Vikingr

The term “Viking”, as it is used to generally describe the people who were part of the Early Medieval Scandinavian Diaspora, has a lot of baggage. To begin with, the word, as we use it now, is a noun. It did not start out as such. The Old Norse word “Viking” is a verb which simply means “to raid”. The etymology of the word is somewhat nebulous, but one of the most common theories is that it is derived from the Old Norse word “vik”, which refers to a cove, inlet or bay, but this is not proven. Someone who participated in raiding activity outside of organized military efforts or campaigns may have been referred to as “Vikingr”, a raider or pirate, but it is almost certain that this is not a title one would retain when returning from such activities. At the height of “The Viking Age” (as the period of European History between the years 793 CE and 1066 CE is commonly referred to), medieval Scandinavians would simply not have referred to themselves as Vikings, and neither would have their non-Scandinavian contemporaries.