0:00:07 > 0:00:10One stormy day, some time in the second half of the ninth century,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13a Viking ship was blown off course.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17It finally beached up on an uninhabited,
0:00:17 > 0:00:21unexplored shore, here on Iceland.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26It must have presented a truly terrifying, alien landscape.
0:00:29 > 0:00:35But its discovery meant that the Vikings were no longer just raiders and traders.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39From that moment onwards, they were explorers and adventurers.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51I'm retracing the steps of the Vikings...
0:00:53 > 0:00:56..to discover the truth about their lives...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00..and their mysterious world.
0:01:01 > 0:01:07Even now, this place feels like it's on the edge of everything.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11And, as an archaeologist,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I'll be seeking out some of the most telling evidence of all...
0:01:16 > 0:01:17..their very remains.
0:01:18 > 0:01:25This flamboyant hairstyle just adds to his allure.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26MAN SHOUTS
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Last time, I travelled east
0:01:31 > 0:01:34to discover the far reaches of Viking trade.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39These dark lines, etched into the marble, are Viking runes -
0:01:39 > 0:01:41ancient Viking writing.
0:01:43 > 0:01:49Now, I'm heading west to find out how the Vikings became explorers
0:01:49 > 0:01:51and kings,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55creators of an entire Viking empire of the north.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14By the end of the ninth century, the Viking age was in full swing,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17with their territories and influence spreading outwards
0:02:17 > 0:02:19from their Scandinavian homelands.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23The Swedes travelled east, down the great rivers of Russia.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27The Danes crossed the North Sea, raiding and colonising,
0:02:27 > 0:02:32and establishing, at York, the hub of a trading network in the west.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36For the Norwegians, however, it was a different story.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48I'm starting in Bergen, Norway, to see how the people of the north,
0:02:48 > 0:02:53the Norsemen, carved out their own slice of the Viking world...
0:02:55 > 0:02:58..in the wild, uncharted Atlantic Ocean.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04From up here, you can clearly see that between the mountains and the fjords,
0:03:04 > 0:03:09there's precious little in the way of available farming land.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14So, for an expanding population, many of them ambitious young men,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18that absence of available land could have only one outcome.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23The most adventurous of them would seek to change their circumstances
0:03:23 > 0:03:27and their opportunities, and to do that, they would up and leave.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38The secret of the Norsemen's success was their notorious longship.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47It's the icon of the entire Viking age.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55And here in Bergen, people have built a decent seagoing reconstruction of one.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00Rowing one of these, on a day like today, it's actually quite pleasant
0:04:00 > 0:04:02if you can get into the rhythm.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Oh, hold on, hold on.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10It's all gone terrible.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18The Vikings were notorious for their fast and manoeuvrable warships.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25But to conquer the ocean, they also needed sturdier vessels.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31Shorter, wider and powered by sail.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34They were perfect to carry goods,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36animals, tools
0:04:36 > 0:04:38and people.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43Crewed by as few as six men,
0:04:43 > 0:04:46ships like these carried the Norse to the end of the known world...
0:04:47 > 0:04:48..and far beyond.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Lena Borjesson has spent months at sea, navigating without modern technology
0:04:58 > 0:05:02to understand just how the Vikings did it.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05They were dependent on the sun.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08If they didn't find the sun, they were "hav vill",
0:05:08 > 0:05:10they were lost at sea.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12- Harv ville.- Hav vill.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- That's a word you don't want to hear on a Viking ship.- Right!
0:05:17 > 0:05:19From experiments at sea,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23Lena has discovered that being so dependent on an unreliable sun,
0:05:23 > 0:05:29the Vikings often had to be flexible about exactly where they ended up.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34If you don't end up in Shetland, you would end up in Orkney.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36- And that's not bad, is it?- Right.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39So you just have to be a bit more open-minded
0:05:39 > 0:05:41- about where you're going. - You've got it.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48Their epic voyages are a defining part of the Viking legend.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52From coast-hopping raids, it wasn't long before
0:05:52 > 0:05:56the Norwegian adventurers started to strike out into the open ocean,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59in search of new lands to settle.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Now, I'm following in their footsteps...
0:06:08 > 0:06:11..travelling from Bergen to Shetland...
