The Vikings are well-known for fighting and exploring, yet religion and ritual practices were a big part of their culture and everyday life. Their religious beliefs included many different gods and goddesses, so much so that it is considered a “non-doctrinal community religion.” This means that their beliefs and rituals varied among people.

Although they all had the same gods and beliefs, there were no set practices that had to be followed and people worshiped only the gods that were relevant to their lives. Vikings also worshiped their dead ancestors, communicated with spirits, practiced divination and sorcery, and had a wide variety of burial practices. This resulted in a large range of ritual practices, both within and between communities.

The Vikings passed on knowledge through oral history rather than writing things down. Thus, accounts from the Viking era were either written by outsiders, who may not have fully understood what they were witnessing or being told, or written long after the Viking period had passed.

Descriptions of rituals are sometimes conflicting, potentially inaccurate, or made up, either to paint Vikings in a bad light or to tell a more tantalizing story. Yet here are 10 rituals that are generally considered to have been practiced by the Vikings.

10 Blot Sacrifice

The blot was a sacrifice practiced to gain the goodwill of the gods. These rituals were carried out in large groups on the estate of the local chief who functioned as a priest during the ceremony. They were both a way for people to honor the gods and for the chiefs to show off their wealth.

A blot supposedly happened at four fixed times a year, close to winter solstice, spring equinox, summer solstice, and autumn equinox. They would also have additional ones if they were having problems, like a bad harvest.

In the 13th century, Snorri Sturluson wrote a detailed description of a blot performed by Sigurd Hakonsson. He said that all the local farmers gathered at the temple. There, they sacrificed many animals, mostly horses, and cooked the meat. Twigs were used to spray blood from the animals around the temple and on the participants.^[1]

The cooked meat and glasses of beer were blessed by the chief. While drinking the beer, they toasted to Odin and other gods. Lastly, they toasted to their dead ancestors.

A different story was told by the Arab al-Tartuchi who visited Hedeby, Germany, during winter solstice. He said that people from around the area came together to feast and anyone who sacrificed an animal stuck it on stakes in front of their farm.

9 Human Sacrifice

Though not a common part of Viking life, human sacrifice was practiced at times. As stated, stories from the Viking period are not always reliable, but archaeological remains indicate that human sacrifice did happen occasionally.

In the 11th century, Adam of Bremen wrote about the Vikings based on secondhand accounts. He talked about a tradition practiced at Uppsala, Sweden, every nine years at the beginning of spring. This ritual lasted nine days, with a feast and sacrifice every day. There were nine sacrifices each day for a total of 81 sacrifices.

Each day, they sacrificed a male human and eight male animals. The bodies were hung from trees in a sacred grove that was next to the temple in which the ritual was carried out. This tradition was practiced to honor Odin and secure victory in the coming year. Although they normally sacrificed criminals or slaves, they once sacrificed a king at Uppsala during a time of extreme famine.^[2]

In Snorri Sturluson’s saga, he says that they appeased the gods by sacrificing a large number of oxen one fall in the seventh century. When that didn’t work, they sacrificed a group of men the next year. The following year, they blamed the king for the continued famine and sacrificed him, covering the altar in his blood.

8 Yule Celebrations

Yule, spelled “Jol” in Old Norse, was the name for the period between the winter solstice and the blot associated with it, which is speculated to have happened on January 12. It is uncertain exactly why Yule was celebrated, though it may have been to honor the dead, to receive good luck in the new year, to celebrate the Sun and light as the days were getting longer, or to honor Thor as he was the god who protected the world from the darkness.

The exact rituals followed are also unclear, but texts refer to it as “drinking Jol.” Thus, drinking alcohol was probably a large part of the celebration. There was also a feast that lasted for three days and nights with games and singing.

Vikings would make a large sun wheel (a circular symbol with a cross in the middle), set it on fire, and roll it down a hill to get the Sun to return. They made Yule logs from large pieces of oak, decorated them with yew, holly, or fir, and carved runes into them. This was their way of asking the gods for protection, and a small piece was kept until the next Yule to protect the family and start the first fire of the new year.

