Vikings

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/vikings

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary period of activity?The Viking Age spanned from approximately 793 AD to 1066 AD
2. What is the geographic origins?The Norse peoples originated from Scandinavia, comprising modern-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark
3. What were Vikings like?Vikings were farmers, traders, artisans, and warriors. They built longships and had courts called "things" to make rules.
4. How did Viking longships help them travel?Viking longships had a shallow draft so they could go up rivers and land on beaches. Their hulls were built with overlapping planks, and they used a big square sail and oars to move fast.

Norsemen: The seafaring people of Scandinavia who undertook voyages during the Viking Age.
Clinker-built: A shipbuilding technique where hull planks overlap, providing strength and flexibility.
Danelaw: The historical region of England under the control of Viking (Danish and Norse) law and influence.
Thing: An assembly or council in early Germanic and Norse societies, serving legislative and judicial functions.