What kind of appearance can you image if you heard a word Viking, a brutal berserker or a wise and great explorer?  If you think that Vikings are just brutal and blood thirsty in battle, then this essay will tell you the correct information about Vikings and their achievements between 700AD to 1000AD. Vikings affected lots of influence for the exploring and how they traveled. They also used their own language call Futhark, where Vikings invaded and how did the Vikings impact history.



Vikings traveled to other lands such as Britain in ships called Long ships. The Long ship was the warship of the Vikings and was able to travel relatively fast and cover a large distance. The Long ships would carry between 20 and 60 Viking warriors each with their own weapons and shield. They were well made, strong, lightweight and shaped to sail quickly through the water.  They were able to sail across very rough seas. They were also were specially designed to have a very shallow hull or bottom.  This allowed them to sail up right onto the beach or sail up shallow rivers and right into the centre of many of the villages they were invading. The ships were built of pine wood planks which overlapped.  A waterproof tar also made from pine trees was then used add an extra seal the wooden joints. Each Long ship had a single mast which held a large square sail.  The sails were made of woven wool and were brightly colored. On each side of the ship there were oars for rowing when there was no wind. In bad storms, the sail could be lowered and pulled over the ship like a tent to protect the warriors inside.


The Vikings carved a figure head at front of their ships into special shapes such as the head of a dragon. The ships had names such as Serpent of the Sea. In 1906, the Oseberg Long ship was discovered in Norway.  It is the best preserved Viking ship to be found by archaeologists. (How did Vikings traveled by sea? From Topic Pod)

There was an ancient alphabet call Rune Word in the past. Vikings used this Rune words to write and recorded history like the modern days. The Vikings believed that the god Odin gave them the runes as a gift so they were treated with great respect. They also believed that the runes were magical and could tell the future. The Vikings did not have paper or parchment like material. Their history and culture was passed down orally through stories and poems. Instead, Viking runes were carved with a knife or chisel into stone and wood. To make carving easier, the runes were made using only straight lines. Words were formed by separating groups of runes with a full stop. Runes were not normally used to write down stories or poems. They were used record ordinary everyday things such as marking belongings or keeping a record of what was sold by a trader. Viking warrior swords and spears were normally decorated with runes. The runes showed the owner of a weapon and also gave it magical power and strength in battle. Sometimes, the Vikings also drew pictures such as horses, snakes and Long ships on these rune stones together with the words.  These pictures would sometimes show a Viking story or Saga.  Much of what we know about the Vikings comes from archaeologists studying these rune stones. The Viking runic alphabet was called the Futhark. It was called the Futhark because the first six letters or Runes were: Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raido and Kenaz. (Topic Pod)


It is true that Vikings invaded few countries because they also have to live. Viking warriors are mostly farmers, lumber jacks and breeder. The Vikings attacked many countries along the North Sea and Atlantic Sea coasts of Europe including, the Netherlands, France and Spain.  They also sailed up the rivers of Germany to invade settlements along the rivers. In France, an area they invaded and later settled became known as Normandy. Normandy means land of the North men.  It was the Vikings of Normandy who later conquered England in 1066 and their leader William the Conqueror became king.