They decorated evergreen trees with food, clothes, and carvings of runes and gods to get the tree spirits to return in spring. Young people would dress up in goat skins to represent the goats that pulled the wagon that Thor rode through the sky. Then they would go from house to house to sing and perform plays in exchange for food and drinks.^[3]

7 Berserkers And Ulfhednar

Vikings are well-known for their battle fury, and there was nothing more terrifying than their berserkers and ulfhednar. Both were the result of shamanistic war rituals, but they took on different totem animals. Berserkers (“bear-shirts”) were those who became bear-men and ulfhednar (“wolf-hides”) became wolf-men.

Sometimes wearing nothing but animal furs and heads, these men would go to war, using their bare hands and teeth to fight instead of weapons and shields. Others would get so worked up that they would start biting down on their own shields. According to legends, they also felt no pain and kept fighting despite being badly injured.

To reach this state in battle, they first had to join the ranks of their fellow fighters. To do this, they would live in the wild like their totem animal. This would strip them of their humanity and allow them to take on their animal’s strength.

There were likely many techniques used to reach the frenzied state for which they were famous on the battlefield, including exposure to extreme heat, ritual weapon dances, and fasting. This could cause a self-induced hypnotic trance, resulting in them losing their sense of pain and conscious control of their movements.^[4]

It has also been theorized that they used psychedelic mushrooms or a poisonous fungus to reach a state of delirium before battle. However, these have never been mentioned in sagas and several of the strains proposed would either have been too poisonous or would have resulted in apathy and depression, the opposite of a battle frenzy.

6 Tooth Modification

Vikings put great effort into their appearance with practices such as bleaching their hair with lye, combing it often, and ironing their clothes with hot rocks. However, archaeologists have fairly recently discovered that Vikings also modified their teeth.

Skeletons show signs of intentional changes in the form of horizontal lines carved into the upper front teeth. The researchers believe that the grooves were filled in with dye, most likely red. This practice was not seen anywhere else in Europe at the time.

This may have been a ritual conducted by warriors to incite fear in those they were about to attack or as a symbol of an achievement. However, there are no written records about this practice. As a result, further information about this ritual and any associated traditions are still unknown.^[5]

5 Cremation Rituals

The Vikings had many different ways of disposing of the dead, which included cremation. The ashes could be buried in graves, under piles of rocks, or sometimes with grave goods. The ashes could also be burned with a ship, though this was reserved for high-ranking members of society as ships were expensive.

A description of a Viking ship cremation was written by the Arab Ahmad Ibn Fadlan in the 10th century. He told of the treatment of a chief from the Rus Vikings.

After his death, the chief’s body was left in a grave for 10 days while they made new clothes for him. A slave girl was selected to be sacrificed with him and was then kept drunk and dressed in fine clothing.

On the 10th day, the chief’s ship was pulled up to land and filled with expensive furniture, drinks, food, weapons, and animals. The slave girl had to go to each tent in their settlement and have sex with the man in charge. Afterward, he told her, “Tell your lord I have done this out of love for him.”^[6]

When the girl was ready to get on the ship, the men who had slept with her held their hands together, forming a sort of walkway for her to walk across. The chief was already on the ship.

She went into his room, where six of the men followed and had sex with her again. Afterward, they laid her down next to her master and a woman came in, giving the men a rope with which to strangle the girl. Meanwhile, the woman repeatedly stabbed the girl in the ribs. The ship was then set on fire.

4 Warding Off Draugr

Draugr (aka aptrgangr) and haugbui were the Vikings’ versions of modern-day zombies. Once a person was buried, it was believed that his corpse would be animated again. The haugbui would live innocently in its barrow, protecting its grave goods from grave robbers. However, a draugr would wander out of its barrow and harm any humans it could.

To prevent this, many precautions were taken when burying a body. Pieces of straw would be placed in crosses under the shroud while a pair of open scissors was placed across the chest. The deceased’s big toes were tied together so that it couldn’t walk, and nails were pressed into the foot soles.

When the coffin was carried out of the house, the bearers would stop before walking out the door to lower and raise the coffin three times in different directions, creating the shape of a cross. Sometimes, the dead person was carried out of a house through a special “corpse-door,” a hole in the wall covered in bricks. It would be torn open to remove the deceased and then put back together.^[7]

Vikings thought that the dead could only return the same way that they came. As a result, the deceased wouldn’t be able to enter the house. The body would also be carried out feet first so that it couldn’t properly see which route they took to the burial mound.

