Viking life and culture

Viking sailors make the long voyage across the Atlantic between Europe and America, in order to bring back timber, circa 1350. The Vikings are thought to have discovered America in around 1000 AD, but never attempted full colonization of the new land, due to the hostile natives. Painting by NC Wyeth. (Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

8 Viking myths busted

Coins depicting Viking longships, probably minted at Hedeby, Denmark, dating from the early 9th century. The Viking era began in the ninth century and ended in 1066, when the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada was defeated at the battle of Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

A brief history of the Vikings

Viking ships arriving in Britain, c1130. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty

8 key Viking dates you need to know

Vikings on screen

Vikings on screen

Lagertha, portrayed by Katheryn Winnick, in season 4 of Vikings. (Credit: Jonathan Hession/History)

‘Vikings’ creator Michael Hirst on the real history behind the hit drama

Detail of a Viking helmet from grave one at Vendel, Uppland, Sweden. In the 860s and 870s, the Vikings would bring war to England’s four kingdoms on a massive scale. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The great Viking terror: how Norse warriors conquered the Anglo-Saxons

Want to read more?

King-Cnut-3-8de86f8

8 Vikings you should know about

A detail of the decorative carving on the side of the Oseberg cart c850 AD. A woman with streaming hair apparently restrains a man’s sword arm as he strikes at a horseman accompanied by a dog. Below is a frieze of intertwined serpentine beasts. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Viking women: raiders, traders and settlers

A reconstruction of a Viking church

Vikings in America

Want to read more?

Havelok-2-9e2fef2

A virtuous Viking: the medieval legend of Havelok the Dane

A14AYD-a38992f

Top 10 Viking stories

A view of Þingvellir National Park in western Iceland. It was here, in AD 930, that Viking settlers established the first pan-Icelandic assembly – possibly the oldest parliamentary body in the world. (© Dreamstime)

Vikings: A land without kings

Want to read more?

The Oseberg ship at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway. (Photo by: Carl Simon/United Archives/UIG via Getty Images)

How the Vikings ruled the waves

Want to read more?

Second World War

Viking treasures and Hitler’s ‘perfect woman’