Northmen

The Northmen is a historical term used to describe the Norse people of medieval Scandinavia, chiefly from what are now Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, during the Viking Age and surrounding centuries. In Latin and vernacular sources the group is referred to as Nordmanni or Northmen. The term distinguishes Norse raiders and traders from neighboring continental populations and reflects the geographic orientation of their homeland.

From the late 8th to the 11th centuries, Northmen undertook extensive maritime campaigns, exploration, and settlement. They raided and traded across the British Isles, the coasts of Francophone Europe, and along rivers in Eastern Europe and the Baltic. They established enduring colonies and settlements in Iceland (c. 9th century), Greenland (c. 980), and briefly in North America (Vinland, ca. 1000). In England, Norse settlers and rulers formed what is known as the Danelaw; in parts of Normandy, Viking descent contributed to later medieval identities, including the emergence of the Norman state.

Culture and society of the Northmen were shaped by seafaring technology, including longships, and by a social order that included jarls, karls, and assemblies known as things. They practiced Norse polytheism and gradually Christianized during the 10th and 11th centuries, integrating into broader European Christendom. Their languages, runic inscriptions, legal concepts, and place names left a lasting linguistic and cultural imprint across the regions they touched.

Today, the term Northmen is primarily of historical use, with modern references typically aligning them with Norse or Norse-descended populations. Their legacy includes contributions to medieval exploration, trade networks, and the cultural transformation of Europe. See also Viking Age; Norsemen; Danelaw; Norse exploration.