Vikings
Vikings [CP].General term applied to Scandinavian communities from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway of the later 1st millennium ad who were great navigators, traders, and colonists. Widely regarded in the popular imagination as raiders well versed in rape and pillage, this seems to have been only part of the story. Their trading activities took them along the main river systems of eastern Europe to the Black Sea, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. In the 8th and 9th centuries they raided the rivers and coasts of western Europe, including the Isle of Man and Ireland. In 865 their raids on eastern England led to the conquest of much of the eastern part of the country with a capital and major trading port at York (Jorvik). In the 10th century they briefly colonized Greenland and portions of the North American coast.
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