Armies of the Vikings, AD 793–1066

History, Organization and Equipment

Gabriele Esposito

• Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781399008396
• eBook ISBN: 9781399008402
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: European Medieval History
• Index: History

An in-depth, illustrated look at the campaigns, tactics, and weapons of some of history's fiercest and most legendary warriors.
 
Viking warriors were feared by their contemporaries and their ferocious reputation has survived to the present day. This book covers the military history of the Vikings from their early raiding to the final failure of their expansionist ambitions directed against England.
 
In that period, Viking warbands and increasingly large armies had left their Scandinavian homelands to range across vast regions, including the whole of Northern Europe and beyond, even reaching North America. The British Isles were terrorized for two centuries and at times largely conquered. In Normandy, Russia, and elsewhere they also settled and founded states. As far afield as Constantinople, the Byzantine emperors employed them as their elite Varangian Guard.
 
Tough, skilled and resourceful, with a culture that embraced the pursuit of immortal fame and a heroic death in battle, their renown as warriors was second to none. In this book, Gabriele Esposito outlines the history of their campaigns and battles and examines in detail their strategy, tactics, weapons, armor, and clothing. In addition, dozens of color photographs of replica equipment in use bring this fascinating subject to life.

Chapter 1

The Origins of the Vikings

The terms ‘Vikings’ and ‘Varangians’ are commonly used to identify those Scandinavian raiders who operated across Europe during the period 800–1000; the first term is very popular in Western Europe, while the second is employed in Eastern Europe. It should be noted that all the Vikings belonged to the larger group of the Norsemen, a North Germanic ethno-linguistic group that spoke the Old Norse language and lived in the southern part of Scandinavia. Their homeland comprised present-day Denmark as well as the southern parts of Norway and Sweden. From a cultural point of view, the Norsemen had a lot in common with the South Germanic tribes who invaded the Roman Empire during the last centuries of Antiquity. Differently from the southern Germani, however, they had always had very little contact with the most advanced civilizations of Continental or Mediterranean Europe such as the Celts or the Romans. As a result, the material culture of the Norsemen was quite ‘primitive’ if judged through the eyes of a more civilized European from the Mediterranean area. In many respects, the Norsemen had remained at an earlier phase in the evolutive process that had transformed the Germani of the south into an advanced civilization.

Like the earlier South Germanic tribes, the Norsemen were skilled warriors and lived in small rural villages. They knew how to work metals in order to produce formidable weapons, but did not practice agriculture on a very large scale. Their lands were difficult to reach for foreign merchants, and the natural environment in which they lived was particularly harsh; their economy was thus very simple and they had no monetary system. During the long centuries of the Roman Empire, their only direct contact with the regions of Southern Europe was through the commerce of amber, a precious material that could be found only around the Baltic Sea. The Norsemen knew very little of the rest of the world, and were too few to represent a driving force in the new world that was emerging from the end of Antiquity.

Over time, however, the situation described above started to change very rapidly, and an increasing number of Norsemen began to leave their homeland in order to travel abroad in search of new lands to raid or to colonize. Those Norsemen who changed their usual lifestyle to become pirates and explorers started to be known as Vikings or Varangians. Consequently, we can say that all Vikings were Norsemen, but that only some Norsemen were Vikings. The expansion of the Norsemen across Northern Europe began during the very last decades of the eighth century, in an age that saw the ascendancy of the Frankish Empire in Continental Europe and the end of Arab expansionism across the Mediterranean. The causes that determined the emergence of the Vikings are many, and are still a matter of discussion among modern scholars, with each of them having some importance in creating a radical change in the traditional society of the Norsemen.

Western Viking with chainmail and spear. (Photo and copyright by Sjórvaldar Vikings)

Eastern Viking with fur cap and spear. (Photo and copyright by Jomsborg Vikings Hird)

Before the beginning of the so-called ‘Viking Age’, southern Scandinavia endured a great demographic expansion that was mostly caused by climatic changes. Indeed, until the middle of the eighth century, the climate of countries like Denmark or Norway was too cold to permit the existence of a large population since it significantly limited agricultural production. By 750, this situation had started to change, the climate becoming less cold and the population thus starting to expand thanks to an enlarged production of food supplies. In just a few decades, the demographic situation of Scandinavia changed dramatically, to the point that the region began experiencing all the problems related to over-population. The agricultural capacity of the land was not enough to keep up with the increasing population, and thus many Norsemen found themselves without means of sustainment. The number of individuals who had no land and no personal properties grew, especially once all the cultivable lands had been occupied. The sudden demographic boom produced a mass of landless men who were in search of material wealth in order to feed their families, or of new territories where to settle as farmers. These individuals had no choice but to leave their homeland in search of new opportunities, operating as pirates or crossing the seas as explorers. Unlike the southern Germanic communities, the Norsemen were skilled navigators and knew how to build the most effective ships of the Middle Ages. Consequently, travelling long distances across the oceans or following the course of rivers for thousands of miles was not a problem for them.

