The Vikings were Scandinavian seafaring traders, warriors and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe. They travelled in long, open ships. The Viking ships, also known as ‘dragon-ships’ or ‘long-ships’, were designed to travel at a comparatively high speed.
The largest Viking ship could carry about 100 sailors at a time. Their unique construction made them seaworthy. They were ‘clinker built’, which is a method of boat building, where the edges of hull planks overlap. They were usually finished with copper nails. These Scandinavian pirates were infamous for their raiding and invasion skills. They used to attack, raid, and loot coastal areas without any warning. The Vikings conquered most of the places they raided, and established their colonies in many of these lands.
Though the Vikings travelled mostly for trading, their interest in raiding and looting made them the most-feared pirates of their time. They mainly targeted the British Isles, the Atlantic, and the North Sea shoreline of the Carolingian Empire, which included most of what is now France, Germany, and to the east of what became Russia.