In less than 300 years, Vikings raided and explored lands on at least four continents; It spread from Scandinavia in all directions, capturing and trading with civilizations in Europe and beyond. So how far did the Vikings go and why were they so adventurous?

In fact, the biggest motivation of the Vikings was power and wealth. “The Vikings were very aware of what was going on in England and on the continent at the time,” says Alexandra Sanmark, professor of medieval archeology at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland. “They knew there was wealth here and they traded with these people for a long time. And then, it seems, they realized they didn’t need to trade anymore. You can just take it.”

According to Sanmark, in the Viking Age (793-1066 AD) the first organized fleets of young men set out from Scandinavia to raid in the summer and return with spoils in the autumn. Over time, these conquerors began to settle in new lands, gradually bringing their families with them, creating permanent settlements and establishing stopping points on important routes.

“There were periods when the Vikings controlled huge areas, but apart from King Cnut’s North Sea Empire, it wasn’t an empire,” says archaeologist Ellen Nyss of the Cultural History Museum in Oslo, Norway. “Archaeologists call it a pirate kingdom; there were many individual warlords or leaders who acted together for mutual benefit, sometimes as part of large armies, sometimes in smaller independent groups. This had nothing to do with national pride; it was about personal power and personal power.” “It was rich.”

According to Sanmark, the first expeditions west would bring raiders into northern Scotland; here they quickly overran the local population and established Viking settlements. From here short journeys to the nearby Hebrides and Pharos were possible, eventually enabling the Vikings to reach the islands as far as Iceland by 870.

Perhaps most impressively, around the year 1000, they made their first voyage across the Atlantic to southwestern Greenland, eventually reaching L’Anse-au-Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, 2,400 miles (3,900 kilometers) from Norway. But while this success is a testament to the extraordinary skill of the Vikings as sailors and mariners, facts show that they did not stay long in North American settlements.

“Greenland was definitely important for the Vikings in terms of getting to and from Newfoundland,” Nöss told LiveScience. “One of the important resources they found in Greenland was the walrus, which they hunted for their valuable tusks and ivory skins.” A study published in April 2023 in the journal Antiquity found that these explorers even brought large trees from North America to build Greenlandic settlements.

“We don’t know for sure why settlement in Newfoundland stopped, but it was too far from ‘home’ and the resources were roughly the same as back home, so there was no real motivation to go any further,” Nyoss said.

However, their eastward expansion had a completely different character. Adhering to proper water travel, Viking warriors crossed the Baltic Sea and, in the 900s, traveled the inland rivers of Eastern Europe and Russia, passing through present-day Kiev, Ukraine, and Novgorod, Russia, to Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire. Baghdad around 1000.

“There was a big difference in the type of civilization, and I’m sure they would be very impressed if they saw the Arab coins as well as the buildings, clothing, and artifacts,” Sanmark told LiveScience. “Here, the Vikings focused on trade rather than raiding, and they assimilated with the local population and became very powerful.

In fact, the Vikings probably went further east than archaeologists can prove with certainty. “We can trace them through burials, settlements or written sources,” Sanmark continues, “but once that is over we can only see what they brought to Scandinavia.” Sweden has silk from China, but we don’t know how far they go to get the material. But he certainly had connections as far as China and India, there’s no doubt about that.”

Less well known is the spread of the Vikings southward, along the northern coast of Francia (now France), the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), and finally, in the early 11th century, along the northern coast of Africa. However, due to the harsh arid conditions and lack of waterways, they never attempted to cross the Sahara and move towards Africa.

The Viking Age gradually came to an end in the mid-11th century, as political developments brought about by contact with other cultures and the spread of Christianity led to changes in public attitudes. But during their 300-year heyday, the Vikings certainly made their mark on the world.

“In terms of distance, the settlement in Newfoundland is probably the furthest they’ve gone,” says Nöss. “But from a cultural perspective, Baghdad was perhaps an even greater journey into the unknown for the Vikings.”