A demographic boom was undoubtedly the primary reason for Viking expansionism, but several other changes also took place in Scandinavia during the eighth century. First of all, iron became more common in the area due to the opening of new mines where this vital material could be extracted. The new and increasing amounts of iron were used to produce more effective weapons, as well as new agricultural tools that augmented the productivity of the Norse farmers. In addition, during those same years, the Norsemen improved their sea-faring capabilities by perfecting the design of their ships, with larger sails introduced together with new tacking practices. Thanks to these innovations and the fact that they learned how to sail at night by following the stars, the Norsemen could start planning ambitious raids and expeditions.

Western Viking equipped with spear and shield. (Photo and copyright by Jomsborg Vikings Hird)

Western Viking with hood and axe. (Photo and copyright by Jomsborg Vikings Hird)

When the Viking Age began, no central government existed in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Sweden and Norway: each tribal group had its supreme leader, and thus there was no political entity that could control Viking expansionism in a centralized way. All the Norsemen were still pagans, the Christian faith not yet being practised north of Charlemagne’s domains. When the Vikings started launching their first raids, their primary target in the west was the British Isles, since most of Continental Europe was under the firm military control of the Carolingians. The latter had a very strong military apparatus and a centralized administration that could effectively defend its territory. The military and political situation of Britain and Ireland, on the other hand, was completely different, being characterized by widespread fragmentation. England was populated by the Anglo-Saxons, who had crossed the English Channel some centuries before and had created their own small realms after crushing the resistance of the Romano-British communities. For several decades, until Alfred the Great unified the country in 886, England was divided into seven small kingdoms that were constantly at war against each other, and which were collectively known as the ‘Heptarchy’: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Wessex, Essex, Kent and Sussex. The Vikings were well aware that these kingdoms were very weak from a military point of view if attacked singly, and thus nurtured the ambition of one day conquering the whole territory of England. The island of England was a very rich land, full of natural resources and perfect for agriculture: by conquering it, the Scandinavians would have resolved all their problems related to over-population. To the west of Anglo-Saxon England there were the small Celtic realms of Wales, which had been able to stop the expansionism of the Saxons during the previous decades but which were too fragmented from a political point of view to represent a significant military entity. Around 780, there were five main princedoms in Wales: Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed, Gwent and Dumnonia. These were all inhabited by the direct heirs of the Romano-British communities who fought against the Saxons in England and had a distinctive culture. To the north of the Heptarchy there was Scotland, which had long been inhabited by a confederation of Celtic peoples who were known as Picts. The latter had fought lengthy wars with the Romans and had launched devastating raids across England. The leading group among the Picts was that of the Fortriu, which dominated over the other minor communities. There were, however, two smaller and independent kingdoms on the territory of present-day western Scotland that were not controlled by the Picts: the Kingdom of Dál Riata and the Kingdom of Strathclyde. The former was inhabited by Scoti coming from Ireland, while the latter was populated by Britons, who had a lot in common with the Celtic communities of Wales. Compared with the Anglo-Saxons of England, however, the Picts were less fragmented from a political point of view since they controlled most of Scotland. Ireland was inhabited by the Scoti or Gaels, another confederation of Celtic peoples who had a lot in common with the Picts. The original alliance existing between the Scoti and the Picts was gradually destroyed by internal rivalries, and the establishment of the Kingdom of Dál Riata in western Scotland led to several conflicts between the two communities. The Scoti of Ireland were extremely fragmented politically, since their clans were organized as independent princedoms and were constantly at war against each other. There were six small realms in Ireland by the beginning of the Viking raids: Munster, Leinster, Connacht, Airgialla, Uí Néill and Ulaid. Like the Anglo-Saxon states of the Heptarchy, these were frequently ravaged by civil wars, and every now and then one of them emerged as a ‘regional’ power.

