The history of the campaigns of these early medieval sailors fits into the period from the VIII to the XI century. The Vikings were nomadic tribes that inhabited the lands that today are Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
There is a version that these sea robbers, who were called not only Vikings, but also Normans, and in Russia - Varangians, tried to inhabit the largest island on Earth - Greenland. Although after several centuries, almost nothing remained of the Viking civilization.
People from the Fjord
Historians believe that the warlike tribes of the Normans were distinguished not only by the fact that they annoyed the population of medieval Europe with their countless attacks. The Vikings are among the pioneers who explored the North Atlantic and founded Normandy. It was they, according to some reports, who first set foot on the lands of modern America.
Nevertheless, always and everywhere these nomadic invaders were perceived as pirates or "people from the fjords." Robber - this is how the word "vikingar" is translated from Old Norse.
Captivated by the Green Land
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At the beginning of the first millennium of the new era, the most advanced of the Scandinavians, Erik Red (Eirik Thorvaldsson), to the west of Iceland, new uninhabited lands were discovered. The tough Norwegian guys at first did not perceive Greenland as a territory where you can create an independent state. Nevertheless, their separate civilization existed there for several centuries, until the 16th century. And then there was practically no trace of the Scandinavian colony. Europeans, who arrived on this island at the end of the 16th century, found only dilapidated buildings.
Why Greenland is empty
There is a version that the Vikings mixed with the Eskimos, and therefore disappeared as an entos. However, Icelandic geneticist Gisli Palsson, who compared the DNA of the Inuit of Greenland and Canada, claims that there are no European haplogroups there. Other scientists have not found a similar relationship.
Historian Jared Diamond believes that mixing races through inter-ethnic marriages is most likely not the reason for the disappearance of the Vikings in Greenland, since neither they nor the Eskimos had a special need to find spouses "on the side". No evidence of mass extermination of the Scandinavians as a result of clashes with the Eskimos in Greenland was also found. This is confirmed by modern archaeologists.
Historian Thomas McGovern is sure that the Greenlanders at some point simply could not stand the harsh climatic conditions that developed on the island. But the American biologist and anthropologist Jared Diamond is convinced that the Viking civilization disappeared due to the fact that they were deprived of many benefits of life (for example, iron and other resources) and did not have the opportunity to establish water communications with other countries, since the sea routes due to piles of icebergs were impassable.
The Vikings did not develop either cattle breeding or arable farming in Greenland, this fact was also clarified during archaeological excavations.
Scientists believe that the Vikings and their descendants simply gradually left the island, since the habitat there for permanent residence became unacceptable for them. They settled throughout Scandinavia, thus forming entire states. Some modern historians are of the opinion that today's Russia would not have existed if the Vikings had not taken part in the fate of Russia in due time. But this is nothing more than a version.