ABSTRACT
The Vikings were the Norse warriors, explorers, and merchants who raided, explored, and settled wide areas of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Iceland, France, Spain, Africa, and Italy. They started their expansion by executing multiple raids of the English shores. According to e Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Viking raiders struck England in 793 AD and raided Lindisfarne, the monastery that held Saint Cuthbert’s relics. Their raids continued to increase in frequency and the number of participating troops, until in 865 AD the Great Heathen Army led by the brothers Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan, and Ubbe Ragnarsson arrived in East Anglia. They established their presence in Northern England until they were driven out by the English king Harold Godwinson in 1066. The archeologists and linguists recently came to the conclusion that all British towns that end with “by”—for example, Ashby, Corby, Crosby, and so on-were founded and named by the Viking invaders.
