Course Learning

• The Vikings were great explorers and travellers. Viking ships reached Britain, France, Spain, Italy and North Africa.
• Traders made long journeys overland through Russia, reaching as far south as Constantinople in modern-day Turkey.
• Some merchants traveled further east to Baghdad in Iraq.
• A few daring explorers made voyages to Iceland and beyond, travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to North America.
• Explorer Leif Erikson traveled to Newfoundland in modern-day Canada. Eric the Red traveled to Greenland.

The Vikings traded all over Europe and as far east as Central Asia.

They bought goods and materials such as silver, silk, spices, wine, jewellery, glass and pottery.

In return, they sold items like honey, tin, wheat, wool, wood, iron, fur, leather, fish and walrus ivory.

Everywhere they went, the Vikings bought and sold enslaved people too.

Viking traders carried a set of folding scales which they used to weigh coins to make sure they got a fair deal.

The Vikings did not use maps. Vikings sailed close to the coast whenever possible, watching for landmarks.

Out of sight of land, they looked for the sun: west (towards the sunset) meant they were headed for England; east (towards the sunrise) meant home to Denmark or Norway.

The Vikings invented a kind of sun-shadow board or sundial to help find their way. At night they watched the skies and could use the position of the stars to determine which direction they were heading.

Seamen knew a lot about winds and sea currents. By watching birds or even the colour of the water, an experienced sailor could tell when land was close.

• Two Viking ships were found by archaeologists on farms in Norway.
• The Gokstad ship was dug up in 1880. The Oseberg ship was found in 1904.
• Both ships were buried in Viking funerals between AD800 and 900.
• The Gokstad ship is 23 metres long, the largest Viking ship ever found. It was big enough for 32 oarsmen and had 16 oars on each side.
• These ships are now in a museum in Oslo, Norway.