The Vikings were an aggressive Scandinavian populace who from the 8th to the 11th centuries moved as ruthless raiding bands who invaded Europe and Russia. From the long term perspective the migrations and conquests in the 9th C. were the second phase of a movement that began about 1000 BC. These Germanic/Scandinavian peoples were
moving into the Rhine-Danube frontiers of the Roman Empire by 300 BC.
The invasions of Europe and Russian in the 9th century by the fleets of powerful Viking ships bringing fierce warriors to terrify England, Ireland and France were the ultimate pirates and freebooters of their time. Heathen and illiterate warriors from Norway, Sweden and Denmark sailed to plunder and integrate the coastal communities of
England and Northern France. Perhaps the most successful of these integrations was accomplished by the Vikings in Normandy who became the warriors of William of Normandy who conquered England in 1066.