West and east
Across the sea
In the second half of the 9th century it became increasingly common for Vikings to settle in countries they had previously raided. Nat. Mus. Denmark The Danes lived especially in England and Normandy. Nat. Mus. Denmark Scotland, Ireland and the islands of the North Atlantic were favoured by the Norwegians. Nat. Mus. Denmark The Swedes settled in north-western Russia. Nat. Mus. Denmark These newcomers made a living as farmers, craftsmen and traders. Nat. Mus. Denmark
Iceland, Greenland, Vinland
Settlers poured into Iceland from at least about 900. Britannica From Iceland, colonies were founded in Greenland and attempted in North America. Britannica The same period saw settlements arise in the Orkney, Faroe and Shetland islands, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man. Britannica
Two Norse sagas, the Saga of the Greenlanders and Erik the Red's Saga, offer somewhat different accounts of the first Viking visits to North America, which they called Vinland. Britannica
The site contains the excavated remains of a complete 11th-century Viking settlement. UNESCO L'Anse aux Meadows was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. UNESCO UNESCO describes it as the first and only known site established by Vikings in North America, and the earliest evidence of European settlement in the New World. UNESCO
It consists of eight timber-framed turf structures built in the same style as those found in Norse Greenland and Iceland from the same period. UNESCO The buildings include three dwellings, one forge and four workshops. UNESCO
The remains of the camp were discovered in 1960 by Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad. Parks Canada The Ingstads found that the overgrown ridges were the lower courses of the walls of eight Norse buildings from the 11th century. Parks Canada The walls and roofs had been of sod, laid over a supporting frame, of the same kind as those used in Iceland and Greenland just before and after the year 1000. Parks Canada
Finds such as a spindle whorl show that not all the Norse settlers had been men. Parks Canada A great deal of slag from the smelting and working of iron was found, together with a large number of iron boat nails or rivets. Parks Canada
Parks Canada describes L'Anse aux Meadows as the first known evidence of European presence in the Americas. Parks Canada The Viking encampment was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Parks Canada
Sources differ: Vinland and the camp in Newfoundland
UNESCO describes L'Anse aux Meadows as the first and only known site established by Vikings in North America. The sagas, which offer somewhat different accounts from one another, call the lands they reached Vinland. How closely the Newfoundland camp matches the Vinland of the sagas is still discussed; the archaeology shows a real 11th-century Norse settlement, not which saga place-name it must bear.
Ireland, and further east
Scandinavian invasions of Ireland are recorded from 795. Britannica
Viking ships reached as far as Greenland and the American continent in the west, and the Caliphate in Baghdad and Constantinople in the east. Nat. Mus. Denmark
In Scandinavia, market and manufacturing settlements such as Ribe, Hedeby, Birka and Kaupang grew into centres for international trade. British Museum