you wouldn’t want to be a viking explorer! 4: viking exploring and settling vikings left their...

Teachers’ Information Sheet by Nicky Milsted

The book follows the adventures of a group of Viking explorers who set out from Greenland in the late 10th century AD to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open longship. The challenges encounteredon the journey include hunger, cold, poor weather, fatigue, spaceconstraints, and navigational difficulties. The Viking adventurersarrive in ‘Vinland’ (modern-day North America) to face even morechallenges: finding food and shelter, and violent indigenous people(dubbed skraelings or ‘screaming barbarians’ by the Vikings). It’s clear that You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer!

Who were the Vikings?

The Viking age is commonly described as lasting from around AD 790, when the earliestrecorded Viking raids occurred, into the 11th century, when England was unified under Saxonrule prior to the Norman invasion of 1066. (It is important to note that during this period, therewas no concept of the United Kingdom as we know it now.)

Vikings originated from Scandinavia, and are often characterised as violent raiders and warriors.Viking people were confident seafarers and explorers; from their Scandinavian homelands theycolonised Iceland and Greenland, and, in the late 10th century AD, Leif Ericsson crossed theAtlantic Ocean to North America. Evidence of Viking influences and trading has been foundthroughout northern Europe, around the Mediterranean Sea, and into Russia and Central Asia, as well as in Canada and North America. Although there is evidence of Vikings’ bloodthirstyways, such as the raid on the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumbria in AD 793, many Vikings were simply in search of new territory to settle in. The classic picture of a Viking, a horned-helmet-wearing warrior, is largely a Victorian invention. There is to date noarchaeological evidence of horned helmets!

Vikings settled in the British Isles from Denmark and Norway. Broadly speaking, Danish Vikingssettled in the north of England, particularly Yorkshire and Derbyshire, whereas NorwegianVikings ruled Orkney, Shetland and much of the Western Isles of Scotland, as well as parts oflowland Scotland and Northumbria. Viking place names that survive in Britain today indicate thearea covered by the ‘Danelaw’ – the part of England ruled by the Vikings. Place names that pointto a Viking influence often end in ‘-by, ‘-thorpe’, and ‘-wick’, for example Selby, Cleethorpes and Alnwick.

Vikings are famous for their sagas; long and detailed generational stories that weave together thenarratives of gods and forebears. These were central to Viking culture, and were passed downthrough oral retellings and only committed to written form centuries later. Vikings are alsorenowned for their craft skills including boat building (like the famous longships – complete withdragon-head prow) weaponry, tools, domestic goods and fine jewellery.

You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer!

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You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer

Activity 1: What’s your Viking name?

Encourage your pupils to adopt a Viking name for their adventures as a Viking explorer. Theymay wish to Viking-ise their own name, or use the Viking name creator in the pupils’ pack.

Viking names of warriors and explorers tended to be descriptive, for example Erik the Red orSven Forkbeard. Other names were designed to instil fear or reverence: Eric Bloodaxe, BjornIronside, Cnut the Great or Ivar the Boneless. A further category of Viking names are those linkedto their forebears: Leif Ericsson (son of Erik the Red) and Freydis Eiriksdottir (daughter of Erikthe Red).

Once your pupils have chosen their Viking name, ask them to either describe or draw themselvesas a Viking.

Why not try… Viking speed-dating? In pairs, ask your pupils to interview each other as Vikings.What is their favourite thing about being a Viking, for example?

Research challenge: Ragnar Lodbrok is a famous Viking. His name is descriptive, and uses theOld Norse word ‘Loðbrók’ which roughly translates as ‘hairy breeches’. Why was Ragnar called‘hairy breeches’? Challenge your pupils to research his story, and retell it to their classmates.

Activity 2: Viking expedition advert

In You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer, Thorvald is planning an expedition to NorthAmerica. Challenge your pupils to design a poster or advert to encourage Vikings to join theexpedition.

Extension activity: The expedition is over-subscribed. Appoint a panel of pupils as members ofthe expedition, including Thorvald – the expedition leader – and ask them to conduct jobinterviews of the potential candidates. You could ask the candidates to prepare a CV or completea job application form; the panel should decide on the questions to ask the candidates. Whatcharacteristics are they looking for in their expedition crew?

Activity 3: Get packing!

Space is at a premium on board the expedition longship. Explorers’ belongings were packed intosea chests that they then sat on to row the boat. Challenge your pupils to pack for the trip – theycan each take five items from the selection given on the activity sheet. What will your pupilschoose to take, and why?

