Vikings

Expert articles about the real history behind the TV show 'Vikings'

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In the final week of the HistoryExtra Academy Vikings course, Professor Ryan Lavelle explores the ways in which Norse rulers established their own kingdoms, and offers his thoughts on the end of the Viking Age

Viking kingdoms, with Professor Ryan Lavelle . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HEXA Viking QUIZ WK4

Vikings quiz – week four . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HEXA Viking WK3 QUIZ

Vikings quiz – week three . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HEXA Viking Viking wk 3

Daily life, with Professor Ryan Lavelle . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HEXA Viking Quiz WK2

Vikings quiz – week two . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HEXA Viking Vod thumbnail WK2 play button

Trading and exploring, with Professor Ryan Lavelle . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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HEX Academy Vikings - week one video

Viking raiders, with Professor Ryan Lavelle . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Dr Ben Raffield explains how in the ninth and tenth centuries, Scandinavian laws and customs prevailed across a swathe of what’s now northern and eastern England. (Image by Getty Images)

The Danelaw: a Viking kingdom in England? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Alexander Ludwig as Bjorn Ironside, son Ragnar Lothbrok and king of Kattegat

Vikings Season 6: plot recap, plus 8 historical questions answered

Alex Hogh Andersen as Ivar the Boneless

The real Vikings: the early medieval world behind the hit drama

Monument to Prince Vladimir the Great in Moscow

Q&A Who were the Kievan Rus and what do they have to do with the Vikings?

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Illustration of the raid on the monastery at Lindisfarne

Slaves in the Viking Age: how prevalent were enslaved people in Viking societies? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Varangian Guard as depicted in the illuminated 12th-century manuscript known as the Madrid Skylitzes. These Viking warriors became the Byzantine emperors' personal bodyguard

What was the Varangian Guard? A brief history of the Viking warriors of the Byzantine empire

The front facade of the prehistoric chambered tomb of Wayland's Smithy

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #6: Viking military mind games, Anglo-Saxon mind maps, and embroidery before the Bayeux Tapestry

A Pictish stone carving featuring a salmon

Blog Medieval(ish) matters #3: the salmon of knowledge, rolling Roman mosaics, eels, and Crusades