When the coffin was out of the house, all the jars, saucepans, and any chairs and stools previously used by the deceased were turned upside down. If the dead were buried in a churchyard, the parson was meant to bind the dead to their graves with magic words.

3 Wedding Ceremonies

Before a wedding, the bride would remove her kransen, a gilt circlet worn by unwed women with their hair loose. She would likely replace this with a wedding crown, and her kransen would be saved for her future daughter.

The groom would have to acquire a sword from one of his ancestors. It is uncertain whether this was done by breaking into the grave of a dead ancestor and taking the sword, breaking into a fake grave prepared for this occasion, or asking a living relative for his sword. During the ceremony, the groom would carry his sword and possibly a hammer or axe to symbolize Thor. Neither the bride nor groom wore special wedding clothes.

The wedding would be held on a Friday as it was Frigg’s day. (Frigg was a goddess of fertility.) The ceremony would start by getting the gods’ attention, possibly by sacrificing or dedicating an animal to one of the gods.

During the ceremony, the groom would give the sword from his ancestor to the bride so that she could keep it for their future son. In turn, she would give the groom a sword. They would then exchange rings and vows.^[8]

After the ceremony, they would head to a hall to feast. Here, the groom would help his bride over the threshold before he plunged his sword into a pillar. The deeper it went in, the more luck and children they would have. The couple had to share some bridal ale (usually mead) that night and for the next month.

At the end of the feast, the couple would be accompanied to bed so that witnesses could testify that their union had been consummated. The next morning, the bride’s hair would be tied up and covered with a cloth to show her status as a wife. The groom would then give her the keys to his house.

2 Infant Rituals

When a baby was born, a couple of rituals were needed for the infant to be considered a real person. Before this, the baby was not considered a human yet, probably as a way for people to protect themselves emotionally as infant mortality was so high.

When the baby was born, he was placed on the ground until the father picked up the child and placed him inside the father’s coat. This symbolized that the father accepted that the baby was his child.

He would then inspect the child. If the baby had any problems, he would be left exposed to die. If he was healthy, they would perform a ceremony called ausa vatni in which they sprinkled water over the baby.

At this point, the child would be named in a ceremony called nafnfesti. For this, the father would state the child’s name and give him a gift. The gifts usually consisted of things such as a ring, weapon, or a farm or land deed. After this, the child could no longer be subject to exposure as it would then be considered murder.^[9]

1 The Blood Eagle

Popularized by the TV show Vikings, this gory method of execution was possibly committed in real life, too. The blood eagle consisted of the victim being placed facedown and restrained. An eagle was carved into his back, and then the ribs were severed from the spine with an axe.

The ribs and the skin around them were pulled outward to represent the wings of the eagle. Next, salt was rubbed into the wound. (The victim was still alive at this point.) Then the lungs were pulled out of the body and stretched across the ribs.

As the victim died, the lungs were fluttering in the wind, reminiscent of a bird’s wings. This is purportedly the method used to kill King Aella of Northumbria in AD 867.^[10]

In AD 793, a disaster came to the isle of Lindisfarne from across the sea. One account describes how “heathens desecrated God’s sanctuaries, and poured the blood of saints within the compass of the altar, destroyed the house of our hope, trampled the bodies of saints in God’s temple like animal dung in the street.” The Vikings had come. These raiders plundered valuables wherever they found them. But conversely, their treasure hunting has left us valuable clues to the past.

Here are ten Viking-era hoards that have revealed much about life at the time.

Related: 10 Amazing Viking Inventions And Innovations

10 Galloway Hoard

The Galloway Hoard, discovered in Scotland in 2014, is one of the richest hoards from the Viking era that has ever been unearthed. After metal detectorist Derek McLennan uncovered a silver armband, archaeologists were called in, and they excavated a trove of over 100 objects. Alongside large amounts of silver bullion were decorated gold pieces, broaches of a type that had never been seen before, decorative glass beads, a vessel carved from rock crystal, and a bird-shaped pin.

