The Vikings caused a lot of plunder all over the country and were very feisty and violent people. They were not at all scared of killing people; in fact a lot of men loved war and battles. After the Vikings arrived in Scotland, Christianity was increasingly rising and growing rapidly. Many churches and monasteries were beginning to become very rich which is why the Vikings decided to attack them. They robbed homes and churches, taking with them, coins and precious glass as well as richly decorated gold and silver. They drove away cattle, killed thousands of people and also burned their homes. The Vikings attacked Britain’s holy places, slaughtered its monks, and carried away countless treasures. Well-designed boats and convenient winds helped the Vikings come and go as they pleased. The Vikings caused great misery and terror because of their raids and Britain as devastated as the raiders divided the land amongst themselves.
The Vikings settled in many different places. Although many people have predicted why the Vikings came to Scotland we do not know for sure but different people suggest different reasons for example, one important reason is that there was not enough farmland in their own countries. When a Viking farmer died, his eldest son took over the farm. Then the younger sons had to leave and look somewhere else for a living. (Women took over if there were no sons). Many Vikings were forced to leave home because of war. Overpopulation created a need for more land. The Vikings may have also come to Scotland because Scandinavia is a mountainous region and it would have been hard to grow crops on land. By the eighth century the population had added rapidly and there wasn’t enough land for everyone. Scandinavia was also cold and bleak with deep rivers, rocky coasts and mountains. The Vikings settled very quickly in Scotland and one of the most important things they did was trade.
In the Viking days ‘Trade’ was very important. The Vikings were great traders and managed to get many useful things by trading things, which they normally couldn’t acquire. Although they usually stole things they still did not have enough things to make a proper living therefore the Vikings sometimes decided that rather than attacking and stealing property to get things they would just trade. They travelled as far South as the Black Sea trading various items. Many items were traded; for example, they gave away a lot of their fur, woollen fabrics, jewellery and slaves in exchange for wine, oils, spices, gold, and many precious stones, which were brought to Scotland.
This essay is all about why the Vikings came to Scotland over 1000 years ago. There are many different reasons to this question but all these reasons have just been predicted and scientists have not found out anything about why the Vikings mysteriously appeared in Scotland. I think that all the reasons that have been predicted are equally important and all play an important role in this interesting historical topic.