They then waited for the right moment to strike – and they had most likely also made an alliance with a Frankish count who wanted to secure the city for himself,” says Roesdahl.Įxploited political turmoil and power struggles “The Vikings surveilled the areas within their reach. You can probably guess which day the Vikings showed up. One example of this is the raid on Nantes in 843 CE.Įvery year, people from far and wide came to Nantes on the day of Saint John’s Eve to celebrate John the Baptist. Vikings often knew where and when large masses of peoples gathered for trade fairs. The Vikings also maintained a vast network, which allowed them to strike exactly when treasuries and granaries were ripe – and resistance at a minimum. Large networks provided knowledge of enemies The Vikings came out of the blue in a type of surprise attack that no one thought possible,” says Roesdahl.īut Vikings are far from alone in exploiting superior mobility in warfare, she says.Īsian nomads such as the Huns raided far and wide in the 5th century CE, the same goes for the Islamic expansion after Muhammed’s death in 632 CE, and the Magyar’s campaigns in Central Europe in the 10th century CE. “This is what happened at Lindisfarne in 793CE. Their longships – with a characteristic shallow-draft hull – made it possible to cross the North Sea and to navigate Europe’s many rivers and appear out of nowhere, or bypass hostile land forces. One of the reasons for this was the Vikings’ superior mobility. The plundered treasures from monasteries, villages, and even major cities witness as much. That said, there is no doubt that the Scandinavian warriors were rather successful in most of their endeavours. We’ve, for example, found a couple of Viking mass graves, which tell a story of failed raids,” says Roesdahl. “Many archaeological and written sources show that the Vikings lost quite often. In fact, the sources also document how raiding Vikings suffered major defeats when they invaded foreign kingdoms and territories. Although Vikings were feared throughout Europe, they did not win all of their battles – far from it – even though many people seem to think so. The Vikings did not win all their battles
To help answer this question, we have contacted Viking expert Else Roesdahl, professor of medieval archaeology at Aarhus University, Denmark. He has read much about how they plundered near and far – almost as if they had free rein to do whatever they felt like.īut how could this be? Our reader asks: “What made the Vikings so superior in warfare?” One of our readers is fascinated by the Vikings.
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