Prepare yourself, for our ships are nearly ready to sail west. In this lesson, we will be briefly discussing the foundations for future raiding: warfare. How did they fight? How organized were they? What was the scale? What advantages did they have? It would be foolish to assume that these northmen just washed ashore and swung aimlessly. The Vikings did not always have the luxury of fighting helpless monks (poor souls). On that note, we must ask ourselves: Were the Vikings any more violent than their times already were? Were their methods much different? Allow me to quit stalling and get on with our discussion.
Contents:
1. Early “Warfare”
2. Size and Numbers
2. Viking Advantages
3. Atrocities?
EARLY “WARFARE”
Viking “warfare” may not be exactly what you’d think, or what Hollywood would like you to think. It would actually be more appropriate to call their “warfare” small-scale raids instead, at least for the majority of the period. Vikings, of course, raided before the Viking Age, just not to such a scale (as in the amount of individual raids taking place). Not that “warfare” was unified, either. These endeavors were independently run and with relatively few men. It is not until the ninth century, when the Viking Age really kicks off, that we see an increase in their “forces.” By this time we have stronger kingships with more centralized authority. This is where we see what looks more like warfare than raids, with hundreds of ships at one persons disposal. Of course, the sources that we have quite likely exaggerate their numbers, but regardless, their numbers had increased as the Viking Age peaked and reached its end.
SIZE AND NUMBERS
Anglo-Saxons sources, for example, use specific words when describing the Viking “troops.” They, as in the English, used the term here more frequently than the term ford. Here meant, according to Ine of Wessex’s law code, “an invading army or raiding party containing more than thirty-five men.”1 Fyrd, on the other hand, was used more in reference to an organized, larger amy. The terms are loosely used at certain times in history, however, so this alone is not enough to judge the size of the Viking “troops.”
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to “The Great Army,” but again, judging the size is difficult. Especially given the amount of movement and splitting that this army goes through. We will be discussing this “Great Army” with greater detail in future lessons.
As the tradition goes, medieval sources tend to give rounded, large numbers, so it is truly difficult to give exact size to these Viking forces. In the end, numbers increased as the Vikings became more “Westernized.” Eventually they began to adopt the same mannerisms of the Christian kingdoms there were raiding. Kingships rose in Scandinavia as they mirrored their more organized and fortunate (in terms of wealth) neighbors. The average size was probably in the hundreds, but by the 1000s there were perhaps some forces reaching more of an “army” size. This is mainly because leadership was actually becoming more concentrated.
VIKING ADVANTAGES
Ship Technology:
Their ships were arguably the best ships in the West during this period. They could sails the open sea, but also sneak into shallow rivers. This enabled them to perform surprise attacks and easily resupply their campaigns.
Mobility and Logistics:
They could, with the help of their ships and landing flexibility, adapt very quickly to their terrain and situation. Not only could they strike fast, but they could react equally as quick.
Shrewd Choice of Targets:
Let’s be honest, no matter how morally wrong attacking Churches was at the time (and arguably still so today), it was genius. They were full of money and had no guards. Literally no one armed to protect this wealth. It was protected only by a cultural understanding of which the Vikings were not a part of. Furthermore, the Vikings were very good at exploiting internal politics. As we will see in Franica next week, the Vikings tore them up, playing on the tension between kings after the death of Charlemagne. Also, let’s not leave out ransom. They made a ton of money off of ransoming. Truly, the Vikings obtained maximum payoff with the most minimum of risks.
Good Timing:
Not only did they know where the money would be easiest, but they knew when it would be even less defended or full of wealth. The Vikings, at times, would attack these churches during feast days, when people gather. This also allowed them to single out the wealthy.
Overwhelming:
The first Viking raid, that of Lindisfarne, was likely a lot less random than certain media has made it seem. There is good reason to believe (based on the timing of the raid, seasonally) that they were actually already there during the winter. They often took over well-stocked sites in advance early in the winter. They then stayed over the winter, extending their stay. This allowed reconnaissance and familiarity with the terrain.
ATROCITIES?
Were the Vikings brutal? Of course, but were they more brutal than anyone else at the time? Probably not. They had no respect for churches, but were they really expected to? They were historically confined to the conditions and expectations of a culture they were not yet fully a part of. They were horribly portrayed by the surviving sources because the sources we have were the people getting raided. Of course they would make the Vikings seem like God’s punishment against humanity. These sources likely expressed this devastation with literary enrichment. They have plenty of good reason to think so badly of these Vikings, but we cannot simply forgo our realization that this is but one perception.
Of course, we cannot fully excuse the Vikings, for they did terrible things. Yet, “bad” is generally a perspective. From their point of view, it was honorable and justified. “You can’t protect it? Well then you shouldn’t have it!” VS. “This is a holy sanctuary, what are you doing? This is barbaric!”
Let’s not forget, either, that raiding and plunder was not an entirely new thing. A lot of people, Christian and pagan alike, plundered churches for various reasons.2 Although a bit later, think about the Crusades, the massacring of Jews, Muslims, and even Eastern Christians is nothing that can be ignored. No one is free from fault – no religion nor any group of people. The Vikings are no exception. They have fault, but should not be fully demonized either. Every human being has a dark side, but also a light side.
To put this simply: History is far too complicated to brand one “people” as solely good or bad at any given time. Doing so is unwise and irresponsible. This is still being debated, but before making assumptions, or picking a side, understand the complexity. For once you obtain that insight, you realize that “picking a side” is honestly just another way of simplifying the complexity of a problem. It does little good, for both ends are good yet bad.
CONCLUSION
Before we move into the raiding segment of this “course,” keep all of these things in mind. Viking “warfare” starts off rather small, but grows as the Vikings become more like kings, gaining more fame, wealth, and authority. This growth would have been reflected in their attire and weapons, of course. Their actions were not random. They knew very well what targets were best and when to hit them. They were not fools, nor random, violent-seeking brutes. The Vikings committed “terrible” acts, but they were not demonic savages either.
This lesson ends the first half of this “course.” I hope you have all been pleased so far with how things have progressed. We will be moving into less culture and more raids, people, and events beginning next week.
Footnotes
- I was not able to find sources to give backing to this, but I also did not spend hours trying to do so. It was information provided to me in my class (cited above). My professor is a credible source, so I am not too concerned. Of course, if anyone really needs it, I can do the research. ↩︎
- I actually know of a few Irish examples of this (Feidlimid, to name one), if anyone is curious about it. I did not want to lengthen the lesson by diving into this topic, but I would happily provide more upon request. ↩︎
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