town

Question 35

trading from jorvik

Answer 35

reindeer antler:
-brought from the arctic
-cut and shaped by specialist antler- and bone-carvers in coppergate.
-hundreds of combs were found (evidence)

walrus ivory:
-from the arctic regions
-expensive luxury so
-used for six sides die (evidence)

special stones:
-imported from scandinavia and germany to make high quality querns, which were used for grinding grain

metals:
-worked in coppergate to produce tools, ornaments and even padlocks
-gold and silver from europe/ireland, -tin from cornwall

silk:
-from arabia
-silk cap itself has survived, found with offcuts of silk in a coppergate workshop

Question 36

kings in jorvik

Answer 36

866-927:
-eleven viking/viking-controlled rulers, many of whom had close links with dublin

927-39:
-the town was brought back under anglo-saxon control b my the king of eessex, who expelled the vikings from most of england

939:
-king of dublin, regained jorvik

954:
-eric bloodaxe was driven out of jorvik
-the town became part of the kingdom of england

after 954
-jorvik became york and was ruled by an earl who was always appointed by the english king
-some earls had scandinavian origins

Question 37

appearance of coins minted at jorvik

Answer 37

-there was a very productive mint at jorvik that produced thousands of the coins that were found in the cuerdale hoard
-most of the coins follow the english pattern on at least one side and include a christian cross
-the other side often shows viking emblems such as a sword or the hammer of the god thor

(historians say that this shows that the vikings were not deeply converted to christianity and that they lived and ruled as pagans)

Question 38

why do some people think that the vikings were attracted to the islands if the north atlantic?

Answer 38

1. they had plenty of good grazing land which belonged to no one
2. the sagas say that that the norwegian jarls who led these expeditions resented the growing power of harold fairhair, the first ever king of all norway & headed off to live the independent lives they loved
   -the dates don’t quite fit that story: harold fairhair ruled from about 872 & the first vikings settled in iceland from about 870.

Question 39

gardar the swede & iceland

Answer 39

he was blown off course on a voyage from scotland to the faroes in about 860.

Question 40

floki & iceland

Answer 40

-floki set out to explore the island
-he was caught by bad weather and was forced to spend a freezing winter there
-he and his crew nearly died, but were astonished to see miles of fresh green pasture when spring cam
-they were probably also impressed by the walrus along the coastline
-ivory from walrus tusks would fetch a high price in europe

Question 41

when did settlers begin to arrive on iceland?

Answer 41

-870
-first permanent settlement was made in 874

Question 42

when were people prepared to go to iceland permanently?

Answer 42

-when they knew that their food could last
-it is likely that advance groups took boat-loads of animals to iceland & left them there to see if they could survive the winter

Question 43

houses in iceland

Answer 43

-walls of stone
-turf roof
-timber was so precious that it was used only for the doors and roof supports

Question 44

why was timber precious on iceland?

Answer 44

-it is possible that iceland was wooded when the settlers arrived but once they had cut those trees down no more grew
-from then on, timber had to be imported from norway or gathered from the beaches where it had been washed up as driftwood

Question 45

where were most iceland settlements?

Answer 45

near the coast, away from the barren mountains of the interior

Question 46

what did icelandic society consist of?

Answer 46

free farmers, about 40 chieftains and no kings.

Question 47

althings

Answer 47

-930 was first meeting
-all free men could attend
-only free men could vote in the actual proceedings of the althing
-land disputes were settled and major decisions were taken

Question 48

the althing of 1000

Answer 48

-debate was held over whether or not to adopt christianity
-the althing left it to the law-speaker to decide and, although a pagan himself, he decided that iceland should become christian

Question 49

what provided basic living in
Iceland?

Answer 49

grazing stock, fishing, hunting

Question 50

where was the best grazing land in iceland?

Answer 50

beside the coast

Question 51

how was greenland discovered & why was it called greenland?

Answer 51

-erik the red (criminal) was banished from iceland for three years
-he heard of a land to the west and he set out to investigate
-reached a new land but its eastern shores were uninhabitable
-he sailed on, and found that the western coast was like norway

erik called his discovery greenland, hoping this promising name would attract settlers

Question 52

first settlement trip to iceland

Answer 52

-in 986, erik set off from iceland to settle there with 25 ships filled with people and their livestock
-fourteen ships made it
-two settlements were established on the west coast

Question 53

what did greenlanders eat?

Answer 53

-they grew crops
-they kept cattle, sheep and goats
-they caught fish, seals and whales from the
-they hunted bear, deer and birds on land

Question 54

what did greenland trade?

Answer 54

-they had to import most of their timber and grain and all their metal
-barely any old iron is found in middens on greenland (too precious to throw away even a nail)
-traders from iceland and europe brought these things to Greenland in exchange for furs, falcons, seal and walrus hide for rope, whale baleen and, walrus tusk ivory (so many remnants of bone combs have been found that some archaeologists believe that the greenlanders mass-produced these and sold them for use in europe)

Question 55

what did vikings think of the inuits?

Answer 55

they thought that they were barbarians, as they called them ‘skaelding’ meaning barbarian

Question 56

links between inuits & viking settlers in greenland

Answer 56

-precious viking objects have been found by archaeologists at inuit settlements in northern canada but no one knows if this is proof of trade or whether the inuit gathered them from abandoned viking houses once the vikings had left greenland

Question 57

when did the vikings leave greenland?

Answer 57

sometime in the fifteenth century, after the climate began to get colder and the vikings in greenland found life increasingly difficult

Question 58

how did leif eriksson discover north america?

Answer 58

-according to the sagas, in about 1000, a viking ship was blown off course and briefly sighted land even further west than greenland
-when reported to leif eriksson (son of erik the red) he bought the ship that had made the voyage, hired some of its crew, and sailed from greenland
-leif first saw a bare land of rock and glaciers, then a low coast
-after sailing further south he wintered somewhere with a mild climate

Question 59

why did leif name north america vinland?

Answer 59

-leif claimed that the climate there was so mild that he saw grapes growing and he called the region vinland
-historians think he may have used the name to flatter the newly discovered land, just as his father erik had done with greenland

Question 60

l’anse aux meadows,

Answer 60

in 1960, at the extreme north of newfoundland, archaeologists found signs of a viking settlement:
-foundations of a house and seven other buildings and 125 artefacts
-most of these were iron nails but there was also a viking dress pin, a glass bead and some bone needles
-strong signs of ship-repairing and metalworking in a shelter that has been reconstructed
-may have been a repairs base for viking ships sailing even further south

Question 61

point rosée

Answer 61

-in 2016, archaeologists discovered what may be another viking site at the far south west of newfoundland
-found the remains of turf walls made in a typically viking style
-found a blackened rock where a charcoal fire had obviously been used for heating bog iron (exactly how vikings prepared iron to make tools, weapons and nails)
-the site may provide more evidence that they travelled further west and reached the mainland of north america.