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32 A History of Sweden
CHAPTER III
PERIOD OF THE VIKINGS AND THE INTRODUC-
TION OF CHRISTIANITY
A. THE VIKING EXPEDITIONS A NORTHERN
MIGRATION
Viking Expeditions in General. We imagine a spring
day, about the year 800 ;
a ship is anchored in one of
Uppland’s inlets ready to set sail. The men have just
loaded a cargo of furs and other goods for trade in
foreign lands. But where there is wealth, and oppor-
tunity offers, they expect to take by force what they
want. For at this time trade is coupled with plunder.
This was regarded as a legitimate means of livelihood,
just like hunting and fishing, and it might afford the
brave a much richer reward than the daily toil at home.
The northern lands were poor and but little cultivated.
Agriculture was carried on in a primitive way, the soil
was rarely fertilized and was but poorly worked. Fam-
ines were, therefore, frequent, and the people were led
to rob and plunder richer lands.
They are adventurous men who engage in these en-
terprises. One of the haughty chiefs who will not yield
obedience to the Uppsala king conducts the voyage out
over the free and open sea, to win renown and become
a mighty sea-king. Such piratical voyages were known
as Viking Expeditions. The word viking is believed to
be derived from vik, an inlet of the sea, in which the
piratical crafts hid themselves behind the bordering
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