The Norse People and their mythology have been a large topic of discussion lately. However, many people have asked; who are the Norse People? The Norse people are widely known as the Vikings. The Vikings were the landowning chieftains, freemen, clan leaders and any clan member who sought adventure and booty overseas. The Vikings lived in clans and villages throughout Scandinavia, Better known as Norway, Sweden, Finland and, Denmark. The Vikings were famous for making ruthless hit and run raids on coastal cities and countries. The Vikings killing burning and plundering earned the name vikingr which means pirate in the early Scandinavian languages. The exact ethnic background of the Vikings is unknown although much of the Viking expansion can be attributed to the Swedes. However, the colonization of the Orkneys, Faroes, and Iceland was largely due to the Norwegians. The colonization of the Orkneys, which lie slightly north of Scotland, occurred in the eighth century A.D. The colonization of the Faroes Island Chain, which consists of about 50 islands (twenty of which are inhabited), occurred in the ninth century A.D. Iceland, which is actually very green not icy, was settled between 870 and 930 A.D. .
After 1050 A.D., the separate clans of the Vikings disappeared and the Vikings became unified into countries. . Olaf Haraldsson of Norway was one of the last chiefs of an independent tribe before he became king in 1015A.D. After 1100 A.D., the countries of Norway and Sweden could no longer support an expedition force and Denmark became a conquering power. The Vikings culture influenced many culture all over the world. It is said that the Vikings discovered North America long before Cristobol Colon, or Christopher Columbus to most people. The Vikings also greatly influenced the Russian culture. Many Vikings actually absorbed into the Russian culture while they were in Russia. The Vikings had also visited France, England, Ireland, Scotland, and Germany.