0:06:12 > 0:06:14..one of their first stops.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29We know that large numbers of them arrived on Orkney
0:06:29 > 0:06:33and here in Shetland from around 800 AD onwards,
0:06:33 > 0:06:37because virtually all of the place names are Norse in origin.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39No Pictish names survive.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42We don't know if the local population was enslaved
0:06:42 > 0:06:45or exterminated or just driven off.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49But knowing how badly the Vikings behaved elsewhere, it was probably all three.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06On Shetland, there had already been raiding and pillaging.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10But some Vikings who arrived here came to stay.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18And relics of their farms still survive.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25This ancient site of human habitation is cheek by jowl with the airport.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29So if you hear a roaring sound in the background,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32that'll be the 3.45 to Bergen.
0:07:34 > 0:07:40Over here, there are the foundations for seven long, rectangular buildings,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42and these were built and used by the Vikings.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46This would have been part of the main family quarters.
0:07:46 > 0:07:47Along here, there would have been
0:07:47 > 0:07:50wooden-topped benches for sitting on and sleeping on,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52on either side, a central hearth.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54PLANE ROARS OVERHEAD
0:07:54 > 0:07:56That's one of those planes I was talking about.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01It would have been quite dark in here, quite smoky.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04Then, at the far end, there's a corn-drying room,
0:08:04 > 0:08:05where there would have been heat
0:08:05 > 0:08:07that would have dried the crop for storage.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12And then at the far end, the archaeologists found burnt stone,
0:08:12 > 0:08:17so it suggests there might even have been a primitive sauna in use here.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25Often across the Viking world, we discovered burials, treasure,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27or the remains of warriors.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34But on Shetland, there are relics of more ordinary lives,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37of Viking farmers and craftsmen.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42It's a fantastic piece, as you can see, it's lovely.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44It was found in a peat bog.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47You'll see there's a hook shape on the handle there.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53The reason for that is that the thing was used in a boat,
0:08:53 > 0:08:54and you are bailing water
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Oh, it's a bailer, right.
0:08:56 > 0:08:57Yeah, that's right.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00It would be all too easy just to let the thing shoot out of your hand
0:09:00 > 0:09:01and it might plop into the sea.
0:09:01 > 0:09:07So you want to have a bit of a backstop on it to stop it shooting out.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- And you can see here that the wear pattern is on that side.- Mm-hm.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- It's a right-handed person. - A right-handed person.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15Wow!
0:09:15 > 0:09:20This object was found in the 1970s in Shetland.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23It's so fine. Look at the tines, the little rivets,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26because its composite, isn't it?
0:09:26 > 0:09:28It's been made from multiple parts.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31That's gorgeous. Look at that.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Look at the shine on it from being handled,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38you know, that patina there of being held and used.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40Exactly, that's what brings the past to life.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Handling these simple objects
0:09:44 > 0:09:48took me right into the practicalities of Viking daily life.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50It's got this little depression there.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53That's for your thumb, so you can carry it.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Lamps, whetstones,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58loom weights and fishing tackle.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04But best of all was one very personal possession.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08And it's a piece of a glove, or a mitten.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10- That's for a thumb? - That's a thumb.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12- For a Viking thumb - Yes, yes, a Viking thumb.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15It's one thing to talk about Vikings
0:10:15 > 0:10:17but that was worn by a Viking hand.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22Well, it's been carbon dated to 975 AD.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Oh, wow! How can that be 1,000 years old? Is that knitted?
0:10:26 > 0:10:29That's woven, believe it or not.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30Gosh.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34I think it's just absolutely electrifying to see an item like this
0:10:34 > 0:10:37where something as powerful as the human hand
0:10:37 > 0:10:40is there to be seen.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Through the 10th and 11th centuries,
0:10:49 > 0:10:54Shetland supported a huge community of around 10,000 Vikings.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02But these islands settlements were just the first stepping stones
0:11:02 > 0:11:05for even greater and far more daring journeys.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12While the Swedes were getting rich from trade in the east
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and the Danes were establishing a kingdom in England,
0:11:15 > 0:11:18the Vikings here plotted a route into the west,
0:11:18 > 0:11:23and the lands they revealed were much more than just a day's sail away.
0:11:28 > 0:11:34From Shetland, and continuing north and west to Iceland.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Having braved the wild seas,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47the Vikings reached here in the late ninth century.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59I've been digging in this bank for a very good reason,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02because I was told that if I went deep enough,
0:12:02 > 0:12:05I would find a very important, significant layer.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Now, if you look down in here,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12first of all, ignore that very obvious, thick, grey band.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Down into that deep section,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20do you see the quite narrow band of sandy coloured material
0:12:20 > 0:12:23in amongst much darker stuff?
