"THE BARBARIANS ARE COMING - AND THE "DARK AGES"
"In the aftermath of the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, a new era began in Europe and the Mediterranean world. The ancient certainties of the Pax Romana lay in ruins and while the eastern emperors, ruling from Constantinople, kept the light of Roman civilisation burning, in the west that light flickered and almost... almost, went out. And so began the period of European history known as the Dark Ages, when out of the ruins of the Western Empire grew a number of new successor kingdoms, ruled over by the barbarian, usually Germanic, peoples who inherited it. For the barbarians, this new settlement was the culmination of a period of defeat, migration and conquest know as the Völkerwanderung - the 'Wandering of the Peoples."

VIKINGS

The Beginning of the Viking Age

"Historical ages are seldom pinned down to specific dates like the Viking Age. Usually, the influence of one group over the history of another is gradual, spread out over a few decades or hundreds of years. But the change in how the Vikings dealt with others in Europe can be pinned down to a single event, an attack on a monastery in England, and is widely accepted as the start of the Viking Age."

Who Were The Vikings?

"In Norse, víking means piracy, and for centuries, ever since Viking raiders savagely attacked England's Lindisfarne monastery in A.D. 793 -- the Vikings have seemed to have been little more than blue-eyed barbarians in horned helmets. But archeological investigations of Viking sites stretching from Russia to Newfoundland have revealed a more human (if not altogether humane) side to the Viking character. Interview with NOVA  and the curator of exhibit on Vikings at the Smithsonian." Explore a Viking village.   Secrets of Norse ships,  diaspora.  Write your name in Runes.  Build Tree-Ring timeline.  

ULTIMATE Barbarian Page!

"Quickly displacing or assimilating the indigents of the regions they entered, they never truly settled anywhere, ever-moving as their needs and resources changed. Eventually they did settle, . . . yet their culture was never elaborate. Those  with whom they came in contact considered them uncivilized, and yet were fascinated by their strength, stamina, force of will, charisma, and versatility. Respected by those they befriended, and feared by those who opposed them. Even within their own society, they fought amongst themselves, seeking supremacy of power and controllership of the lands they acquired." Who were these people and why were they called barbarians and looked down upon? History of Celtic/Germanic peoples and their spread throughout Europe. Maps, who's who, literary works, role-playing games, religious practices, historical resources.

Viking Answer Lady Webpage

Definition of Viking. Timeline of Viking history. Reaction towards Vikings. Viking lifestyle: foods, clothing, recreation, pets and animals, marriage and divorce, and homosexuality. Ships and navigation. Armament, the Berserker (an elite warrior), and feuds and duels. Poetry, religion, and exploits.  And see The BBC Viking Collection Vignettes on interesting areas of Viking life: Religion, Coins, Women, A Typical Day, Warfare, Why Britain, Legacy."

Museums of the Vikings

"Reconstruction of a Viking cheiftain's homestead. Walk around in an area which brings you more than a thousand years back in time.  Take a closer look at how the Vikings lived in a very important period of Norwegian history. See reconstructed buildings, peaceful domestic animals eating grass outside and a reconstruction of a Viking ship by the sea. Not hard to imagine yourself almost 14 hundred years back in time when you feel the atmosphere in this museum."  And HERE.