Viking Piracy - History Of Piracy - The Way Of The PiratesViking Pirates
北欧海盗－海盗的历史
The Vikings were extraordinary warriors who pillaged Europe a thousand years
ago.
They lived in tribes in North Europe (today Denmark,Norway and Sweden ).The
tribes lived in small villages or communities.Each community had a council
called the Thing or Folkmoot,which was very important.It was even more
important than the king or the chief of the community.The Thing decided should
the Vikings go to a war; it gave judgments against criminals by its own laws.
The laws were made by the people who were in the council.Those were nobles and
freemen.The third social group,the slaves,couldn't have their influence over
the Thing.
The Vikings looted a lot of European countries:England,France,Germany,
Ireland,Italy,Russia and Spain.A Viking explorer,Leif Ericson,found North
America shores 500 years before Columbus did in 1492,and named the new land
Vinland.Viking ships carried the settlers to the Greenland and Iceland before
Europeans even heard of those icelands.
The name,the Vikings,came after their age probably from the name of the pirate
center in today southern Norway.The expression 搕o go a Viking?was used by the
Scandinavians with the mining to fight like a pirate or a warrior.Most
Scandinavians lead peaceful lives most of the time.Not all of them did fight
like pirates incessant.However,during the fights,they looked unbelievable
warriors from the tales!Swords,axes,knives,cold shields and strong helmets
were their famous equipment.
The Vikings spoke a Germanic language which had two dialects.All of the Vikings
understood both of them.They wrote in runes.
In the Vikings' times it was allowed to have two,or even more wives depending
of how wealthy the man was.They had two meals daily:one in the morning and the
other one in the evening.Their religion was very important to them.The main
gods of the Vikings were:Odin,Thor and Freya.The holy day was Wednesday.It
was equal to nowadays Sunday.
We remember the Vikings as very brave warriors,but the excellent ship-builders,
too.They had several types of the ships.The Viking pirates sailed near the
shore without any problems,because the ships were very easy to navigate.They
didn't use technology at all.While sailing,they navigated the ship depending
on landmarks and seabirds.