As well as the obviously valuable pieces, there was evidence of how they were stored. Scraps of wool and silk had been used to wrap the objects. These were treasured objects, so how did they end up in the ground? Because the objects are a mix of typically “Viking” and Anglo-Saxon artifacts, it is not clear who buried them. Were they booty from a successful raid? Was it a British person burying their wealth to keep it from being stolen?

One of the silver pieces was a broken-up armband. Most silver armbands are thought to be Norse in origin, but this one is marked in British runes with the Old English name Egbert.^[1]

9 Vale of York Hoard

When two metal detectorists uncovered the remains of a lead chest in 2007, they had no idea what they were about to stumble on. As they dug a hole, something fell out of the side of the excavation. Seeing glints of silver, they did not pour out the treasure immediately but instead reported it to archaeologists. When the object was cleaned, it was revealed to be a silver vessel lined with gold crammed full of more silver objects.

In total, nearly 700 coins and other pieces of silver were recovered. The vessel they were held in was a richly decorated cup that closely resembled one already in the British Museum. Both were probably made in the same Carolingian workshop in the 10th century. Many of the coins inside were new types that had not been seen before.

What is most interesting about the hoard is what it reveals about how objects traveled during this period. Objects from North Africa, Afghanistan, Russia, Scandinavia, and Ireland were all found in a vessel from France, demonstrating how vast the Norse trade network was.^[2]

8 Hoen Hoard

The Hoen Hoard is the largest collection of Viking-era gold ever discovered. Found in 1875 when a trench was being dug on a farm in Norway, it contains 207 objects. These included finger rings, neck rings, arm rings, a necklace of glass beads, and coins that have been modified so they can be hung around the neck.

Interestingly, the objects found span 500 years of history. The oldest coin was a Roman one issued around AD 360, while the last was minted at the end of the 9th century. Objects of value could be treasured for generations, it seems. Many of the objects seem to have come from France.

The purpose of burying this hoard is not known, but one theory suggests it represents the wealth of a woman who had invested in a Viking raid. The objects in this hoard, including the female jewelry, may have been her cut of the wealth brought back by the raiders.^[3]

7 Herefordshire Hoard

The fate of the Herefordshire hoard is a prime example of why important archaeological finds should be reported to responsible authorities. When metal detectorists found this hoard in 2015, they took it and began selling the objects to dealers. Instead of a complete collection of unique finds, experts have only a few items that have been recovered.

The objects that have been returned are stunning. They include 30 silver coins, a golden pendant holding a sphere of rock crystal, and a silver ingot. One of the coins was an incredibly rare one dating from the reign of Alfred the Great. Other objects could have revealed more about the political and artistic state at the time.

Police investigated after rumors of a large hoard being uncovered and rare and valuable coins began to emerge with dealers. They found photos by the detectorists, which suggest the original hoard contained at least 300 coins. When complete, it was probably valued at £12 million. The detectorists would have been able to claim half of this amount if they had declared the find but instead tried to sell it to keep it all. In 2019, they were jailed for several years each.^[4]

6 Cuerdale Hoard

The Cuerdale Hoard is the largest Viking-era hoard ever discovered in Britain. It contains over 8,600 objects and was probably buried in the early 10th century. It was discovered in 1840 by workers who were reinforcing the banks of a river in Lancashire. The owners of the land acted quickly to ensure all the items were kept together—though the workers were allowed to keep one coin each for their discovery.

The hoard was found within a large lead chest. Among the objects were bone pins. It seems as if the objects had been placed in the chest inside small bundles of textiles that were held in place by the pins. The majority of the coins were freshly minted by the Norse. A few, however, were silver coins from the Islamic world. The location of the hoard—on a main route from Norse York to the sea—suggests that the hoard was bound for export.

That the silver was parcelled out makes some researchers think that it may have been prepared as payment when it arrived at its destination, with each person receiving their share.^[5]

5 Bedale Hoard

Unlike the Herefordshire Hoard, the discoverers of the Bedale Hoard did everything right. When the metal detectorists came across silver objects while exploring a Yorkshire field, they contacted the Finds Liaison Officer, who deals with artifacts. By leaving many of the objects in the ground, they preserved the context of the hoard, which can tell archaeologists so much about the past.

