he Vikings were one of the best warriors in the Middle Ages. Their way of fighting, ferocity in combat, skills in handling weapons, distinguished them from many soldiers of other European countries. Each, even the smallest band of Vikings caused fear among the habitats of Europe of that time, and the reputation of the invaders from the North as savages often paralysed the will to resist.
The lands of Scandinavia and Jutland had been inhabited by Germanic tribes for thousands of years. In one point of history, some of those tribes (West Germanic peoples) moved off to the south, displacing Celts on the way and reaching the lands of today Germany. Another group, passing through what is now Poland, reached the Black Sea (East Germanic peoples). Those who remained in their native territories are classified as North Germanic peoples. In medieval Europe those people where known by their contemporaries as 'men from the North' - Normans, Vikings or Varangians (in Russia and Byzantium).
The Vikings are regarded as some of the most damage bringing warriors in history. It was already medieval annalists who depicted the people from the North as barbarians, ruthless and with no code of fighting warriors who did not respect any sanctity. The same chroniclers mentioned in one breath that the Vikings were heathens. This explained their lack of respect for sacred places, churches and monasteries. This fear stemmed in part from the paganism of the Vikings, and also from the ways of fighting and attacking the enemy - vicious and unpractised in the Christian part of Europe. For over 150 years these cruel sailor-warriors terrorized the whole Europe. This period was called the Viking Age. In reality, the moral level and brutality of the Viking warriors was no different from any other soldiers of medieval Europe. Other Germanic nations, such as the Franks or the Saxons, were also capable of being no less ruthless.
On the other hand, the middival annalists wrote with horror about the strenth and warlike spirit of the Vikings and their extraordinary breavery. It was already the contemporary to the Vikings chroniclers who introduced a division the Northerners into three national groups - Danes (inhabiting the Jutland Peninsula), Norwegians (inhabiting the coast of the North Sea) and Swedes (inhabiting the area around Lake Malar). The Scandinavians themselves were not awared of that because they spoke the same lanuage, divided only on different dilects which differentiated them.
The Scandinavian people, like other Indo-Europeas, were divided into three social classes: slaves whose task was to look after the household of the Vikings when they were away on expeditions. The source of the slave force were lands of England and Germany. The Vikings organised also raids to Eastern Europe to gain even more slaves. Another class were free men, and lords who came from the most wealthy warriors and chiefs.
In contrast to the other parts of Europe, the Scandinavians were divided into many independent entities, clans and principalities and organised roaming groups of free Vikings. It was very late when state organisms began to take shapes, which could, by means of their authority, oversee lager parts of Scandinavia. Under these circumstances downright robberies and quarrels among clans were commonplace occurrences. Even young boys quickly had to be trained in the art of war. Their lives depended on it. Killing an enemy in honourable combat also raised the youngster's status among fellow warriors. In order to quickly catch up with experienced soldiers, young warriors tried to enroll on expeditions and find themselves a competent commander who would bring them glory and wealth. A warrior, under the threat of an indelible stain on his honour, was compelled to complete obedience and loyalty to his commander. This made the Vikings different from many medieval armies prone to insubordination. Also, these features distinguished the Scandinavians from many other European countries, which at that time gradually began to base their armed forces on the emerging knighthood, and less and less on levy of free men.
Most of the clans were affiliated with blood bonds, but there were also bands of warriors or sometimes just ordinary robbers not connected by any common business but to conduct robbery or sail on a military expedition. Often, they were warriors with no land and property (lost in bloody clan wars), on whom there was a threat of death. These warriors, organised into armed groups, set off overseas in search of a better life. There is no need to say that they were first class soldiers.
Due to emerging tribal states, fights for new lands, border disputes, conquests of some clans by other ones, intensified to a great extend. Some individual noble men, with time, began to assume the title of king (konung), gather around themselves an armed band, and started to make attempts to impose their power on their neighbours. These processes came along with frequent inner fights among pretenders to the throne and noble families. Opponents were ruthlessly murdered or, if they were lucky to survive, had to go into exile. Some of such exiled chieftain manager to gather sufficient resources to return to their homelands and instigate the fight for the throne again. Others, lured with an abundant pay, went with subordinated to them warriors to serve in foreign lands such as Byzantium or Ruthenia or, more often, conquered new territories and settled there.
