North of them, Or were the Vikings a complete surprise when they showed up at Lindisfarne a?
I understand, vikings were trading with Muslims and people west of them but did the English and later french know who was attacking them?
Im not an expert on this but raids tend not to get announced which can lead to "SOME PEOPLE RAIDED US! I BET IT WAS OUR NEIGHBORS! LETS RAID THEM BACK! *actual raiders was some village somewhere else entirely*"
Didnt le Germanic people descend from the vikings?
>>373701
Well of course not that but did they Know they were Vikings during the raid or even after?
Depends what you mean by Vikings. The political system of the Anglosaxon England that the late 8th/early 9th century raiders from Scandinavia encountered, had itself been established by Germanic travelers who arrived from the sea and toppled the Roman-British rulers. However they were definitely not expecting to be attacked, having not been a seafaring people for some centuries by the time of the viking age, and seemingly weren't really cognizant that there were lands across the sea to the east apart from continental Europe.
At least some French people were probably aware of what was going on since Normandy wasn't first raided until England and Ireland had already been hit for a few decades. However, I have a hard time believing the monks at Lindisfarne had any idea who was killing them at first -- the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle's entry for the initial raid only describes them as "heathens" not Danes or Norsemen. That came later, when they had become known for their trading expeditions as well.
>>373706
This is meaningless question. Viking isn't the name of a people or ethnic group, it is just old norse way of saying sea-traveler/raider/pirate. The norse peoples who used the word and who we now often describe by it were Germanic peoples that spoke Germanic languages, but they weren't the "ancestors" of the Germanic people any more than the contemporary Anglosaxons or regular old Saxons were.
>>373706
>using Viking as a synonym of Scandinavian
Off yourself.
>>373649
Generally yes. Many of the small villiges had no idea in the beginning, but the kings and landlords new the raiders were from the north. Although the English often reffered to all viking raiders as Danes, as that Is who they where familiar with thw most.
The Romans knew about them.
>>373822
I think some old scandinavian graves have had roman coins in them so they traded with them or traded with people who traded with the romans.
>>373649
tfw when I know her
>>373649
They traded with England and Western Europe before the Lindisfarne attack.
Then there is the whole Beowulf saga and the Frisians etc etc.
