Where did the Vikings come from?

The Vikings came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark which are North of England.

Their land was not fertile. It was rocky. They found it hard to grow crops.

They found that England was rich with plentiful lands and treasures.

The climate was much warmer than where they came from, they preferred it and wanted to settle here.

'Men of war' is how the Vikings are thought about and indeed they brought violence to England. Over 1200 years ago, sails were seen off the coast of Lindisfarne. The monks in the monastery watched as the longships came closer and landed.

The warriors were fierce and frightening. The monks were skilled fighters but could not hold them back. The Viking raiders took gold from Lindisfarne back to Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

These raids went on for many years as the Vikings stole from the monastery. The word 'Viking' means pirate, and these pirates were about to get even greedier...