“Never Before Has Such a Terror Appeared”: Viking Raids into Ireland – Part I

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The Burning Galley

“Never Before Has Such a Terror Appeared”: Viking Raids into Ireland – Part I

Vikings struck terror into the hearts of many in Europeans—and their reputation still lingers today when you ask a person to describe them. The answers given are that they were violent, hairy brutes, blood thirsty, and a cool people. But who were the Vikings, and what were the causes of their raids across Northern Europe?

Event Horizon

We recognize now that ‘Viking’ was a word describing the piracy and raiding of Norse seafarers, and not all Norse were out to plunder –they were also farmers and craftsmen looking to build homes in new lands and trade for profit and livelihood. With the violent history of occupation and colonization, though, a reputation as the Norse as noble savages, pirates, and bloodthirsty killers developed, and the image of the Norse during the Viking Age came to be synonymous with killing, looting, and pillaging by horn-helmeted sea-borne invaders. As there was some truth to it, it is a reputation that has died hard.

Viking attack, 1100.

Viking attack, 1100. (Public Domain)


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