Despite the Vikings' clear love for warfare, their barbarism did not stand out in any way, considering the reality of that time. The colonization of the western islands of Scotland was probably peaceful – it consisted in moving around and settling in the vicinity of Vikings and Celts; although on the other hand it is known, that the Normans sacked the monasteries of Applecross and the lap.
The raids of militant sailors drew the attention of the rest of Europe to Scandinavia. Thanks to the great after the first attacks, an efficient fleet, the Vikings literally flooded Europe: they spread terror, grabili, they murdered, they were taken captive, they finally settled down, by assimilating or replacing local communities. They occupied many coastal regions of Britain, Ireland and France (Normandy in the north of this country in 911 r. founded Rollon, czyli Gange-Rolv, a chief from the west coast of Norway), they conquered Sicily, in Rus they allegedly laid the foundations for the country's statehood, Nor did Moorish Spain resist them (Seville was attacked in 844 r.) and the Middle East (they even reached Baghdad). Imperial Constantinople (now Istanbul) He had experienced their attack six times, but never succumbed. Eventually, the Vikings became mercenaries in the service of the Holy Roman Empire. Less is known about their presence in northern Norway, where they exploited the peaceful hunting and fishing populations.
Viking expeditions led to an increase in their standard of living. For Norway, it turned out to be beneficial, because there was more arable land left in the country to divide. They also influenced the emergence of a new class of merchants and gave the country slaves captured abroad, brought to work in the land. System wergeld, valid in Western Norway, specified compensation for murder. Under this system, a slave was twice as valuable as a peasant, and the latter, in turn, twice as small as the landowner. A landowner was valued at a quarter of the chief and one-eighth of the king.
W IX i X w. Norwegian farmers crossed the Atlantic and settled in the Faroe Islands, Islandii and Greenlandii. According to the Icelandic sagas of the year 1001 r. Leif (lub Leifur) Eiriksson, son of Eirikura Rauóe (Eric the Red), reached the coast of North America and explored it, calling Vinland, that is, "the land of wine”.
The decisive battle fought around. 900 r. nad Hafrsfjordem, near Stavanger, ended the period of the civil war. After the battle, until 20 thousands of people emigrated from Norway to Iceland, to escape the victorious King Harald Fairhaired (H&rfagre), synem Svarta-Halvdana jHalvdana Czarnego)! Harald began the process of consolidating the kingdom of Norway, so far consisting of several separate kingdoms, bound on the basis of a confederation. W 997 r. Nidaros was founded at the mouth of the river Nid (the later Trondheim), which soon became the first capital of the new kingdom.
The reign of Harald Fairhair was such an unusual and amusing period, that it was recorded for posterity in the work of Heimskringla, saga of Norwegian kings, written by the Icelandic Snorre Sturluson.
According to Sturluson, a woman contributed to the first reunification of Norway, who laughed at the king and refused to give herself to him, because his kingdom was no match for tiny Denmark. By the formation of a confederation and the conclusion of trade deals, the king was able to extend his rule as far as Trondheim in the north. His foreign policy was similarly skillful. The king sent one of his sons, Hakona, to England, to be brought up in the court of King Athelstan.
Harald, with ten wives, became the father of many children, which naturally led to contention over succession. The problem was solved by the youngest child, Eric, only son of Ragnhilda, daughters of the Danish king Eric of Jutland. Ruthless Erik rose to power after murdering all his legitimate brothers except Hiikon (who was safely in England), and then, together with a group of illegitimate brothers, he began to destroy the so hard-built Norwegian confederation. His reign went down in history as a period of thoughtlessness and shortsightedness. Hiikon finally returned from England as King HSkon den Gode (HSkon Good) and started putting the situation in order. Eryk was forced to flee to Britain, where he sat on the throne of York as King Eric the Bloody.
Battle of Stamford Bridge 1066 r., in which Harald Stogi (Hardr3da; tooth. below is a section on medieval Norway) he was killed by King Harold of England, it is considered the end of the Viking age. However, the position of the Vikings in other countries significantly weakened only in the 13th century., after the death of King H3ko-na IV after the Battle of Largs in Scotland in 1263 r. In year 1261 Greenland, a w 1262 r. Iceland voluntarily joined the kingdom of Norway. The dispute with Scotland was resolved in 1266 r., when the Western Isles and the Isle of Man were sold to the Scots. The period of the loss of Norwegian territories has begun.