Talking point: If your pupils were to undertake an expedition now, what would they pack?

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Activity 4: Viking exploring and settling

Vikings left their homelands in Scandinavia and explored and raided across the North Atlanticand around the coast of the British Isles. They colonised Iceland and Greenland, and traded (and raided!) around the Mediterranean Sea.

Pupils can label the map of Europe from the book on the activity sheet, in order to create theirown version. Using arrows, can they mark on routes taken by Viking explorers?

Talking point: Have any of your pupils visited places that the Vikings explored? How did theytravel to get there?

Extension activity: Viking settlers left their mark on Britain in place names derived from OldNorse which are still used today. Most Viking place names are made up of a prefix, which wasoften related to a person, and a suffix that described the place. Viking suffixes include ‘-by, ‘-thorpe’, ‘-haven’ and ‘-wick’, for example Selby, Cleethorpes, Whitehaven and Alnwick. The ‘by’suffix meant village or settlement; ‘thorpe’ meant farm; ‘haven’ related to a harbour; and ‘wick’relates to the Scandinavian word ‘vik’ for a creek or bay (some ‘wick’ place names are from anAnglo-Saxon root, rather than being specifically Viking, and mean port or other trading place).

Other Viking place name suffixes include:● toft – a single homestead or farm● ness – a coastal headland● kirk – church (this is sometimes seen as a prefix as well as a suffix)

A good example of a very Viking place name is Grimsby, which was believed to be first settledby a Danish Viking fisherman called Grim. The town’s name simply comes from Grim's by,meaning Grim’s village.

Either: Ask your pupils to choose one or more of these suffixes and mark settlements that includethem onto a blank map of Britain. Is there any pattern? Can they spot the parts of Britain wherethere was greater Viking influence?

Or: Using an ordnance survey map of your own locality, ask pupils to identify settlements thatmay be Viking in origin. Can they spot any? Are there any patterns with their distribution? Manysettlements with a Viking origin are close to the coast or along navigable river courses.

Why not try... naming your own Viking settlement? Encourage your pupils to come up with theirown Viking place name based on their Viking name that they chose in the first activity.Whereabouts would their settlement be? For example, if they named a settlement ‘Erikshaven’,would it be inland, or on the coast? You could create a new map of Viking Britain using all ofyour pupils’ new places!

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Activity 5: Longship maths

Obviously the speed of longships varied from vessel to vessel. Under sail, a Viking longship withfavourable winds could travel at a top speed of up to 20 knots (approximately 37km/h).Longships could be powered by as few as 12 pairs of rowers. An archaeological discovery duringthe 1990s in Roskilde in Denmark uncovered a huge longship 37m long (the longest everdiscovered). It had more than 30 rowing positions on both sides. When powered by oars, alongship with a rowing crew of 32 (i.e. 16 pairs of rowers) could travel at a top speed of around 4 knots (about 7.4km/h).

There are some maths challenges linked to these facts on the longship maths sheets. Your moreable pupils may be able to devise their own maths challenges for their peers using these facts too.

Talking point: can your pupils discuss some of the factors that would affect a longship’s speed?Think about both the ship itself, the crew members, and the sea/weather conditions.

Talking point: a knot is a measurement of speed when travelling at sea; it equates to one nauticalmile per hour and was first used in the 17th century. Can your pupils think of other terms used tomeasure speed?

Activity 6: Board games

There is archaeological evidence for Viking board games, including the game hnefatafl which ismentioned in You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer. Archaeological finds of game boardssuggest that this was played on a board of either 11x11 or 13x13 squares or dots. Various Vikingsagas also include references to board games. It is thought that in hnefatafl, the pieces are movedaround the board to try and capture the king – but nowhere are full rules given for the game!

Split your class into small groups to create a board game based on hnefatafl. They need to decidehow their board will be laid out and make it, how many pieces each player has and make them(from clay or using small pebbles, for example), and discuss the rules of their game betweenthemselves – where do the pieces start on the board, how can the pieces move, and how is thewinner decided?

Each group should write a set of rules to their game. When the groups swap games, can theyfollow the rules written by another group?

Why not try… playing other board games, such as backgammon, draughts, nine men’s morris, and chess. Does playing these help your pupils to create their own game?

