Nordmen

Nordmen, or Norsemen, refer to the Scandinavian peoples who spoke Old Norse and lived in the Nordic kingdoms during the Viking Age and the early medieval period. The name derives from Old Norse Norðmenn, literally “men from the north,” and appears in contemporary and later sources. In modern scholarship, Norse or Norsemen is the standard term, while Nordmen appears mainly in historical usage.

They originated in what are now Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, developing advanced seafaring skills. From the late 8th century to the 11th century, Norse groups conducted raiding, trading, exploration, and settlement across wide areas, including the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland, parts of continental Europe, and eastern regions such as the Volga trade route and Kievan Rus’. They established notable settlements in Iceland and Greenland and engaged in voyages described in the Vinland sagas. Socially, Norse society combined farmers, artisans, and merchants with chieftains and war leaders who led raiding expeditions and local governance. Longships enabled rapid movement and versatile maritime activity.

Religiously, the Norse practiced a polytheistic belief system rooted in Norse mythology and gradually converted to Christianity during the 10th and 11th centuries. The Norse language left a lasting imprint, influencing modern Icelandic and other Scandinavian tongues, and runic inscriptions provide important archaeological evidence. The term Nordmen also lies behind the name of the Normans, descendants of Norse settlers who settled in what became Normandy. The legacy of the Nordmen persists in place names, historical memory, and cultural influences across regions touched by their exploration and settlement.