Viking "Invasion" Of Britain

Northern Advocate, 29 July 1949, Page 4

Viking "Invasion" Of Britain

The story of a Viking “invasion”’ of Britain, as told in our cable columns, makes interesting reading, and in all probability will - move many peopie to refresh their memories of school days, when English history formed an attractive section of a day's lessons. Bearded young Danes, who rowed their homemade Viking longboat 600 miles, are re-enacting a feat performed by their forefathers 1500 years ago when they invaded the Isle of Thanet and left an indelible mark upon the history and people of Britain. The Vikings, as Norsemen (or Northmen) were generally known, were bold seamen who descended from the coasts of Denmark, Norway and Sweden to ravage and plunder oiv the northern seas and off the coast of Great Britain. The word Viking means sons of the fiord, and these men were found in greatest numbers during the period from the eighth to the twelfth centuries. They were brave sailors and constructed substantial ships in which they sailed gradually farther and farther, until by the middle of the ninth century they were gaining their spoils as far south as the waters of the Mediterranean. It is interesting to note that in England the Vikings were referred to as Eastmen and the Danes. In France, where Charles the

Oimpie diiuwcu uitrm IU mane cucm’ homes, with the understanding that they should befriend Christianity, they received the name of Normans. In the year 1000. Lief, the son of Eric the Red. so legend and history have it, discovered the coast of America, and gave the name of Vinland to the country he found. Lief’s journey was made from Greenland, where his father had previously established a settlement. A colony is said to have been established in Vinland some seven years later, but there is no authentic confirmation of the story. However, whether this story be true or not, it is an established fact that the Norsemen were among the earliest and most enterprising explorers of the northern and western lands, a role which has been filled by their descendants down to the present day, the exploit of Amundsen in reaching the South Pole being a modern exemplification of the spirit of the old-time Vikings. British people, of course, are chiefly interested in the story of the Danes’ sojourn in Britain, which they entered at the invitation of a sorely-beset English King, but, finding they had come to a gooclly land, they refused to leave it voluntarily. Times have changed since the Danish “invasion” of 449, and nations have risen and fallen, but, as the interest manifested in the coming of the 1949 Vikings demonstrates, the age of romance survives.