Welcome to the HistoryExtra Academy Vikings course
In this four-week short course, discover everything you need to know about the Viking period, guided by Ryan Lavelle, Professor in Early Medieval History at the University of Winchester.
We've worked with Professor Lavelle to compile a host of podcasts, articles, quizzes and more that you can enjoy in your own time, including four video lectures by Professor Lavelle, each exploring a specific area of Viking history.
Course syllabus
Week One: Viking Raids
Week Two: Trading and Exploring
Week Three: Everyday Life
Week Four: Viking Kingdoms
Once you've completed the course learning, you can download your course completion certificate. Click to download your end-of-course certificate
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About the expert
Ryan Lavelle is Professor in Early Medieval History at the University of Winchester, specialising in Anglo-Saxon and early medieval military and political history. His books include Alfred’s Wars: Sources and Interpretations of Anglo-Saxon Warfare in the Viking Age (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2010). He also served as historical consultant for the hit BBC series The Last Kingdom.
Week One – Viking raids
Professor Ryan Lavelle: "The Viking Age was a time which changed medieval Europe, and indeed a good chunk of the rest of the world. The Vikings are best known as raiders bursting out of Scandinavia at the end of the eighth century AD, but there was much more to them than ship-loads of violence. You’ll find links to week one’s learning below, which addresses that most infamous of the ideas of the Viking Age – the terrifying idea of ships full of heathen warriors ready to descend upon unsuspecting coastal communities."
MembershipvideoViking raiders, with Professor Ryan Lavelle. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Vikings quiz - week one. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Fighting the Vikings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Your guide to the Viking raid of Lindisfarne in AD 793
Slaves in the Viking Age: how prevalent were enslaved people in Viking societies?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Viking ships: 5 lesser-known facts
The great Viking terror: how Norse warriors conquered the Anglo-Saxons. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Why did the Vikings' violent raids begin?
History explorer: Alfred and the Vikings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Week Two – Trading and exploring
Professor Ryan Lavelle: "Having explored the topic of Viking raiders and what they were capable of, this week’s lecture and reading trace the more peaceable (though no less acquisitive) activities of Vikings, from the North Atlantic across to the edges of Asia. My video lecture provides you with a short introduction to travel and trade in the Viking Age, and this is followed by a selection of great articles, as well as a HistoryExtra podcast interview with archaeologist Cat Jarman, whose 2021 book River Kings followed the journey of a bead in the possession of a Viking who had been buried at Repton, Derbyshire – a remarkable way of following lines of contact and communication in the Viking world."
MembershipvideoTrading and exploring, with Professor Ryan Lavelle. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Vikings quiz - week two. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Russia, North America and the Middle East: where did the Vikings visit to trade and raid?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
What if...The Vikings had never left their homelands?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
MembershipaudioThe Vikings’ global connections. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
The Vikings at home. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
How the Vikings ruled the waves. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
The amazing life of a great female Viking explorer
MembershipvideoCat JarmanHistory of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Road. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Week Three – Everyday life
MembershipvideoDaily life, with Professor Ryan Lavelle. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Vikings quiz - week three. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Norse gods and goddesses: 14 of the most important deities venerated by the Vikings
What was life like for Viking women?
Inside the Viking mind: the view of the Vikings' world from 5 perspectives. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
MembershipaudioWhat Norse poetry reveals about the Viking age. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Viking ‘warrior women’: Judith Jesch, expert in Viking studies, examines the latest evidence. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
How England rode the Viking storm. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Viking women: raiders, traders and settlers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Week Four - Viking kingdoms
MembershipvideoViking kingdoms, with Professor Ryan Lavelle. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Vikings quiz – week four. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
Harald Hardrada: why there's more to the last great Viking than his death in 1066
Vikings in Britain: how did raiders and marauders become lords and kings?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
MembershipaudioThe Danelaw: a Viking kingdom in England?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.