The Bedale Hoard was composed of silver ingots, silver neck rings, and a sword. The ingots were found in a small area, suggesting they had once been held in a box, which had rotted away long ago. Most interesting was the pommel of the sword, which was decorated with small plaques of decorated gold.

The lack of coins in this hoard is not uncommon in Viking-era hoards. Often silver objects that have been hacked apart are found. The use of this silver bullion was common at the time and formed a large part of the Viking economy.^[6]

4 Arlanda Airport Hoard

One of the largest Viking-era hoards found in Sweden helped to piece together the trade networks which crossed the world at the time. While excavating a burial mound near Arlanda Airport in Stockholm, archaeologists uncovered first one coin, then another, then 470 in total. These coins were not produced locally, however—most came from Damascus and Baghdad.

The coins date from the middle of the 9th century, which was around the beginning of the Norse importing of coins. Most experts agree that they were the product of trade by the Vikings rather than captured during raids. Some of the coins were Persian and centuries old by the time they were buried.

The burial mound where the hoard was discovered was 1,000 years older than the hoard itself. It was probably buried there as the mound was a handy marker on the landscape, and the buriers thought they would be able to locate it again. They were wrong.^[7]

3 Watlington Hoard

The Watlington Hoard is not particularly large by the standards of other hoards on this list. It is important, though, because it marks an important moment in the relations between quarreling kingdoms in Britain. The Viking raiders invaded and took northern England in the 860s while Alfred the Great ruled in the south in Wessex.

The Watlington Hoard contains 13 examples of a British coin that shows Alfred alongside Ceowulf II, the ruler of Mercia. The minting of these coins was supposed to show the level of cooperation between these rulers in the face of Viking opposition. This is important as Ceowulf had long been thought of as a puppet of the Vikings. Now we know he was likely working with Alfred.^[8]

2 Viggbyholm Hoard

The Viking-era hoard excavated in Viggbyholm, Sweden, contained many of the objects that you might expect from such a trove of treasures. There were twisted silver neck collars, arm rings, pearls, and silver coins made into pendants. But among the objects that had once been deposited beneath the wooden floor of a building, there was one coin that sparked the most interest.

The Normans were strongly linked to the Vikings. The name itself is derived from them being “North Men.” Yet there is surprisingly little evidence of trade between the Normans and the Norse. This coin, however, was Norman and of a type not seen since the 18th century. Because that original coin had been lost, there were some who doubted its existence—at least until one appeared here.

The rarity of Norman coins in Viking hoards is explained by the fact that they were only interested in high-quality silver. The Normans mixed copper with their silver to mint coins. The Vikings only wanted the best.^[9]

1 Spillings Hoard

The largest Viking hoard ever discovered was found in 1999 on a farm near Spillings in Sweden. The field was being scanned with metal detectors as part of a TV news segment on how pillaging from archaeological sites could destroy important information on history. Once the cameras stopped rolling, the detectorists decided to carry on. Within minutes, they stumbled on a hoard of silver so large that it overloaded their detectors.

In all, three caches of silver and bronze were discovered at the site. Unfortunately, when one was taken out of the ground still intact to be x-rayed, it proved impossible. There was so much silver in the cache that the x-rays could not penetrate it. The horde contained 486 silver bangles and 14,295 coins. Most of the coins were from the Islamic world and dated from AD 539-870. Well over 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of silver were recovered.

Several of the coins were discovered to be contemporary forgeries. All the coins were high-quality silver but had been minted to give them the impression they came from elsewhere. But as long as the silver was right, it does not seem the Vikings cared too much.^[10]

For the Vikings, reputation was the most important thing in life. In their eyes, a person’s deeds were the only thing that survived them long after they were gone, so they loved to celebrate the actions of their ancestors and friends while trying to make a name for themselves personally, whether that be by exploring, conquering, raiding, or patronizing the people who wrote the songs: the skalds.

As such, we thought that a list retelling the grandest deeds of the Viking kings would be a great way to celebrate them (and to bring some entertainment value). After all, it’s what they would have wanted. Here, we learn about ten Viking kings and their epic deeds.

