ABSTRACT
During the Age of Migrations, when many other Germanic groups were migrating from the ancestral homeland in the north, the ancestors of the speakers of Old Norse stayed close to home. There were some movements within that area, of course. The Danes moved south out of southern Sweden into Zealand and the Jutland peninsula, which after the departure of the Angles and other tribes was relatively empty. The Swedes, meanwhile, who at first were merely one of several tribal groups occupying modern Sweden, set about conquering their neighbors, the Geats, and slowly expanded their power base through central Sweden and Götland. And as reported by the Ynglingatal, an Old Norse genealogical poem, the royal house of Norway also originally came from Sweden to the Oslo region. It was not until late in the eighth century, however, that the rest of Europe came to hear much about these people. And when they did, the tidings brought little joy. For the northernmost Germanic peoples appeared on the world scene as vikings, professional pirates who attacked from the sea without warning and carried away any treasure they could get their hands on.
