Introduction to the Vikings in Britain

The Viking Age in Britain began about 1,200 years ago in the 9th Century AD and lasted for just over 200 years.

About the year 800, bands of fierce raiders began to attack our coasts. They were the Vikings (also called the Danes although they didn't just come from Denmark. See below).

The Vikings came across the North Sea, just as the Anglo-Saxons had done 400 years earlier. In time, like the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings made their home here. They drove the Saxons out of part of the country and took it for themselves.

King Alfred, Saxon king of Wessex, fought them in a great battle, but he could not drive them right away and had to let them have part of the country, called Danelaw.

Viking

1. Where did the Vikings come from?
2. Who were the Vikings?
3. When did they invade Britain?
4. Alfred the Great and Danelaw
5. Why did the Vikings invade Britain?
6. Where did the Vikings settle in Britain?
7. What religion did the Vikings follow?
8. What were Viking houses like?
9. What were Viking clothes like?
10. Timeline
11. Other Viking websites