The Vikings originated in Scandinavia in countries now known as Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The Viking period covered from about the sack of Lindisfarne 793 CE to The Battle of Hastings 1066 CE. Viking were noted for being farmers, raiders, traders, slavers, mercenaries and explorers, using their advanced sailing, navigational skills and longships for exploring river systems and across the seas as part of military, mercantile and territorial expansion and settlement, and even for some serving in the Byzantine Emperor's bodyguard called the Varangian Guard.br br The geographical extent of the Viking travels included to the East - The Baltic, Kiev, Novgorod, Constantinople, along the river routes and to the West - England, Ireland, Scotland, and various islands, Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland Canada.br Our knowledge of the Vikings is hampered because of the lack of recorded history, what we have got are rune stones, the writings of their enemies, the writings of the decedents in the