History:

The Vikings are infamous for their raid-and-pillage-style attacks on their southern neighbors in the 9th through 11th centuries, made possible by the shallow draft of their longboats which could penetrate far inland along rivers. The attack on Lindisfarne Abbey, the center of the 9th century Northumbrian Renaissance, heralded the seasonal violence to come. To "go viking" was the summertime occupation of some Norsemen, but at home they farmed in isolated settlements, and the fearsome longboats were used not just in warfare, but in trading missions from Kiev to Constantinople.

The Norse co-opted a portion of France, becoming in a short century the "Normans" who then conquered England, and also settled Iceland, Greenland, and (briefly) North America. Far from being the savage barbarians recorded by Christian chroniclers, the Norse, Swedes, and Danes had a mixed culture of agrarians, artisans, and adventurers. Their seafaring technology was especially advanced, and their metalwork among the most prized in Europe. And on a personal cleanliness level, English men resented the Danes because Englishwomen were attracted by their habit of bathing and combing their hair weekly.