0:12:23 > 0:12:30Now that, believe it or not, is debris from a volcanic eruption dated to 872 AD.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35Now, no evidence of human habitation has been found below that layer,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39meaning there was no-one here before 872.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Above that layer, after that date,
0:12:42 > 0:12:45we start to get evidence of Viking settlement.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48And that's how we know when they arrived.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Iceland was some way north of the Viking homelands.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01And although the Norwegians here were well used to surviving
0:13:01 > 0:13:06long, dark, cold winters, this place was in a league of its own.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13The very first settlements here were on the coast,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16where there was easy prey in the water.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Fish, walrus, seals,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25even whales.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Today, just outside Reykjavik
0:13:30 > 0:13:36there's a Viking-themed restaurant that recreates the delights of a unique diet.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41I remember when I was five or six years old,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44my father told me you will get strong if you eat it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46And he kept telling me that.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52The local Viking speciality? Rotten shark.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54And you say rotten, do you mean rotten?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Yes, it is actually rotten.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01They cut the best pieces of the shark and put it in a box.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05They put the box into the sand and let it be lying there for a couple of weeks.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11You just eat it slowly, just let it be in your mouth for a long time.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Enjoy the taste.
0:14:13 > 0:14:14OK?
0:14:14 > 0:14:17It's a formidable scent.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23That is amazing!
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Whoa!
0:14:26 > 0:14:27It's like...
0:14:27 > 0:14:30it's like blue cheese,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33but 100 times more.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Wow!
0:14:35 > 0:14:36Give him schnapps.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41Fortunately, there was something on hand to take the taste away.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42That is Black Death.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- Black Death and rotten shark. - Right.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I can't remember the last time I had those two together.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53That's amazing. I like that.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07Natural maritime resources led to successful coastal settlements.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15But as the population grew on Iceland, new settlers had to forge lives elsewhere,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18building farmsteads inland.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25I'm standing inside the ruins of a byre for keeping livestock.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29These upright stones mark the individual stalls,
0:15:29 > 0:15:32there'd maybe be seven or eight animals on this side
0:15:32 > 0:15:38and the same again on the other, so maybe 14, 16 head of cattle, maybe sheep.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42On other parts of the island, they would have had pigs and goats.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46They would have bought up seaweed from the coast to feed the animals,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48and the animals would also have grazed
0:15:48 > 0:15:52on whatever naturally occurring grasses were all around.
0:15:54 > 0:16:00The introduction of domestic animals to Iceland brought a whole new diet,
0:16:00 > 0:16:02but not necessarily a better one.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10That is what they put in the air, and let it be just...
0:16:10 > 0:16:13They put it in the air and when the wind was blowing, the rain was coming in.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15- So it's not been cooked? - Not been cooked at all.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18It smells awful but it is OK to eat.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21- If you eat this... - Is this a challenge?
0:16:21 > 0:16:23..then I think that you were born in Iceland,
0:16:23 > 0:16:26and have been a Viking in the past.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32There is something almost... almost like the, um...
0:16:32 > 0:16:38Well, to be honest, flowers or fruit that has turned and gone bad.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44To survive the winter, the Vikings preserved every single body part.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Nothing went to waste.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51- These will be the first testicles I've ever had in my mouth.- Really?
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- As far as I remember.- OK.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59That's a challenging flavour.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04That is a taste sensation.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Blood pudding, sheep's brain,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12even the head were all consumed.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16- That is my favourite. - Let's try that.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22But that is the tongue and that is the best muscle
0:17:22 > 0:17:24of the whole lamb.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27That's come from the meat that they dry in the wind.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31- You like it? - That's lovely, yes.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34- It's very soft and...- Yes.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42I'm always saying to my kids that you've got to try things.
0:17:42 > 0:17:47And that don't tell me you don't like it till you've tried it,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51so I felt, on that basis, I had to really give these things a go.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56I could easily understand why someone like Johannes,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59who's actually got a connection to this stuff,
0:17:59 > 0:18:00why you'd become addicted to it.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02And every now and again,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06you would want to remind yourself about the past,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09and you get it from something as strong,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11you know, the past is strong here.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14You can smell it and you can taste it, and I get that.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21If unreliable summers and freezing winters weren't bad enough,
0:18:21 > 0:18:26the Viking settlers had to contend with another even deadlier threat.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Not from the skies...
0:18:30 > 0:18:33but from deep beneath the earth.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Iceland is a volcanic island, and that carries its own risks.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Scattered all across here is this material,
0:18:45 > 0:18:47which is pumice, volcanic rock.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Now, that has come originally from Mount Hekla.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54You can see the white summit just nosing above the horizon.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Hekla erupted famously in 1104.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01It was a catastrophic event.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04It scattered ash and debris over half the island.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07This farm and many others like it had to be abandoned.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Viking farmers were tough folk, though.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18And undaunted by the occasional volcanic eruption,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21the early Icelandic communities thrived.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29And amazingly, they decided that even this very challenging land
0:19:29 > 0:19:31wasn't an end to their endeavours.