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Activity 7: Viking rowing song

Vikings spent a long time on board their longships. What better way to pass the time than a bit ofa Viking sing-song to keep their spirits up whilst rowing? Challenge your pupils to come up withsome words for a Viking rowing song. A good rhythm is useful to keep the rowers in time, soyour song may be more of a chant than a complicated tune. Remember that the rowers wouldhave to have enough breath to row too! The words should be motivational and encourage therowers to keep rowing. They might relate to where the Vikings are going, what they expect tofind/steal, why Vikings are the best, and how they never give up.

Why not try… setting up your own Viking longship using pairs of chairs, and perform some ofyour Viking songs in a school assembly?

Activity 8: Arty challenges!

Viking longships had intricate carved prows, often featuring dragons or fearsome birds such aseagles. Can your pupils design their own longship prow? They could even try making them out ofclay or papier-mâché.

Viking longships were often decorated with shields on either side, which were also used infighting and raiding. These were circular and had a central boss. Can your pupils design their ownViking shields? A template is given on the activity sheet. Again your pupils could make theirshields – strong cardboard from packing boxes makes great shields, and the central boss can bemade out of a ball of newspaper or an upturned yoghurt pot.

Pupils’ pack contents

● Viking name generator● ‘Me as a Viking’ activity sheet● Viking explorer job application form● ‘Get packing!’ activity sheet● ‘My Viking exploration map’ activity sheet● ‘Longship maths’ activity sheets (4)● Viking crossword● Design your own Viking shield● Blank sheet with the border top and bottom for your pupils’ own artwork and writing

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Answers: Longship maths (1)

1) How far would your longship travel when powered at top speed by oars, in:

a) 2 hours? 8 nautical milesb) 10 hours? 40 nautical milesc) 1 day? 96 nautical milesd) 2 days? 192 nautical miles

2) How far would your longship travel when powered at top speed by sail, in:

a) 2 hours? 40 nautical milesb) 10 hours? 200 nautical milesc) 1 day? 480 nautical milesd) 2 days? 960 nautical miles


1) How much further would your longship travel when powered bythe sail rather than oars, in:

a) 1 hour? 16 nautical milesb) 5 hours? 80 nautical milesc) 8 hours? 128 nautical miles

2) Your longship gets stuck in the fog! Your rowers row at half speed.How fast are you now travelling?

2 knots

3) Rowing is hard work! Your rowers row at full speed for 1 hour, half speed for thesecond hour, and quarter speed for the third hour. How far will you have travelled?

7 nautical miles

4) There’s a hole in your sail! Your longship sails at three quarters of its full speed.How fast are you travelling?

15 knots

5) You spy land! You travel for 30 minutes at full speed under sail, and then row at fullspeed for 30 minutes before reaching land. How far out to sea were you?

12 nautical miles

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1) What is the perimeter of your sail? 44m

2) What is the area of your sail? 121m2

3) a) How many white stripes are there? 6b) How many red stripes are there? 5

4) In total, what is the area of the white stripes? 66m2

5) In total, what is the area of the red stripes? 55m2


1) How fast, in km/h, can your longship travel when powered:

a) by oar at full speed? 7.4 km/hb) by sail at full speed? 37 km/hc) by oar at speed? 5.5 km/h

2) It is approximately 460 nautical miles from Bergen in Norway to Grimsby in the UK.How long would this journey take in your longship:

a) by oar at full speed? 115 hours (or 4 days and 19 hours)b) by sail at full speed? 23 hours

c) if you travelled for 10 nautical miles at both ends of your journey at full speed byoar, but spent the rest of the journey travelling at full speed by sail?

27 hours (or 1 day and 3 hours)

10 nautical miles would take 2 and a half hours by oar (10 nautical miles ÷ 4 knots)

The crew rowed for 10 nautical miles at both ends of the journey, making 20 nautical miles in 5 hours.

460 – 20 = 440 nautical miles still to travel by sail. This was done at full speed, so 440 ÷ 20 = 22 hours.

The total journey thus took 5 hours by oar + 22 hours by sail = 27 hours.

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Answers: Viking crossword

Across clues

1) Pyres

5) Erik

6) Hnefatafl

9) Odin

10) Tar

12) Thor

13) Beserk

Down clues

2) Runes

3) Skraeling

4) Leif

6) Hudfat

7) Longship

8) Valkyrie

9) Oar

11) Axe

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you wouldn’t want to be a viking explorer! 4: viking exploring and settling vikings left their...

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