It initiated emigration processes, especially among the Norwegians. The Swedes, on the other hand, were mostly sailors - merchants who developed trade in Ruthenia, from where they got to Byzantium and the Muslim lands. Nevertheless, raids on the Baltic Sea cost, where the Viking fought the Slavs and Baltic peoples, happened on part of the Swedes also. Swedish chieftains,
at the head of their armed bands in Novgorod and Kiev, contributed to the creation of the Ruthenian state. It is possible that a similar situation took place in Poland. The Vikings also colonised the north-eastern land of France, called Normandy after them, settled on uninhabited Iceland, and reached Greenland where they established settlements which survived several centuries. As the first Europeans, they also reached (North) America. This event took place in the year 1003, almost 500 years before the famous expedition of Christopher Columbus sailed to America (1492).
Manpower of Viking expeditions
The life of an ordinary Viking went on in harmony with the laws of nature, in adjustment to the seasons of the year. In spring the Scandinavians sowed grain and then entrusted the care of the farms to their slaves and younger family members. This allowed them to prepare, with no hinder, for distant military expeditions. For this purpose small gangs of warriors allied themselves and set off on joint expeditions. Owing to the lack of a permanent, professional army, after the expedition their armed band was disbanded and the men usually returned to civil life. An average expedition accounted from 100 to several hundred men, but sometimes from 1000 to 3000 warriors. Not very often an expedition could be attended by 4000, or at the most 7000 warriors. After returning from the victorious expedition, the leader of the raid customary lavished gifts upon his fellow warriors. In autumn, the harvest was gathered and winter time was spent resting and drinking alcohol. Some expeditions reached lands so far from home that they required to spend winter in enemy territory. The men would then fortify themselves on some river island which provided adequate shelter from possible enemy attacks. Sometimes these areas turned into permanent places of residence (e.g. Dublin, the capital of present-day Ireland).
Viking ships
An important role in the Viking warfare was played by war ships, which construction made them suitable for both crossing open waters and inland rivers. Such ships could reach a speed up to 10 knots (about 18 km), might have been up to 20 meters in length and 5 meters width. They were sail-power or propelled by oars manned by a crew of 40 to 60 (rarely up to a hundred) men. The shallow draught (up to 1 meter) made them suitable for travelling on rivers and, if necessary, moving them by land into the basin of another river. This allowed the Vikings to rob unsuspecting inhabitants of inland regions
The aim of raids was to get to any place where were so much sought after riches ready to be looted. So peaceful settlements, town and religious places were invaded in the first place. Especially, the last were the preferred target of the Vikings. Monasteries and churches, alongside with their wealth, were easy to be sacked. For the first time, the pagan Northerners (from Norway) robbed a sacred place in 793. The sacked, then, the monastery on an island off the northeast coast of England, Lindisfarne. For the Christian part of Europe it was a huge blow, and for the Vikings, a source of easy prey.
Siegecraft
The Vikings were also capable to successfully besiege fortified points and like London, York, Orleans or Bordeaux. Nevertheless, this not aroused from an elaborated siegecraft. The truth is that most medieval cities was poorly fortified and defended. The element of panic any news of the appearance of the cruel heathens from the North stirred among the inhabitant and the garrison of an urban settlement, favoured the Viking immensely. Often, instead of defending themselves, cities preferred to pay a ransom to the besiegers. This also concerned rulers, like the Frankish king Charles the Bald (ransom paid in 845), Lothair II (864), the king of Lotharingia, or the Anglo-Saxon kings who bought peace with money.
Arms and armour
One of the most characteristic elements of Viking weaponry was the shield. It was a large and round piece, made of timber covered with leather and reinforced with iron studs or nails. Complemented to this defensive armour was a helmet with a guard around the eyes and nose. The weight of helmets ranged from 2 to 4 kilograms. Despite popular culture, there is no evidence that Vikings had horned helmets. The wealthiest Vikings used chain mails which weighed up to 12 kilograms and protected most of the wearer's body. The less wealthy warriors wore only partial mails which covered the most prone to injury parts of the body (such as the torso). Mail shirts were an effective defensive armour in the Viking armoury.
