2. Where did the vikings come from?
• The Vikings came from three
countries of Scandinavia:
Denmark, Norway, Sweden
and most Vikings settlements
were northern Scotland and
eastern England.
• The name 'Viking' comes from
a language called 'Old Norse'
and means 'a pirate raid'.
3. What did Viking women and men do?
• The woman did spinning and
weaving to turn sheep wool into
cloth. They looked after the
children, made the family's clothes
and cooked the two meals a day
most families ate. Women baked
bread and women milked the cows
and made cheese.
• The Viking men were all-round
handymen, but some had special
skills. There were boat-builders,
for example and potters, leather-
workers and smiths. Most Viking
men knew how to handle a boat.
And most could fight if they had to,
to protect the family or to support
their chieftain.
4. Where did the Vikings live?
• About the year 800, bands of
fierce raiders began to attack
our coasts. They were the
Vikings. They came across the
North Sea, just as the Anglo-
Saxons had done 400 years
earlier. In time, like the Anglo-
Saxons, they made their home
here. They drove the Saxons
out of part of the country and
took it for themselves.
• King Alfred, Saxon king of
Wessex, fought them in a
great battle, but he could not
drive them right away and had
to let them have part of the
country, called Danelaw.
5. What was the vikings´ religion?
• They were pagan and believed
in Norse myths.
Their old stories told about
gods, goddesses, giants and
monsters.
In one story Thor the god of
thunder, tries to prove his
strength to Giant King.
Odin was the ruler of the gods,
and was god of magic,war and
poetry; His wife was motherly
Frigg, and they had a son was
Balder.
