The
Viking Age is the period
A.D. 793–1066 in
European history, especially
Northern European and
Scandinavian history, following the
Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian
Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids and conquest. In this period, the
Norsemen settled in
Norse Greenland,
Newfoundland, and present-day
Faroe Islands,
Iceland,
Normandy,
Scotland,
England,
Ukraine,
Ireland,
Russia,
Germany, and
Anatolia. Though
Viking travellers and colonists were seen at many points in history as brutal raiders, many historical documents suggest that their invasion of other countries was retaliation in response to the encroachment upon tribal lands by
Christian missionaries, and perhaps by the
Saxon Wars prosecuted by Charlemagne and his kin to the south, or, were motivated by overpopulation, trade inequities, and the lack of viable farmland in their homeland. Information about the Viking Age is drawn largely from what was written about the Vikings by their enemies, and
primary sources of archaeology, supplied with
secondary sources like the Icelandic Sagas.