Actually, vikings were just as much explorers and merchants as they were warriors and raiders. The longships were not built to be fast and agile only for the sake of warfare, but also in order to allow quick trips overseas for trading and to settle new areas. It was mainly because of the attack on the abbey of Lindisfarne in 793 that vikings were started to be viewed as "barbaric and relentless" for the next twelve centuries.
*ruins the mood*







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