ISLE OF MAN - LEIF ERIKSSON
Vikings - also called 'Norsemen' or 'Northmen', member of the Scandinavian
seafaring warriors who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the 9th to
the 11th century and whose disruptive influence profoundly affected European
These pagan Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish warriors were probably prompted to
undertake their raids by a combination of factors ranging from overpopulation at
home to the relative helplessness of victims abroad.
The Vikings were made up of landowning chieftains and clan heads, their
retainers, freemen, and any energetic young clan members who sought adventure
and booty overseas.
At home these Scandinavians were independent farmers, but at sea they were
raiders and pillagers. During the Viking period the Scandinavian countries seem
to have possessed a practically inexhaustible surplus of manpower, and leaders
of ability, who could organize groups of warriors into conquering bands and
armies, were seldom lacking.
These bands would negotiate the seas in their longships and mount hit-and-run
raids at cities and towns along the coasts of Europe. Their burning, plundering,
and killing earned them the name vikingr, meaning "pirate" in the early
The exact ethnic composition of the Viking armies is unknown in particular
cases, but the Vikings' expansion in the Baltic lands and in Russia can
reasonably be attributed to the Swedes.
On the other hand, the nonmilitary colonization of the Orkneys, Faroes, and
Iceland was clearly due to the Norwegians.
The Vikings' everyday life was influenced not only by their view of the
physical world around them, but also by their religion. They knew the gods lived
in Asgard. They knew the gods could help them against evil forces, but they
needed to treat their gods well.
To sacrifice a valuable animal (blota) to the gods put them in a good mood.
To worship the gods was an important part of Viking life. Christianity changed
the Vikings' religion, but many of the old customs continued unchanged for
hundreds of years.
In England desultory raiding occurred in the late 8th century but began more
earnestly in 865, when a force led by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok - Healfdene,
Inwaer, and perhaps Hubba - conquered the ancient kingdoms of East Anglia and
Northumbria and reduced Mercia to a fraction of its former size.
Yet it was unable to subdue the Wessex of Alfred the Great, with whom in 878
a truce was made, which became the basis of a treaty in or soon after 886.
This recognized that much of England was in Danish hands. Although hard
pressed by fresh armies of Vikings from 892 to 899, Alfred was finally
victorious over them, and the spirit of Wessex was so little broken that his son
Edward the Elder was able to commence the reconquest of Danish England.
Before his death in 924 the small Danish states on old Mercian and East
Anglian territory had fallen before him.
The more remote Northumbria resisted longer, largely under Viking leaders
from Ireland, but the Scandinavian power there was finally liquidated by Edred
Viking raids on England began again in 980, and the country ultimately became
part of the empire of Canute. Nevertheless, the native house was peacefully
restored in 1042, and the Viking threat ended with the ineffective passes made
by Canute II in the reign of William I.
The Scandinavian conquests in England left deep marks on the areas affected,
in social structure, dialect, place-names, and personal names.
THE WESTERN SEAS AND IRELAND
In the western seas, Scandinavian expansion touched practically every
Settlers poured into Iceland from at least about 900, and from Iceland
colonies were founded in Greenland and attempted in North America.
The same period saw settlements arise in the Orkneys, the Faroes, the
Shetlands, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man.
The Isle of Man
Man, Isle of, also spelled MANN, Manx-Gaelic Ellan Vannin, or Mannin, Latin
Mona, or Monapia, one of the British Isles, located in the Irish Sea off the
northwest coast of England. The island lies roughly equidistant between England,
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom but rather is a crown
possession (since 1828) that is self-governing in its internal affairs under the
supervision of the British Home Office.
The Isle of Man is about 30 miles (48 km) long by 10 miles (16 km) wide, its
main axis being southwest to northeast. It has an area of 221 square miles (572
The island consists of a central mountain mass culminating in Snaefell (2,036
feet [621 m]) and extending north and south in low-lying agricultural land.
Man's coastline is rocky and has fine cliff scenery.
The grass-covered slate peaks of the central massif are smooth and rounded as
a result of action during various glacial periods. The island's landscape is
treeless except in sheltered places.
To the southwest lies an islet, the Calf of Man, with precipitous cliffs,
which is administered by the Manx National Heritage as a bird sanctuary.
The climate is maritime temperate, with cool summers and mild winters. The
average mean temperature in February is 41 F (4.9 C) and is 58 F (14.3 C) in
August. The average annual rainfall is 45 inches (1,140 mm). The native flora
and fauna are of little interest, but the domestic Manx cat, a distinctive
tailless breed (see photograph), is traditionally believed to have originated on
The Isle of Man has been inhabited by humans since the Mesolithic Period. It
became the home of many Irish missionaries in the centuries following the
teaching of St. Patrick (5th century AD).
Among its earliest inhabitants were Celts, and their language, Manx, which is
closely related to Gaelic, remained the everyday speech of the people until the
first half of the 19th century.
The number of Manx speakers is now negligible, however. Norse (Viking)
invasions began about AD 800, and the isle was a dependency of Norway until
During this period Man came under a Scandinavian system of government that
has remained practically unchanged ever since.
In 1266 the king of Norway sold his suzerainty over Man to Scotland, and the
island came under the control of England in 1341.
From this time on, the island's successive feudal lords, who styled
themselves "kings of Mann," were all English. In 1406 the English crown granted
the island to Sir John Stanley, and his family ruled it almost uninterruptedly