0:19:33 > 0:19:38Not when there was still a whole lot more ocean to be explored.
0:19:40 > 0:19:41And in 1000 AD,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45the unforgettably named Erik the Red led a fleet of 25 ships
0:19:45 > 0:19:49out into the North Atlantic in hopes of founding a new colony.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54They had reliable ships, they were renowned sailors,
0:19:54 > 0:19:59but even so, there are references to countless people washed overboard,
0:19:59 > 0:20:03ships driven onto rocks, plain old "lost at sea".
0:20:06 > 0:20:11Erik the Red's expedition colonised what we now know as Greenland.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16But the Viking explorers still weren't done.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Evidence of Viking camps has been found as far west as Newfoundland.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29And it's thought they even sailed down the eastern seaboard of America.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37The distance from Norway to Newfoundland is 4,500 miles,
0:20:37 > 0:20:42and were talking about a time when that land mass was beyond the knowledge,
0:20:42 > 0:20:46far less than reach, of any other Europeans.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50What those Vikings did, then, was simply staggering.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56No permanent colonies were ever established in North America.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01And eventually, the harsh extremes of Greenland also proved too much.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10But on Iceland, despite all the hazards,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14the Vikings went on to build a whole new society.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22And, without a king in charge, they had to find a whole new way to govern.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28The first settlement of the island was essentially lawless.
0:21:28 > 0:21:33But after two generations, 36 of the leading farmers came together
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and formed an assembly to govern Iceland.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38It was called the Althingi.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40It was founded in 930 AD,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42and it met once a year for two weeks,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46to make laws, to judge disputes, and to appoint a law speaker,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50whose responsibility it was to remember and recite the law.
0:21:55 > 0:22:01But this being Iceland, a special location was chosen for the Assembly.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06And it's here where two of planet Earth's tectonic plates divide.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12So the Althingi straddled the old world of Europe in the east
0:22:12 > 0:22:13and the new world of the west.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16And it seems strangely apt
0:22:16 > 0:22:19that those first Icelanders chose this place
0:22:19 > 0:22:21to form a new kind of government.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28That government met on this site for the next 800 years,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31well into the modern era.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41But what's incredible to me is that the 36 men who met here, over 1,000 years ago,
0:22:41 > 0:22:46unknowingly gave birth to the oldest extant democracy
0:22:46 > 0:22:48in the whole world.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Leaving Iceland and its proto-Republicans behind,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I'm returning south to Scandinavia,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07and a Viking site close to Denmark's capital.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Because while the Norwegians were busy creating colonies
0:23:12 > 0:23:13in the North Atlantic,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17back in the old world, things were also changing.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26In the middle of the 10th century, the Danes were being ruled by a new dynasty,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30that was forging the beginnings of a nation-state.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37The new royal house was the Jelling dynasty.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40And there's is the most visible legacy of the Viking age,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43because towards the end of the 10th century,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45they built an enormous amount of infrastructure -
0:23:45 > 0:23:49towns were fortified, a huge earthen rampart was built
0:23:49 > 0:23:52across the neck of the Jutland peninsula
0:23:52 > 0:23:54to protect against invaders from Germany.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57They also built numerous bridges and roads,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01as well as these huge fortresses.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14This fortress is at Trelleborg, around 60 miles west of Copenhagen.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It's an impressive symbol of royal power.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25All of the fortresses are built on the same ground plan.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Perfectly circular earthen bank,
0:24:29 > 0:24:31each topped with a timber palisade
0:24:31 > 0:24:33adding an additional eight metres in height.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36There are four entrances,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40and in the interior, there were 16 buildings in there,
0:24:40 > 0:24:44four in each of the quadrants, and in each case laid out in a square.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47But you don't have the try too hard to imagine what those buildings looked like
0:24:47 > 0:24:51because there's a perfectly good reconstruction just over there.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01It's thought each of these fortresses housed around 500 trained warriors
0:25:01 > 0:25:03and their families.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05This was centralised power,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09and it represented a watershed in Viking history.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16These fortresses were much more than just defensive positions -
0:25:16 > 0:25:22they were very visible statements of wealth and power and centralised control.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26The power was Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark,
0:25:26 > 0:25:32and he exercised total control over the people, the land and its resources.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35And his legacy was much more than constructions like this.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38He changed his country for ever
0:25:38 > 0:25:40and he did that by converting his people
0:25:40 > 0:25:43to the modern religion called Christianity.
