The Vikings - One of the Best-kept Secrets in English History?
In the teaching of English history, the Vikings have often been treated as a
passing phenomenon, something which came and went, rather like the dinosaurs of
the Jurassic Age. The Vikings left few tangible remains of their presence,
unlike the Romans who built in stone and left behind roads, walls, bridges and
villas for us to wonder at. Yet Scandinavian invaders and settlers had a far
greater impact on the language, culture, political consciousness, sense of
justice - and in many cases the physical characteristics - of the population of
England, particularly in the northern and eastern counties.
These Northmen have not merely been forefathers of the people, but of the
institutions and character of the nation, to an extent not sufficiently
considered by our historians.
(S, Laing, Preface to his translation of Heimskringla 1844).