Gone Medieval What Caused the Viking Age?
Jan 27, 2026
C.J. Adrien, historian and co-host of Vikingology, and Terri Barnes, historian and author, discuss why Scandinavians took to the seas. They probe ship technology, regional and political variation, trade and silver, marriage pressures and social prestige. They sketch climate, migration and economic motives as overlapping drivers that reshaped medieval Europe.
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Keel And Sail Changed Mobility
- The mid-8th-century naval innovation (keel and large sail) transformed Scandinavian mobility and opened long-distance raiding.
- C.J. Adrien argues the keel-and-sail breakthrough enabled voyages that became the Viking hallmark.
Lindisfarne Visit Illustrates Targeting
- Terri Barnes recounts visiting Lindisfarne and discovering the island's causeway limited access.
- She uses the experience to illustrate how early targets like Holy Island and Noirmoutier were deliberate, not random.
Raiding Preceded The Viking Label
- Raiding by sea predates the 8th century and Scandinavians participated in earlier maritime predation.
- Terri Barnes highlights continuity: boat-borne theft is an age-old human activity, not a sudden Viking invention.
