Warfare

The Vikings are best known for the terror they spread among the people they attacked. The term Viking itself means a sea rover or pirate. And it is indeed true that the way they fought was very cruel and they didn't spare anyone. They had everything a warrior needs to have: a strong body, a strong mind, good warrior skills, very good ships for assault and weapons developed enough for that time. It was normal for every man and even for women to go raiding from time to time. Besides from the professional warriors which constituted permanent armies, there were armies made up from farmers, fishermen, hunters who went raiding for earning more food, slaves, jewelry and other. The Vikings every day life was a constant battle and children were taught since they were little how to fight. Even the games they played were a kind of battle. So, there was no problem for a simple farmer to turn into a fierce warrior without any special training at all.

The Vikings went raiding especially in summer. Young men called Drengir or Drengs by the locals volunteered for going raiding. They formed the crew of ships. Among them there were Thegns. Those were mature warriors, local farmers who have participated in other raids. They were more experienced warriors. Every ship had at least two Straesmenn. Those were the helmsmen. They were the most experienced of all as they had to know how to sail and to keep the boat on the right track.

Besides this army of farmers and amateurs, there was the permanent army. This could be paid by the king and it was called Hird or by a local nobleman and the retainers were called Huskarla. The king's army was composed of Hirdmen. They had to swear loyalty to the king. If they were not trusted by the king or didn't prove brave enough in battles, they became Gestir. Those were paid half as much as the Hirdmen and only did the material tasks, around the camp. In charge of all was a Stallari, the king's spokesman. The Huskarls were also professional soldiers. They fought in a nobleman's army and sometimes this was larger than the king's army. Also, sometimes there were conflicts between the king's army and the Huskarla.

The country was divided into units called hafna. Each of this units had to prepare their ship of around 40 warriors. Each ship had rowers which when coming to land became warriors, mature soldiers who fought using bows and helmsmen who had special navigational skills. The helmsmen knew very well the coasts of Europe and could row up the rivers if the target-villages were far from the sea shore. The Vikings planned very well in advance their attacks so the speed of the attack was incredible, living the victims no time for organizing a defense.