Their attention then turns to the more mundane creatures which reside on farms and in villages, the food and horses on which the Vikings could escape lure them to their new victims (Siddorn 3). Sailing up the rivers of France and Spain, the Vikings subjugate the majority of both Ireland and England, also sweeping over rivers in Russia and the Baltic coast (Christensen 1). The ever so ruthless Vikings live unconcerned with where their next conquest will be just as long as they prevail. The Vikings, quick to discover their power and success begin to take on a cocky attitude which reflects in their raiding, they are "even foolhardy enough to attempt an attack on Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire" (Christensen 1). In the Viking's case, cockiness is beneficial since it takes away their fear, and instills horror in their now helpless victims. No town, city, capitol, nor providence do the Vikings bypass, they "attack all the coasts of Europe." (Christensen 1) As time progresses, the Vikings begin to establish roots in the form of homes and farms, on the shore's that have already suffered their plundering. .
Written accounts portray settlements from the Viking period throughout Europe. As time progresses the Vikings begin to grow weary of being transient. Although the seafaring men and woman are nomadic creatures, "eventually, the plundering raids [become] colonization" (Christensen 1). Large Viking populations soon spread throughout Europe. Kings, in fear of being overtaken by the Vikings, give them gifts of other lands so that their own would be safe from Viking reign. In one instance, "the French king gave Normandy as a fief to a Viking chieftain so that he [will] keep other Vikings away" (Christensen 1). The Vikings with firm intentions on making Britain their own, "[can] only be bought off with ever increasing sums of Danegeld. Twenty thousand pounds of silver was [the normal] sum" (Siddorn 5).