10 Harald Fairhair, The First King Of Norway

Any list covering the greatest achievements of the Viking kings wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Harald Fairhair.^[1] Despite his pseudo-mythical status, most historians now believe that Fairhair did exist but that his exploits were probably not as dramatic as the sagas make them out to be. He was likely a petty king in Southwest Norway who was able to subjugate his neighbors and rule over a large portion of what is now modern Norway.

According to the sagas, the Battle of Hafrsfjord was a crucial moment for Harald’s young kingdom. Dated to sometime between 870 and 900, it was a large battle by contemporary standards and involved many of the petty kings of Norway. The only king mentioned in a source from the time of the battle was Kjovte the Rich, who supposedly fled after Harald’s victory, leaving many of his men to die. The place believed to be the site of the battle is now marked by the Swords in Rock, three 10-meter-tall (33 ft) monuments which represent Harald and the kings he defeated.

Following Hafrsfjord, Harald established the most influential power bloc in Norway, from which he and his successors were able to exert pressure on their neighbors and ultimately form the Kingdom of Norway, which exists to this day.

9 Rurik, The Founder Of Russia

The Rurikid dynasty was one of the longest-reigning lineages in human history: They were kings in Russia from the depths of the Viking age to the reign of Ivan the Terrible centuries later. And it was founded by a Viking.^[2]

The Primary Chronicle of Russia, which was assembled in 1113 from a collection of earlier pieces, tells us the story of Russia’s beginnings. According to the Chronicle, the Slavic people who lived in modern-day Ukraine and Russia invited Rurik and his two brothers to rule over them, thinking they would bring law and order to the tribes. They clearly accepted, but Rurik’s brothers died shortly after, leaving him to rule alone.

In the past, some historians questioned the authenticity of the story told in the Chronicle, but most now accept it as fact. Rurik was a Varangian, warriors who served the Byzantine emperor as their personal bodyguard (and who were nearly all Norse), so he would have been well-respected. There is also evidence of significant Viking influence in the area of modern-day Russia and Ukraine: When Harald Hardrada lost the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030, he fled to stay with family in Kiev. The Vikings also had trade routes across Europe, from Baghdad and beyond to the coast of Spain, so it’s not unreasonable to expect the warriors and traders who crossed from Scandinavia to Greece and the Middle East to settle down along the way. Odinist symbols and Scandinavian blacksmithing tools dating back to the Viking age, among other items, have been found in Lagoda and Novgorod, which suggests there was at least some Norse influence in the region, and the Arab traveler Ahmad ibn Fadlan encountered Viking tribes while journeying through the lands of the Rus.

Either way, Rurik was a member of the Norse Varangian Guard who established a small kingdom in modern-day Russia, and his descendants (who were raised as Slavs) continued his legacy, remaining kings and princes in the area until 1612, which is no mean feat.

8 Eric Bloodaxe, The Last King Of Northumbria

Most of us have heard of Eric Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of Northumbria. Beyond his name, however, most of us know little about him, but we assume he must’ve been a great Viking to have earned the nickname “Bloodaxe.”

In fact, the name more likely comes from the connotation of “blood” meaning “family” or “brotherhood,” so an equally accurate translation could be “brotheraxe” or “familyaxe.” This nickname makes sense when we learn that he killed five of his brothers in order to win the throne of Norway!^[3]

He only ruled in Scandinavia for a short time before he was deposed by his last remaining brother, fleeing to Britain without a fight. Why he gave up his kingdom so easily we’ll probably never know, but it might have been because he saw a brighter future for himself in the British Isles. If he did, he wasn’t wrong, because he was easily able to assert control over the kingdom of Northumbria and rule it undisputed until his death in 954.

7 Sictric Caech And The Battle Of Islandbridge

The Vikings have a long history in Ireland—the city of Dublin was actually founded by Vikings to serve as a commercial center for their slave trade. Their actual influence in Inner Ireland ebbed and flowed over the years, and in 902, they were forced out of Dublin by a united army of several Irish kings. Sictric Caech was one of these Vikings.

