Viking

/vuy"king/, n. (sometimes l.c.)

1. any of the Scandinavian pirates who plundered the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries.

2. a sea-roving bandit; pirate.

3. a Scandinavian.

4. U.S. Aerospace. one of a series of space probes that obtained scientific information about Mars.

[1800-10; < Scand; cf. ON vikingr; cf. OE wicing pirate; etym. disputed]

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I

Either of two unmanned U.S. spacecraft launched by NASA in 1975.

After nearly yearlong journeys, Vikings 1 and 2 entered orbits around Mars and released landers that touched down on the planet and relayed measurements of properties of its atmosphere and soil, as well as colour photographs of its surface. Experiments designed to detect evidence of living organisms provided no convincing evidence of life on the surface. The orbiters transmitted photographs of large expanses of the Martian surface.

Viking 2 lander (foreground) on Mars, photographed by one of the spacecraft's own cameras, 1976.

NASA/JPL

II

or Norseman

Member of the Scandinavian seafaring warriors who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the 9th to the 11th century.

Overpopulation at home, ease of conquest abroad, and their extraordinary capacity as shipbuilders and sailors inspired their adventures. In 865 Vikings conquered East Anglia, Northumbria, and much of Mercia. Wessex under Alfred the Great made a truce in 878 that led to Danish control of much of England. Alfred defeated fresh Viking armies (892–899), and his son continued his reconquest, recovering lands in Mercia and East Anglia by 924; Viking Northumbria fell in 954. Renewed raids in 980 brought England into the empire of Canute, and it remained as such until 1042, when native rule was restored.The Vikings permanently affected English social structure, dialect, and names. In the western seas, Vikings had settled in Iceland by 900, whence they traveled to Greenland and North America. They invaded Ireland in 795, establishing kingdoms at Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford. The Battle of Clontarf (1014) ended the threat of Scandinavian rule. France suffered periodic Viking raids but no domination. In Russia Vikings briefly dominated Novgorod, Kiev, and other centres, but they were quickly absorbed by the Slav population. As traders they made commercial treaties with the Byzantines (912, 945), and they served as mercenaries in Constantinople. Viking activity ended in the 11th century.

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▪ people

Introduction

also called  Norseman  or  Northman 

  member of the Scandinavian (Scandinavia) seafaring warriors who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the 9th to the 11th century and whose disruptive influence profoundly affected European history. These pagan Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish warriors were probably prompted to undertake their raids by a combination of factors ranging from overpopulation at home to the relative helplessness of victims abroad.

 The Vikings were made up of landowning chieftains and clan heads, their retainers, freemen, and any energetic young clan members who sought adventure and booty overseas. At home these Scandinavians were independent farmers, but at sea they were raiders and pillagers. During the Viking period the Scandinavian countries seem to have possessed a practically inexhaustible surplus of manpower, and leaders of ability, who could organize groups of warriors into conquering bands and armies, were seldom lacking. These bands would negotiate the seas in their longships (longship) and mount hit-and-run raids at cities and towns along the coasts of Europe. Their burning, plundering, and killing earned them the name vikingr, meaning “pirate” in the early Scandinavian languages.

      The exact ethnic composition of the Viking armies is unknown in particular cases, but the Vikings' expansion in the Baltic lands and in Russia can reasonably be attributed to the Swedes. On the other hand, the nonmilitary colonization of the Orkney Islands, Faroe Islands, and Iceland was clearly accomplished by the Norwegians.

England

 In England desultory raiding occurred in the late 8th century but began more earnestly in 865, when a force led by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok—Healfdene, Inwaer, and perhaps Hubba—conquered the ancient kingdoms of East Anglia and Northumbria and reduced Mercia to a fraction of its former size. Yet it was unable to subdue the Wessex of Alfred the Great, with whom in 878 a truce was made, which became the basis of a treaty in or soon after 886. This recognized that much of England was in Danish hands. Although hard pressed by fresh armies of Vikings from 892 to 899, Alfred was finally victorious over them, and the spirit of Wessex was so little broken that his son Edward the Elder was able to commence the reconquest of Danish England. Before his death in 924 the small Danish states on old Mercian and East Anglian territory had fallen before him. The more remote Northumbria resisted longer, largely under Viking leaders from Ireland, but the Scandinavian power there was finally liquidated by Edred in 954. Viking raids on England began again in 980, and the country ultimately became part of the empire of Canute. Nevertheless, the native house was peacefully restored in 1042, and the Viking threat ended with the ineffective passes made by Canute II in the reign of William I. The Scandinavian conquests in England left deep marks on the areas affected—in social structure, dialect, place-names, and personal names.

