History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

History - Essay Example Even though well documented sources for this time period are lacking and a lot of the available information is believed to have a mythical and folktale nature, nevertheless, the Vikings were present and have managed to leave their mark on Scotland during this historical period. Also- called the era of the Dark Ages in Europe Vikings were often called Scandinavian warriors or Norse, due to their primary origins. The Vikings nation was known with its polygamy meaning that men had more than one wife (Flow of History, 2007). Thus plenty of children were born and soon enough the nation had to expand. The younger ones were determined to find new lands, in far better and warmer places. Adventure was in their blood. Soon Northern Europe had plenty of Vikings in their lands (Flow of History, 2007). In the early ninth century Vikings occupied, Italy, France and England, later on even Byzantium, they were so brave to travel that even reached North America. Having the best sailing ships, fearless Vikings soon invaded many lands. A remarkable body of Scottish Gaelic oral tradition has survived into the twentieth century, some part of which relates to the Vikings and other Norse themes. Its content cannot, however, be taken at face value as a straightforward form of historical sources material. For instances, the heroic ballads and legends containing a ‘Viking’ element are set within a marvelous and magical world. (Graham-Campbell & Batey 2005, p. 46) In the late 8th century huge ships arrived at the coast of North Britain and Scotland. Viking warriors were said to raid and plunder what is now Edinburgh in the 793 AD (Barett, 2003). Many of the associations with the Vikings include terror and savage. Many preserved paintings from this period depict Vikings and their horrible invasions and attacks which still carry a significant