At first, he went on to rule a small kingdom in the Danelaw, but the Anglo-Saxons had conquered most of the Danelaw by 918 and driven most of the Vikings out of England. Following this, Sictric returned to Ireland, this time at the head of an army. They won some early battles with the Irish kings and staked out a small claim for themselves, but the war was far from conclusive.

Things came to a head at the Battle of Islandbridge in 919.^[4] The Irish king Niall Glundub led a coalition of Northern Irish kings to drive the Vikings back out. Sictric and his army met them on the way. The battle was a crushing victory for Sictric, with five Irish kings and the High King of Ireland himself meeting their ends in the bloodbath. Sictric reigned as the undisputed king of Dublin for another three years, after which he seems to have returned to England by his own choice.

6 Sweyn Forkbeard And The Conquest Of England

Sweyn Forkbeard became the first Viking king of all England in 1013, though he only reigned for five weeks before his death—not long enough to even be officially crowned.^[5]

But it is the reasoning behind his invasion that makes him a truly respectable Viking king.

By Sweyn’s time, the Vikings had lived in England for nearly 200 years but had never managed to conquer the entire kingdom. They ruled the northeastern half of England as the Danelaw until the end of Eric Bloodaxe’s reign in 954, when they were driven out. People of Viking descent continued to live in England, however, and the Viking kings across the sea continued to have an interest in their people.

So when the English king ordered the mass slaughter of Vikings living in England in 1002, Sweyn planned his revenge. While he’d been raiding the English coast on and off for a decade or so, now he mustered an invasion force. They landed in 1003, causing widespread destruction and pillaging much of the country in revenge. Ethelred the Unready was forced to pay Sweyn a ludicrous amount of silver to stop the latter from burning his kingdom.

But ten years later, Sweyn was back, this time with an army big enough to seize England. They landed in Kent and rampaged through the countryside, soon reaching London. The English earls, fearing another drawn-out war and already skeptical of their own king, drove Ethelred into exile and declared Sweyn king of England.

While Sweyn’s reign didn’t last long, it did pave the way for another Viking invasion, this one much more permanent.

5 King Cnut And The North Sea Empire

With Sweyn’s death, his son Cnut was left in charge of his father’s army in England. The English lords, however, chose to bring Ethelred back, and Cnut fled to Denmark.

He immediately set about raising a larger army and even asked his brother (and rival), the king of Denmark, for warriors to help him. Poles, Swedes, and Norwegians flocked to his banner, drawn by the promise of loot. Cnut landed in Wessex in 1015 at the head of 10,000 men and laid waste to the country, conquering from Cornwall to Northumbria.^[6]

But London remained defiant under the leadership of the newly chosen English king, Edmund Ironside. The armies of the two kings met at the Battle of Assandun (usually accepted to be modern-day Ashington), where Cnut won a close-fought engagement. English resistance crumbled.

By 1018, Cnut was also king of Denmark following the death of his brother, and he finally conquered Norway in 1028, after years of conflict with various Scandinavian lords. Though they’d originally fought against him, the English were remarkably loyal to Cnut during his reign; he spent much of his 20-year tenure putting down rebellions or fighting enemies in his homeland, leaving England to be governed by his allies, and by his death, nearly all the men on his council were English.

Cnut became one of the most powerful kings in Europe, meeting with the pope and the emperor of Germany on several occasions and fostering economic links between his three kingdoms. While his empire broke apart on his death, he seems to have made little effort in his life to see it continue, abandoning Norway to rebels in the final years of his reign and leaving Denmark to his son Harthacnut and England to his other son, Harold Harefoot. The union of the three kingdoms made Cnut the most powerful king in Europe at the time, however, and his descendants would repeatedly try (and fail) to recreate his successes.

4 Harald Bluetooth’s Ring Fortresses

Before Cnut and Sweyn, however, someone had to turn Denmark into the strong, centralized state that it had to be to go toe-to-toe with England. This king was Harald Bluetooth, Sweyn’s father and long-reigning king of Denmark.

