THE VIKINGS- raiders or traders?

Answer 1

In general, the pattern was of trade first, and THEN raiding.

It is a bit more complicated than some of the simple explanations sometimes given (esp. that based on 'sudden population growth'). Here are several of the factors that seem to have come together to explain the "Viking age" (about 790 - 1066), esp. the growth in their trading activity followed by a turn to raiding/piracy:

First, note that growth in trade is often accompanied by growth in piracy (compare the growth of piracy in the 16th century as many ships bearing goods from colonial outposts). So if we understand the growth in TRADE and economic development in Scandinavia in the 8th Century it's easier to understand the raiding part.

1) Historical reasons for growth in TRADE at this time:

a) "Europeans had to become financially independent at the time when Arabs isolated northwest Europe from the trade routes into the Far East, and in order to prosper trade routes were extended from the English Channel to the North Sea coasts, while ports grew along the way"
http://www.exulanten.com/karl1.html

b) TECHNOLOGY: the development of ocean-going ships (that is, technological development made long distance trade and piracy POSSIBLE about this time!) Shipbuilding had been going on a long time already, encouraged by the simple realities of Scandinavian geography. But by the late eighth century they had reached the point where they were ABLE to build ships that could travel far across the sea.

One key technological advance was in the use of iron... and with this there was growth in iron-mining, leading to a concentration of the population in mining areas.


2) The shift to RAIDING:

a) Probably NOT "population growth" and "land scarcity" (a popular, commonly cited explanation).

Note that the CONCENTRATION of population mentioned above, does NOT mean there was a great population GROWTH (presumably connected to improve agriculture yields that might have been helped by climate change, viz. 'Medieval Warm Period') with scarcity of land pushing some to look for new lands to settle and thus prompting raids. For if it was a matter of CONCENTRATION, not overall growth, there would still have been much Scandinavian land available. That is, there would NOT have been a scarcity of land.

Another major problem with this explanation --the simple historical fact that Viking SETTLEMENTS followed their raids by several decades. This is rather unlikely if their main motivation was land to settle on!

b) raiding was supported by the particular heroic ethic in Scanadinavian society ("Moveable wealth is the cement of the lord-follower relationship in this type of society.")

c) the lure of plundering moveable wealth. The ease/success in initial raids breeded more!

Many of the factors mentioned so far are considered here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A330788


c) KINGDOMS (AND RELIGIONS?) IN CONFLICT: Danes vs. Franks:
Another key historical factor may be found in the conflict between the Danish vs. Frankish kingdoms. In 785 Charlemagne defeated the Frisian fleet. This may have disrupted Scandinavian trade with inland Europe and encouraged their journeys.
http://www.crystalinks.com/vikings.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne#Saxon_campaigns

But, more than that, it brought the two kingdoms in direct proximity and conflict. The raids of the Vikings (note that the Danes are a key part of this) may be a reprisal for Charlemagne's acts.

This may have been exacerbated by a 'pagan vs. Christian' conflict (reflected, for instance, in Beowulf). The Scandinavians were the LAST group to give up their pagan/native religions. The fact that they frequently raiding churches and monasteries fits with the "anti-Christian" argument.

"The Danish/Viking raids on Charlemagne’s empire and on the wealthy churches and monasteries in it, can be seen as a heathen reprisal"
http://web.quipo.it/minola/frysk/history_of_the_frisian_people.htm

But it must also be kept in mind that these are precisely the sort of places ANYONE might raid, since they were locations where wealth was concentrated.

Answer 2

Viking basically means raider. to go a viking was to go on a raiding mission. Your question really should be Dark Age Scandanavians - viking raiders or traders? And they were both. Not all took the viking path but the population growth and scarcity of land drove many to raid and later to settle in conquerored areas.

Answer 3

Both. In part their raiding was to open up trade routes. They traded, for example, with the Byzantine Empire by sailing their longboats down the Russian rivers, including the Volga to the Black Sea, dragging them across land where necessary.

Answer 4

personally... raiders.