100 Facts Vikings – Bitesized Facts & Awesome Images to Support KS2 Learning

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A 10th-century grave of a warrior-woman in Denmark was long thought to belong to a Viking. However, new analyses suggest that the woman may have been a Slav from present-day Poland. [80] The first king of the Swedes, Eric, was married to Gunhild, of the Polish House of Piast. [84] Likewise, his son, Olof, fell in love with Edla, a Slavic woman, and took her as his frilla (concubine). [85] They had a son and a daughter: Emund the Old, King of Sweden, and Astrid, Queen of Norway. Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, England and Norway, was the son of a daughter of Mieszko I of Poland, [86] possibly the former Polish queen of Sweden, wife of Eric. Watch Horrible Histories songs about the Vikings, the Vikings & Garkunkel Song and The Vikings - Literally Did you know? The name Viking came from the Scandinavians themselves, from the Old Norse word "vik" (bay or creek) which formed the root of "vikingr" (pirate). Conquests in the British Isles Vikings navigated using bearing dials; astronomy; lodestones, sunstones and by releasing captured birds when they thought they were near land. At mealtimes, tables and stools were setup. Many would eat on their laps though. Knives and natural forks were used – fingers!

Vikings is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), [2] [3] [4] [5] who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe. [6] [7] [8] They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, Greenland, and Vinland (present-day Newfoundland in Canada, North America). In their countries of origin, and some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age, and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on the early medieval history of Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Estonia, and Kievan Rus'. [9] The runestones are unevenly distributed in Scandinavia: Denmark has 250 runestones, Norway has 50 while Iceland has none. [136] Sweden has as many as between 1,700 [136] and 2,500 [137] depending on the definition. The Swedish district of Uppland has the highest concentration with as many as 1,196 inscriptions in stone, whereas Södermanland is second with 391. [138] [139] Also, did you know that his glasses had no lenses? This was to stop the reflection from anything happening behind the scenes. The glass lens was added in post-production.In 2006, a Coca-Cola employee offered to sell Coca-Cola secrets to Pepsi. Pepsi responded by notifying Coca-Cola.

The Lego Group is the world’s most powerful brand. There are more Lego Minifigures than there are people on Earth. The majority of runic inscriptions from the Viking period are found in Sweden. Many runestones in Scandinavia record the names of participants in Viking expeditions, such as the Kjula runestone that tells of extensive warfare in Western Europe and the Turinge Runestone, which tells of a war band in Eastern Europe. One of the primary sources of profit for the Vikings had been slave-taking from other European peoples. The medieval Church held that Christians should not own fellow Christians as slaves, so chattel slavery diminished as a practice throughout northern Europe. This took much of the economic incentive out of raiding, though sporadic slaving activity continued into the 11th century. Scandinavian predation in Christian lands around the North and Irish Seas diminished markedly.Vikings took scary figureheads off their longship prows when sailing in friendly waters so as not to offend the gods. The Vikings believed in many different gods, and they thought making sacrifices to the gods kept them all happy. They also told stories about the gods, called Norse mythology. Some of the gods included: They travelled as far as Turkey. Norsemen made up a lot of the Byzantine Empire's Varangian Guard in modern-day Turkey. It is believed that Harald Hardrada rose through the ranks to becomethe commander of the Guard in Constantinople. He would eventually return to become the King of Norway.

The scholarly consensus [50] is that the Rus' people originated in what is currently coastal eastern Sweden around the eighth century and that their name has the same origin as Roslagen in Sweden (with the older name being Roden). [51] [52] [53] According to the prevalent theory, the name Rus ', like the Proto-Finnic name for Sweden ( *Ruotsi), is derived from an Old Norse term for "the men who row" ( rods-) as rowing was the main method of navigating the rivers of Eastern Europe, and that it could be linked to the Swedish coastal area of Roslagen ( Rus-law) or Roden, as it was known in earlier times. [54] [55] The name Rus ' would then have the same origin as the Finnish and Estonian names for Sweden: Ruotsi and Rootsi. [55] [56] The accounts of enemies. The Vikings wrote down almost nothing about their own adventures. Aside from the sagas, the rest of our knowledge is made up of accounts written down by people in lands that were conquered. Jorvik was a large Viking kingdom around York. The last king of Jorvik was Eric Bloodaxe, who was driven out in 954. The Vikings in England then agreed to be ruled by the king of England rather than having their own king. Wrestling was popular, for recreation, for more serious sport (which could turn nasty!) and sometimes to settle disputes.

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Astronaut is a compound word derived from the two Ancient Greek words “Astro,” meaning “star,” and “naut” meaning “sailor.” So astronaut literally means “star sailor.” The famous 12th Century Lewis Chessmen are carved from Walrus Ivory to look like Vikings but we can’t be certain that Vikings played Chess. Hnefatafl is a similarly strategic game they enjoyed though.

Make your own Viking shield, Viking longboat and Viking helmet with step-by-step instructions and videos from Hobbycraft

The human eye is so sensitive that if the Earth were flat and it was a dark night, a candle’s flame could be seen from 30 miles away. There were three main festivals: Vetrarblot in mid October; Jolablot or Midsvetrarblot in mid January and Sigrblot in April.