In the year 793 a little known group of Northern European raiders came out of the Dark and into the pages of history as they attacked and plundered the English monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumbria (England). Without warning the Viking Age had begun.

The word Viking is Scandinavian for an action not a person or group of persons. To go a-viking meant to embark (sail) on a raiding expedition. This carving represents a typical “Viking” during an attack on an unsuspecting monastery or sea side hamlet. Early on very few would be clad in chain mail but as spoils from plunder enriched the raiders chain mail would become more common.