Why did the Viking Age end?

The Viking Age did not end with one blow. Many scholars argue it ended in the 11th century, and in Scandinavia some consider it to have ended with the establishment of royal authority and of Christianity as the dominant religion. The long raids and voyages gave way to a Europe of settled kingdoms, Scandinavian ones included. Historians themselves admit that it is not easy to pin down a single date that applies to all the Viking world.

There is a famous date, though: 1066. In England the end is traditionally marked by the failed invasion of the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada, who was defeated by King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Hardrada's death ended any hope of reviving Cnut's North Sea Empire, and for that reason, rather than the Norman conquest, 1066 is often taken as the end. The irony is that nineteen days later an army led by senior Normans, themselves mostly male-line descendants of Norsemen, defeated the weakened English at Hastings.

Other places chose other dates. In Ireland the capture of Dublin in 1171 is the traditional marker, and in Scotland the defeat at the Battle of Largs in 1263. Even 1066 was not the last gasp: major Scandinavian campaigns in Britain and Ireland followed, such as those of Sweyn Estrithson in 1069 and 1070 and Magnus Barefoot in 1098 and 1102 to 1103.

Back home, the old pagan world was changing. Denmark was the first Scandinavian country to Christianize, when Harald Bluetooth declared it around 965. Historian Anders Winroth says Scandinavian kings willingly adopted the religion because they saw it as politically advantageous. Norse beliefs nonetheless persisted until the 12th century. The Viking Age did not stop at a line on the calendar. It faded as the kings who had pushed the old chieftains out settled into a Christian Europe of their own.