Key Stage 2 history · British history

KS2 Vikings in Britain: raids and invasion explained

In Key Stage 2, children learn how Vikings from Scandinavia began by raiding Britain’s coasts at the end of the 700s, most famously at Lindisfarne in AD 793, and went on to conquer and settle large parts of England. It is a story of change over time, from hit-and-run raids to armies and farms, told mostly through the writings of the people who suffered the attacks.

Viking raids and invasion, explained

The curriculum asks schools to teach the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England up to the time of Edward the Confessor. The Vikings came from Scandinavia, in what is now Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The word “Viking” is best thought of as meaning someone who went raiding overseas, not as the name of a whole people; most people at home were farmers and traders. Their ships were long, light and shallow, with sails and oars, so they could cross the sea and travel up rivers.

The best-known early raid came in AD 793, when Vikings attacked the monastery at Lindisfarne, on the north-east coast. (A smaller attack on the coast of Dorset a few years earlier is also recorded.) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the Lindisfarne raid, and a Northumbrian scholar called Alcuin wrote letters of horror about it. Monasteries were rich, close to the sea and poorly defended, which made them an easy target. Over the next decades there were further raids on Britain and Ireland, then, in AD 865, a large force known as the Great Heathen Army landed in East Anglia. It was a long-term invasion by an army that intended to stay.

Over the next few years the Vikings took control of Northumbria, East Anglia and much of Mercia, setting up a base at York, which they called Jorvik. By 871 they were attacking Wessex, the last strong Anglo-Saxon kingdom. A large area of eastern and northern England came under Viking control and was later known as the Danelaw, where Danish laws and customs applied. Many Vikings settled as farmers, and place names ending in “-by” and “-thorpe”, such as Grimsby and Scunthorpe, show where they lived.

Our evidence comes from different sources, and children are taught to compare them. The main written accounts were by Anglo-Saxon churchmen, who were on the receiving end of the raids, so they show one side. Viking stories (sagas) were written down centuries later. Archaeology adds a more balanced picture, with Viking graves, coins, tools and the remains of everyday life in York. The horned helmets of cartoons come from nineteenth-century paintings and stage costumes. No helmet like that has been found from Viking times.

Words your child will hear

Viking: A Scandinavian sailor or raider of roughly AD 800 to 1100. Many Vikings also traded and farmed.
Raid: A quick attack to steal valuables before leaving again.
Longship: A long, narrow Viking ship powered by oars and sail, able to travel in shallow water.
Danelaw: The part of eastern and northern England where Danish law and customs applied.
Chronicle: A year-by-year written record of events. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was first put together in the 890s and later kept up in monasteries.
Saga: A long story, from Iceland and Scandinavia, about heroes and families, written down some time after the events.
Settlement: A place where people come to live. Many Vikings settled in eastern England.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 2 says:

Pupils should be taught about the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor
Pupils should continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.
Pupils should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A worked enquiry

Why did the Vikings attack monasteries such as Lindisfarne?

Start with what the sources say. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes terrible omens, such as fiery dragons in the sky, shortly before the raid, then says that heathen men destroyed God’s church at Lindisfarne. Alcuin, a Christian scholar, suggested in his letters that the raid was a punishment for sin. Both writers see it as a religious disaster. Children can also note that this part of the Chronicle was put together about a hundred years later.
Look for practical reasons. Monasteries held gold, silver, jewelled books and food. They stood by the coast, often on islands or by rivers, and they had no soldiers to defend them.
Look for the Vikings’ side. We have little from the Vikings themselves from that time. Historians suggest that raiding brought wealth and respect at home, and that crowded farmland may have encouraged young men to look overseas. Say that this is an explanation, not proof.
Compare the two. The Christian writers emphasise religion and suffering. The practical reasons come from asking what raiders would have wanted. Children should notice that both kinds of explanation can be true.

The Vikings probably attacked monasteries because they were wealthy, close to the sea and poorly defended, so raids were a quick way to gain treasure. Our main written evidence comes from Christian writers, who saw the raids as a religious disaster, so we need other evidence as well to understand the Vikings’ own reasons.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking all Vikings were violent raiders who wore horned helmets

Films, costumes and cartoons have made one image stand for everyone.

What helps: Explain that most Vikings farmed, traded and made things, and that no horned helmet from Viking times has been found. Ask your child where the picture in their head came from.

Believing the Vikings conquered the whole of England quickly

Summaries compress many years into a single sentence.

What helps: Show on a timeline that the Lindisfarne raid was in AD 793 and the Great Army arrived in AD 865. Wessex was still holding out in the 870s, and the fight over the kingdom went on for generations.

Thinking Vikings, Danes and Norsemen were separate unrelated groups

Different books use different names for the same Scandinavian peoples.

What helps: Say that “Danes” generally refers to people from Denmark and “Norse” to people from Norway, and that “Viking” is a wider word. Place each on a map of Scandinavia.

Assuming Anglo-Saxon accounts tell the whole truth

A written record sounds more reliable than a story or an object.

What helps: Ask “Who wrote this? What side were they on?” Compare the Anglo-Saxon writing with archaeology to see where they agree and where they differ.

How to help at home

Map the raids. Mark Scandinavia, Lindisfarne, East Anglia, York and Wessex on a map of northern Europe and Britain. Follow the story with a finger and talk about why ships made all of this possible.
Place names with Viking roots. Look for towns ending in “-by” or “-thorpe” in an atlas. Count how many are in the east and north compared with the south-west, and ask what that might tell us.
Myth or evidence? Write a few Viking facts on pieces of paper, such as “horned helmets” and “used longships”, and sort them into “evidence” and “myth”. Your child can explain how they decided.
Build a longship. Use a cardboard box or a folded paper boat to make a longship and test how it floats in a washing-up bowl, with adult supervision. Discuss why a shallow, light boat could travel up rivers.

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Medieval Britain 1066 to 1509
Key Stage 3: Tudors and Stuarts: Britain 1509 to 1745
Key Stage 3: Britain 1745 to 1901: industry and empire
Key Stage 3: Britain and the world, 1901 to today
Key Stage 3: The Holocaust