All free Norse men were required to own weapons and the obligation to provide the arms laid upon the chieftain. The most effective and preferred weapons were swords, spears and axes. To the lesser extend were used bows. Besides that, the Viking's weapon was used not only in combat but was also to display his wealth and status. The more decorated, and made of better material was the weapon, the wealthier was it owner. As a result, a typical warrior was armed with a shield and an axe (sometimes taken from his farm), or a spear. The more wealthy Vikings used also a sword:
It was the upmost prized offensive weapon, although not necessary the most practical one. As swords were also expensive in making, not all warriors could afford to have one (for example, a good sword was worth 10 dairy cow). Both sides of the blade were sharpened, and it was used both to cut and thrust. It length ranged from 70 to 90 centimetres. Many a time, despise it was forbidden by law, the blades were imported from the Frankish kingdom, where blacksmiths were very proficient at forging excellent arms. However, it was not a part of every warrior's ensemble, as the possession of it was supposed to represent its owner's prestige and status.
Instead of the sword, the warrior could use another deadly weapon, the axe. As any axe could be used for cutting or chopping wood on the farm could be turned into a weapon, very often, it was the only weapon the poorest warriors have. Since it was impossible to hold a shield effectively while fighting with an axe, the warrior usually took cover behind comrades fighting with swords and spears, in order to make his move at a convenient moment on the enemy.
Horsemen
Viking armies consisted mainly infantry. Horses were too small, and cavalry units, for a long time, did not exist. If the necessity arose, the animals were required locally, either through robbery or trade with the native population. Horses were used usually as a mean of transport, and not to combat purposes. The few warriors who possessed a horse, preferred to dismount before the combat, and fight on foot. The lack of cavalry was a serious disadvantage in the Viking warfare. Over time, European armies found a way to combat the Vikings with success by engaging in the fight its main weapon, heavy cavalry. Due to the fact the European armies were more mobile than the Vikings, the Norsemen finally duly recognized the value of cavalry and adopted it to their own needs (a classic example is the use of heavy-armed Norman horsemen in the conquest of England by Wilhelm the Conqueror).
Ways of combat
The Vikings were primarily robbers, so they tried to avoid unnecessary engagements. It was because Scandinavia was a land of a limited population, what had an impact on numerical size of raids. Each reasonable chieftain had to make judicious use of the human resources available to him by avoiding unnecessary engagements and losses in men. However, when engendered, the Vikings knew how to attack with effectiveness and vigour. Basically, the Norsemen used two combat formation. First of them, was a shield wall (skaldborg), where the warriors were formed in a circle or square. Young fighters were placed in the first lines, veterans in the back. The large shield was used to cover parts of the owner and his neighbour, giving an effective protection to both of them. In case of high fatality rate among the warriors, the survivors pressed the ranks even more, and the formation would go into fierce resistance until death. In case of conducting an attack on enemy, the shield wall, several ranks deep, turned the attacking formation into a phalanx. Swords and spears complemented the strength of the formation which was very difficult to break into, both for the enemy infantry and cavalry. The battle itself commenced with throwing spears and shooting arrows.
The other formation was "pig head" (svinfylka). This was a strictly offensive, wedge-shaped formation. The Norsemen themselves believed that it was given to them by Odin, the god of war. In reality, and with high probability, it was adopted by Vikings from the Romans who used a similar formation in the 4th and 5th centuries. The Germans also fought with a similar style, calling it "boar head". The best fighters were placed in front. In the very front rank were two men, in the second, three, in the third, four, and so on. All together, in the whole formation were from 20 to 30 warriors who, running and gaining momentum, make a frontal assault, tried to break the enemy's formation, reach the enemy's commander, capture or kill him, and thus end the fight in their favour. Although this tactic lacked any sophisticated or profound battlefield functions, was very effective. The ferocity represented by the Norsemen, very often made up for these shortcomings and made it easier to achieve victory. For that reason, often, "svinfylka" was used in clashes between hostile Viking armed bands. Each side, aimed this way at bringing about the quickest outcome of the encounter.