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National Geographic : 1962 Dec
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National Geographic, December, 1962 edge of their greed. Pirate ships, sometimes in fleets of 300 to 400 vessels, coursed up the Rhine and the Meuse, the Humber and the Thames, the Seine and the Loire. One band rowed up the Guadalquivir and attacked the Moorish rulers of Spain. Another laid siege to Paris, and only a desperate ten month defense saved the city. The Norsemen possessed a genius for ex ploration. They embarked on expeditions that ranged as far away as Greenland, trading and colonizing. The Vikings also went east, establishing themselves in several places in Russia, and used the rivers as highways to trade with the Middle East. In an attempt to plunder Azer baijan, a province of modern Iran, they sailed the Caspian Sea. They also attacked Con stantinople and exacted tribute. Settlements Followed Norse Conquest Most dramatic and controversial of Norse expeditions was the westward voyage of Leif Ericson about the year 1000. Learning that another Norseman had sighted a tree-covered coast west of Greenland, Leif and his hardy followers set sail to explore it. Norse sources say the party reached a land where grass grew throughout the year and grapes thrived. Leif called his discovery Vin- land, for its wild grapevines. Some historians conjecture that he landed in New England. Vikings settled in parts of eastern England. Others established themselves in Normandy, land of the Northmen. Their descendants conquered England (page 850). Kiss on Foot Upends French King In 911 the Frankish King Charles the Sim ple reluctantly acknowledged Rollo, the Norse leader, as Duke of Normandy. His terms of recognition required Rollo to become a Chris tian and Charles's vassal. In pledging his loyalty, Rollo was expected to kiss the royal foot, but the proud Norse man refused to bend his knee to any man. Since confirmation of his title required the deed, Rollo directed one of his warriors to act in his stead. The story goes that the Norseman seized the King's foot and raised it to his lips without bending over. Charles sprawled ingloriously, causing, in the words of a chronicler, "a roar of laughter and a great disturbance among the spectators." When stronger governments grew up in Europe, Viking raids subsided, and little is heard of them after the mid-11th century. Modern Scandinavians, descended from the Norsemen, prize the magnificent sagas which glorify their exciting past. Oseberg longship, an ex hibit in Oslo's Viking Ship Hall, sailed some 1,100 years ago. After a long life in the water, the 70-foot double ended craft became a burial chamber for a queen and lay in Norway's blue clay until it was unearthed in 1904. Dragon-headed Viking long ships sweep shoreward on a mission of mayhem and plun der: a dramatic painting by Hervey Garrett Smith. Re lieved of rowing by driving winds, the sea rovers wait be hind their warship's orna mental shields. Rarely dis played thus at sea, the shields were usually stored until the ship reached a port. NODACHROMEBY S. A. STURLASSON ) NATIONALGEOGRAPHICSOCIETY 844
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