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The Vikings have a reputation for being a group of powerful, bloodthirsty raiders, but that interpretation isn't very true. While it's true that the Vikings did often take part in raids across Scandinavia and northern Europe, it was rarely their main means of getting resources and definitely not entertainment. For the most part, the Vikings were a lot like other people at the time. They made their livings trading supplies up and down the sea with the various people that lived on those lands. The biggest reason why the Vikings have such a bloodthirsty reputation is because that's what others had written about them, in some cases centuries after the Viking Age ended. The Viking raids, while not as common as normally thought, were relatively bloody. One of the more famous examples of this was when the Vikings raided a monastery in Lindisfarne in 793, mainly because it was an easy target and full of loot.

This monastery was a base of operations for the Templars, who were quite sore losers when it came to Viking raids. They marked the Vikings as threats to their plans, and began to write slanderous accounts of them as bloodthirsty warriors. Templar across Europe followed this example, painting the Vikings as something monstrous and other, and painting themselves as enlightening saviors. These efforts were counteracted by the Assassins, who tended to side with several Vikings and tried their hardest to keep them from becoming the monsters that the Templars made them out to be. Eventually, the Vikings’ dominant means of getting rich became trade and agriculture, not pillaging. They established trade route all across Scandinavia and into other northern European cities such as Hedeby, Roskilde, Birka, Dublin, and York. But eventually the Vikings went much, much further.

Around 982, the Norwegian explorer, Erik the Red, was banished from Iceland on charges of manslaughter. He and his family arrived in Greenland sometime after and began to establish settlements on the land. His son, famous explorer Leif Erikson, would later travel all the way to Vinland (part of modern Canada), along with a crew that was made up partially of Assassins around 999. The Assassins knew that Leif, if successful in his quest, would prove to make a very important discovery. And while they did make it to Vinland, they weren't able to tell for sure that they'd discovered anything significant, and so it was eventually forgotten by the records of the time. Give it a few more centuries, and we'll have that mistake fixed.

And when Lief and his men arrived in North America, they did not settle the land, they did not destroy the environment there, and they did not commit mass genocide by murdering 95% of the Native Americans. Mr. Erikson, I salute you.

And that's why every October 9, we all celebrate the joyous holiday of Leif Erikson Day. Hinga dinga durgan.

And so that goes to show that the Vikings weren't the bloodthirsty murderers that they were made out to be, at least for the most part. They inspired a large amount of cultural diffusion across the lands they visited, and they turned several lands that used to be backwater towns into thriving centers of trade. This was held high in the eyes of the Assassins, and the Brotherhood had a very small golden age for a short time in this region because of their Viking allies. But this golden age was miniscule compared to the one that they'd soon experience. Both the Assassins and the Templars would take a whole new turn in the coming centuries, and it would shape the history of both forever.

Description

The Vikings have a reputation for being a group of powerful, bloodthirsty raiders, but that interpretation isn't very true. While it's true that the Vikings did often take part in raids across Scandinavia and northern Europe, it was rarely their main means of getting resources and definitely not entertainment. For the most part, the Vikings were a lot like other people at the time. They made their livings trading supplies up and down the sea with the various people that lived on those lands. The biggest reason why the Vikings have such a bloodthirsty reputation is because that's what others had written about them, in some cases centuries after the Viking Age ended. The Viking raids, while not as common as normally thought, were relatively bloody. One of the more famous examples of this was when the Vikings raided a monastery in Lindisfarne in 793, mainly because it was an easy target and full of loot.

This monastery was a base of operations for the Templars, who were quite sore losers when it came to Viking raids. They marked the Vikings as threats to their plans, and began to write slanderous accounts of them as bloodthirsty warriors. Templar across Europe followed this example, painting the Vikings as something monstrous and other, and painting themselves as enlightening saviors. These efforts were counteracted by the Assassins, who tended to side with several Vikings and tried their hardest to keep them from becoming the monsters that the Templars made them out to be. Eventually, the Vikings’ dominant means of getting rich became trade and agriculture, not pillaging. They established trade route all across Scandinavia and into other northern European cities such as Hedeby, Roskilde, Birka, Dublin, and York. But eventually the Vikings went much, much further.

Around 982, the Norwegian explorer, Erik the Red, was banished from Iceland on charges of manslaughter. He and his family arrived in Greenland sometime after and began to establish settlements on the land. His son, famous explorer Leif Erikson, would later travel all the way to Vinland (part of modern Canada), along with a crew that was made up partially of Assassins around 999. The Assassins knew that Leif, if successful in his quest, would prove to make a very important discovery. And while they did make it to Vinland, they weren't able to tell for sure that they'd discovered anything significant, and so it was eventually forgotten by the records of the time. Give it a few more centuries, and we'll have that mistake fixed.

And when Lief and his men arrived in North America, they did not settle the land, they did not destroy the environment there, and they did not commit mass genocide by murdering 95% of the Native Americans. Mr. Erikson, I salute you.

And that's why every October 9, we all celebrate the joyous holiday of Leif Erikson Day. Hinga dinga durgan.

And so that goes to show that the Vikings weren't the bloodthirsty murderers that they were made out to be, at least for the most part. They inspired a large amount of cultural diffusion across the lands they visited, and they turned several lands that used to be backwater towns into thriving centers of trade. This was held high in the eyes of the Assassins, and the Brotherhood had a very small golden age for a short time in this region because of their Viking allies. But this golden age was miniscule compared to the one that they'd soon experience. Both the Assassins and the Templars would take a whole new turn in the coming centuries, and it would shape the history of both forever.