Viking life and culture

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. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A virtuous Viking: the medieval legend of Havelok the Dane. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&AWere the pagan English gods the same as the Viking gods?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Viking treasures and Hitler's 'perfect woman'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dwarves in the Holocaust and the Vikings' cultural legacy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A runestone depicting two warriors fighting and the journey of the Vikings to Valhalla, the hall of slain. (DEA/G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

The Vikings at home. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Viking sagas and royal pageants. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Image of the Lindisfarne Stone from Holy Island, Northumbria. It shows seven warriors, possibly vikings. The Vikings’ first recorded raid on Lindisfarne took place in AD 793. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Why did the Vikings' violent raids begin?