They rained terror and destruction on Christian lands across Europe as far as Spain and Constantinople, before turning their attention away from raiding towards permanent settlement and the founding of new societies, from Ukraine to Normandy to Greenland. There has never been an explosion of exploration and aggression quite like the Viking expansion of the early Middle Ages -- we discuss the motives behind the expansion, which are rooted in the religious mismatch between Scandinavia and mainland Europe, the technologies that made it possible, the prizes and targets at which they aimed, the victories and setbacks that they encountered, the imprints that they left behind, and the winds of change that ultimately brought an end to the Viking adventure.
Music: "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from the Peer Gynt suite, by Grieg, performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, published by Musopen
Image: The "Lindisfarne Stone," a gravestone from Lindisfarne Monastery, Holy Island, 9th Century
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