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Whilst the Vikings are mostly famous for their attacks on foreign countries like England, France and Ireland, not even the Norse themselves were safe from their own kind. In the 10th century, Western Iceland was haunted by a band of Vikings led by Óspak Kjallakson. Originally a farmer, Óspak took to travelling the coast and plundering his neighbors. He and his thirty supporters retired to a small wooden fort, where they held off their besiegers until Ospak died, and his followers surrendered.

So too were pirates a threat on mainland Scandinavia. In the 11th to 13th centuries, Slavic pirates posed a huge threat to the Scandinavian Kingdoms. Neither were they safe from their neighbors. The other Kings might wish to expand their realms through conquest, and measures had to be implemented to safeguard the coastlines of Norway, Denmark and Sweden.


Sources:
Ship and Society Gunilla Larsson
The Vikings Osprey Publishing
Viking Hersir Osprey Publishing
Laxdala Saga
Eyrbyggja Saga

Image Sources
By Skydrake Own work, based upon the banner on the Amlaib Cuaran's coin, the Bayeux Tapestry and TRAJAN 117's Raven Banner.png, CC BYSA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...

0:00 Introduction
0:53 Coastal Defences
4:00 Organization
8:08 Sea Battles

#history #ships #vikings #vikingage #ledung #seabattles #battles