Chapter 2

The Early Raids in England and the Great Heathen Army

The first Vikings appeared in England in 789, when three of their ships sailed to the Isle of Portland in Dorset. These few Scandinavians were mistaken for merchants by a local royal official, and thus were asked to pay a trading tax on the goods that they were transporting; offended by the request, the Scandinavians murdered the royal official and left the island without committing other crimes. It seems that this early episode of Viking violence in England was just the result of an ‘explorative mission’ that was carried out in view of future expeditions. The real starting point of the Viking raids against England, however, is marked by the famous attack that was launched against the Holy Island of Lindisfarne in 793. Lindisfarne, located off the coast of Northumbria, was one of the most important religious sites of Anglo-Saxon England: its monastery was extremely rich and its monastic community exerted a strong influence over north-eastern England. The Vikings knew full well that the island and monastery were full of treasures, and that Lindisfarne could be attacked very easily from the sea. The Scandinavians landed on the island without encountering opposition and took the local community by surprise. Being pagans, they showed no respect for the monks and killed all the people they encountered. The whole of Christian Europe was shocked by the events at Lindisfarne: a group of violent ‘pagan devils’ had razed to the ground a holy monastery after killing many monks and civilians to steal the treasures that were preserved in a peaceful religious site. The events of 793 had an enormous psychological impact over the inhabitants of Northumbria: a new deadly menace was appearing on the horizon for England, and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were not ready to face it.

In 794, a small Viking fleet attacked the rich monastery of Jarrow in Northumbria. This time the raiders encountered strong resistance and some of their leaders were killed during fighting; unexpectedly, they were forced to leave without capturing treasures or slaves. Following their defeat, the Scandinavian raiders had their ships beached at Tynemouth and were all massacred by the locals, who had been alerted by the attack on Jarrow. Unlike what had happened in 793, this second Viking expedition against an English monastery had been a total failure. The Scandinavians had attacked with a very limited number of men and had been beaten off by the strong resistance of the locals. They had also suffered from a lack of knowledge of the coastline along which they were operating, and had consequently been slaughtered after the failure of their assault. It was clear from these first two Viking attacks in England that the Scandinavian raiders of this early phase preferred to assault isolated religious sites where they could plunder and capture slaves without encountering any serious resistance. It was for these reasons that they conducted their expeditions with a very limited number of ships. Following the raid against Jarrow, the Vikings continued to attack English targets, but only infrequently. Monasteries and minster churches remained their favourite targets as they contained valuable objects that could be easily transported on their ships. They also started at this time to direct their incursions against Scotland and Ireland. They realized that to pillage England they needed to organize their incursions in a more effective way from a military and logistical point of view. In 840, the Scandinavians organized a new expedition against England, which had as its primary target the Kingdom of Wessex. This time the raiders assembled a large army that was made up of several different war bands and which was transported on thirty-five ships. The Vikings had learned from past experience that small expeditions involving just a few ships could achieve only very limited results and invest isolated sites only for a short time. Aethelwulf, the king of Wessex, moved against the Vikings at the head of his army but was defeated after three days of bloody fighting at the Battle of Carhampton in Somerset. This was the first major pitched clash fought in England between Scandinavians and Saxons and was the first important victory obtained by the Vikings outside their homeland.

Western Viking archer. (Photo and copyright by Jomsborg Viki...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Origins of the Vikings
• Chapter 2 The Early Raids in England and the Great Heathen Army
• Chapter 3 The Ascendancy and Fall of the Danelaw
• Chapter 4 The Viking Invasions of England
• Chapter 5 The Conquests of Cnut the Great
• Chapter 6 Harald Hardrada and the Battle of Stamford Bridge
• Chapter 7 The Vikings in Wales and Scotland
• Chapter 8 The Vikings in Ireland and the Battle of Clontarf
• Chapter 9 The Kingdom of the Isles
• Chapter 10 The Vikings in France and the Siege of Paris
• Chapter 11 The Viking Colonization of the Northern Atlantic
• Chapter 12 The Varangians and Kievan Rus’
• Chapter 13 The End of the Viking Age
• Chapter 14 Viking Military Organization
• Chapter 15 Viking Military Equipment and Tactics
• Bibliography
• The Re-enactors who Contributed to this Book