The Norwegian history continues when we today are going to take a look at the first attacks done by Norwegian vikings at the shores of England.
The first attack
Many belive that the first attack were the raid against the monastery of Lindisfarne in the year of 793, but the first attack that we know about and that was written down, relates from 789.
Here three viking longboats came in the the shores of Isle of Portland where they killed a emissary from the English town of Dorchester.
We also know that these ships came form Hordaland, a county on the west side of Norway.
When they came back with the of spoils of war, other Norwegian chieftains saw this as an opportunity to enrich them self and the raiding partys on England started. Amongst them was the famous attack on Lindisfarne.
View of the ruins of Lindisfarne priory
The first 50 years or so, the attacks were more raiding partys where the goal was to capture riches to bring back to Norway.
In this period attacks agains Scotland and Ireland also started.
Beside getting a lot of treasure from the British towns that were plundered, the vikings also brought back slaves.
The slave market grew quickly and people form England was sold all over Scandinavia, even to the early settlements at the other side of the Baltic sea.
It is also said that the vikings sold slaves so far as to the gateway of the middel east, Konstantinopel.
Imaginary picture of a slave trade
So why did the Northmen go out to plunder in the first place?
Beside the attacks on England in 789, there has been found viking longboats in two graves on the cost of Estonia that dates
back to over a hundred years before Lindisfarn was plundered.
Scientists believes this to be the first signs known to us of how early the viking era could have started.
It is still to early to say what triggered the start, but there are now put together a group of spesialist that shall try to find the correct answers and already at this point they speculated if it can be the pursuit of slaves that was the first to trigger the dawn of the Vikings.
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Until next time, stay safe, warm and dry
Kindest regards
@Gyldenhorn