The western seas and Ireland

      In the western seas, Scandinavian expansion touched practically every possible point. Settlers poured into Iceland from at least about 900, and from Iceland colonies were founded in Greenland and attempted in North America. The same period saw settlements arise in the Orkney, Faroe, and Shetland islands, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man.

      Scandinavian invasions of Ireland are recorded from 795, when Rechru, an island not identified, was ravaged. Thenceforth fighting was incessant, and, although the natives often more than held their own, Scandinavian kingdoms arose at Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford. The kings of Dublin for a time felt strong enough for foreign adventure, and in the early 10th century several of them ruled in both Dublin and Northumberland. The likelihood that Ireland would be unified under Scandinavian leadership passed with the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, when the Irish Scandinavians, supported by the earl of Orkney and some native Irish, suffered disastrous defeat. Yet in the 12th century the English invaders of Ireland found the Scandinavians still dominant (though Christianized) at Dublin, Waterford, Limerick, Wexford, and Cork.

The Carolingian (Carolingian dynasty) empire and France

      Viking settlement was never achieved in the well-defended Carolingian empire on the scale evidenced in the British Isles, and Scandinavian influence on continental languages and institutions is, outside Normandy, very slight. Sporadic raiding did occur, however, until the end of the Viking period; and, in the 10th century, settlements on the Seine River became the germ of the duchy of Normandy, the only permanent Viking achievement in what had been the empire of Charlemagne (see Norman).

      Farther south than France—in the Iberian Peninsula and on the Mediterranean coasts—the Vikings raided from time to time but accomplished little of permanence.

Eastern Europe

      The eastern Viking expansion was probably a less violent process than that on the Atlantic coasts. Although there was, no doubt, plenty of sporadic raiding in the Baltic and although “to go on the east-Viking” was an expression meaning to indulge in such activity, no Viking kingdom was founded with the sword in that area.

      The greatest eastern movement of the Scandinavians was that which carried them into the heart of Russia. The extent of this penetration is difficult to assess, for, although the Scandinavians were at one time dominant at Novgorod, Kiev, and other centres, they were rapidly absorbed by the Slavonic population, to which, however, they gave their name Rus, “Russians.” The Rus were clearly in the main traders, and two of their commercial treaties with the Greeks are preserved in the Primary Chronicle under 912 and 945; the Rus signatories have indubitably Scandinavian names. Occasionally, however, the Rus attempted voyages of plunder like their kinsmen in the west. Their existence as a separate people did not continue past 1050 at the latest.

      The first half of the 11th century appears to have seen a new Viking movement toward the east. A number of Swedish runic stones record the names of men who went with Yngvarr on his journeys. These journeys were to the east, but only legendary accounts of their precise direction and intention survive. A further activity of the Scandinavians in the east was service as mercenaries in Constantinople (Istanbul), where they formed the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperor.

      After the 11th century the Viking chief became a figure of the past. Norway and Sweden had no more force for external adventure, and Denmark became a conquering power, able to absorb the more unruly elements of its population into its own royal armies. Olaf II Haraldsson of Norway, before he became king in 1015, was practically the last Viking chief in the old independent tradition.

▪ space probe

 either of two robotic U.S. spacecraft launched by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for extended study of the planet Mars. The Viking project was the first planetary exploration mission to transmit pictures from the Martian surface.

 Viking 1 and Viking 2, which lifted off on August 20 and September 9, 1975, respectively, each comprised an instrumented orbiter and lander. After completing nearly yearlong journeys, the two spacecraft entered orbits around Mars and spent about a month surveying landing sites. They then released their landers, which touched down on flat lowland sites in the northern hemisphere about 6,500 km (4,000 miles) apart. Viking 1 landed in Chryse Planitia (22.48° N, 47.97° W) on July 20, 1976; Viking 2 landed in Utopia Planitia (47.97° N, 225.74° W) seven weeks later, on September 3.

 The Viking orbiters mapped and analyzed large expanses of the Martian surface, observed weather patterns, photographed the planet's two tiny moons (see Deimos and Phobos), and relayed signals from the two landers to Earth. The landers measured various properties of the atmosphere and soil of Mars and made colour images of its yellow-brown rocky surface and dusty pinkish sky. Onboard experiments designed to detect evidence of living organisms in soil samples ultimately provided no convincing signs of life on the surface of the planet. Each orbiter and lander functioned long past its design lifetime of 90 days after touchdown. The final Viking data was transmitted from Mars (from the Viking 1 lander) in November 1982, and the overall mission ended the following year.

 

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