Not all Viking strength came from conquest. Over the course of his 30-year reign, Harald transformed Denmark from a political backwater into a strong medieval state. Harald’s plans for creating a centralized government are best summed up by his Trelleborg ring forts: fortresses built across Danish territory, centered at the fort at Aarhus, in the geographical center of the region. Each one was built to exact standards, with four gates (each facing one of the compass points), a tall wall and ditch around the outside, and an open courtyard with administrative buildings in the middle.^[7] These would have served as both tax collection points and places for Danish kings to muster their armies, laying the groundwork for the conquests of his son and grandson.

The fortresses were all built in locations that were close to the sea, but far enough from it to be safe from sea raids, and alongside Viking land routes, where they would have been both well-connected and highly visible, a powerful symbol of the king’s authority. Their sites seem to have been meticulously chosen to efficiently defend and control the people of Denmark, which was no doubt at the forefront of Bluetooth’s mind after the history of wars in Norway and his father’s difficult reign.

Unfortunately for him, the ultimate threat came from within, when his son Sweyn forcibly deposed him.

3 Harald Hardrada And The Destruction Of Heidaby

Harald Hardrada (Hard-Ruler) is famous in history for being one of the last Viking kings and for unsuccessfully trying to seize the throne of England by force—losing the crucial Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 to Harold Godwinson, which paved the way for William the Conqueror’s ultimate victory.^[8]

This battle, however, came at the end of a long and distinguished Viking career which had taken Harald all around the known world, from Norway to Sicily and Palestine, over the course of 30 years. Perhaps his greatest (or worst) feat was the destruction of Heidaby. Heidaby was a Norse town at the base of Jutland with trade connections across the northern world: It rose to prominence in the late 700s and became the most important town in the Western Viking world.

Harald, who was king of Norway at the time, was trying to subdue Denmark and add it to his realm, and he sought to weaken Denmark by raiding its coast. His campaign took him to Heidaby, which refused to willingly submit to him. In response, he drove burning ships into the harbor, setting it alight. The flames spread rapidly across the whole town. Snorri Sturlason writes that Harald’s men sang: “All Heidaby is burned down! Strangers will ask where stood the town. In our wild humor up it blazed, and Svein looks round him all amazed,” (albeit in Old Norse, of course).

The town of Heidaby never recovered and fell from importance. It was finally brought to an end by a Slavic raid in 1066, which wiped it off the map for good.

2 Sweyn II Of Denmark And The Last Viking Invasion Of England

The death of Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 is usually considered the end of the Viking age, and many people call Hardrada the last Viking king. The truth is hardly ever that simple, however.

Following William’s conquest of England, the Godwin family were deposed but not defeated. They continued to harass the new kingdom from the sea, and in 1069, Sweyn II of Denmark decided to back one of the Anglo-Saxon pretenders.^[9] Why he did so is not 100-percent clear, but it may have been related to his lifelong rivalry with Hardrada. After all, Hardrada had died trying to seize England, so what better way to one-up your rival once and for all than to succeed where he failed?

Sweyn was successful, too, seizing a good portion of Northern England and holding it from William, but in true Viking fashion, he was ready to seize the advantage and turned on his Anglo-Saxon ally when William offered to pay him a large sum of money to go back to Denmark; without Sweyn’s support, the rebellion crumbled, and England remained Norman. The Vikings were never able to conquer England again.

1 Olaf III, The Last Viking King

This brings us to our last epic Viking king, and the man who some consider the real last Viking king, Olaf III—who was known as Olaf the Peaceful. While not as warlike or bloodthirsty as the other Viking leaders on this list, Olaf was a great politician who effectively created the modern state of Norway.^[10]

Olaf may have been swayed by his involvement in his father Harald’s invasion of England in 1066. While he was not present at the battle where his father died—he remained with the ships—he was a great proponent of peace during his reign, and Norway didn’t go to war for a quarter of a century, putting him at stark contrast with his father, who was always either adventuring or trying to expand his domains.

Olaf deliberately transformed Norway into a more “normal” continental European country: he drew the Norwegian church into line with the pope’s teachings and reorganized the dioceses of Norway, and it’s also believed he was the first Viking king who learned to read. He built a European-style court around himself, introducing medieval aristocratic culture to Norway. During his reign, urban growth flourished, and the town of Bergen was founded, which went on to become the capital of medieval Norway. Many Norwegian laws were officially put down in writing for the first time in Olaf’s reign.