0:25:49 > 0:25:54Since the end of the Roman Empire, Christianity had dominated religious life
0:25:54 > 0:25:56right across mainland Europe.
0:25:57 > 0:26:03Scandinavia was the last outpost of the old pagan ways.
0:26:03 > 0:26:04But not for long.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10At one of Denmark's oldest towns, Ribe,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14archaeologists are making some startling discoveries.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21Graves of some of Scandinavia's very first Christians.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26I spent most of my years digging on prehistoric sites,
0:26:26 > 0:26:31so it's genuinely remarkable for me to see...
0:26:31 > 0:26:35such obvious remains in the ground.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38You can see the clear outlines of the graves,
0:26:38 > 0:26:41you can even see the remains of the coffins.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45What is it about the skeletons that says these are Christians?
0:26:45 > 0:26:47They are all, er...
0:26:47 > 0:26:53east-west burials, with the skull in the west end
0:26:53 > 0:26:57facing east, as the Christian doctrine says.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03You should face the upgoing sun on the Judgement Day.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06So when the trumpet sounds, Jesus comes back...
0:27:06 > 0:27:08And they rise from the grave, facing east.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10They're facing the direction he's coming from.
0:27:11 > 0:27:17The oldest ones are carbon dated to around 850.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22That is actually some of the oldest Christian graves in Scandinavia.
0:27:22 > 0:27:28So right early on in the Viking age, you've got Christian Viking burials here.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35So, in terms of official Danish history that children learn at school,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39these finds here change that quite significantly.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44We actually now have a prolonged Christian period,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47much longer than we first thought,
0:27:47 > 0:27:52meaning that pagans and Christians lived alongside each other
0:27:52 > 0:27:58maybe for 200 years until Christianity completely took over.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06The Vikings here were some of the very first to adopt the new religion.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12But it appears that these first Viking Christians still hung on
0:28:12 > 0:28:15to their traditional maritime burial rites.
0:28:15 > 0:28:22And then we have all these rivets, set alongside the coffin.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Yes, they are big as well, they're big pieces of metal.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Yes, we hope to find out if this is part of the boat.
0:28:28 > 0:28:34So you might have within a Christian burial, the suggestion of a boat burial,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36or being buried with part of a boat.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Yes, of course, being Christian in these early stages didn't mean
0:28:40 > 0:28:44that you should abandon all your old practices.
0:28:47 > 0:28:52So they may still be paying homage to Thor and Odin.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56But when it suited, they would just pray to Jesus.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00It's amazing to think that these people weren't just Vikings,
0:29:00 > 0:29:05and the product of the Viking tradition, but they were Christian at the same time.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Excavating these graves is like turning a bright light
0:29:14 > 0:29:16onto a few pages of history.
0:29:16 > 0:29:18They illuminate the moment
0:29:18 > 0:29:25when the Vikings are no longer just part of their own private Scandinavian world.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28They're becoming part of a much bigger picture,
0:29:28 > 0:29:31they're joining something more modern, more European,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and the catalyst for that is Christianity.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40All over Scandinavia, Vikings began to turn to the new god.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46And their conversion would signal the beginning of the end of the Viking age.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58This religious revolution was endorsed around 970,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01when Denmark's King, Harald Bluetooth,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05made Christianity his country's official religion.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12From here on in, all Danes were expected to worship Christ.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18And to celebrate the moment, Harald Bluetooth installed a huge stone monument.
0:30:20 > 0:30:25Today, it's one of Denmark's most precious national treasures.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34Because all the tourists have gone,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37I've been allowed inside for some privileged access.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41The stone once upon a time was brightly painted -
0:30:41 > 0:30:44red, white and blue, as it happens.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48But 1,000 years of weathering and winter have faded it,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51so that it's very indistinct now.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55Now, I'll grant you, it's almost impossible to make it out,
0:30:55 > 0:31:00but what you are in fact looking at is this image here.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04It's Jesus Christ emerging from within a thorn bush.
0:31:04 > 0:31:10And it's interpreted as a representation of Christianity itself,
0:31:10 > 0:31:16disentangling itself from amongst the thorns of the old pagan beliefs.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21This is actually the first page of a modern Danish passport,
0:31:21 > 0:31:25so that this image is alive and relevant for Danes even today.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38The story goes that before his conversion, King Harald witnessed a divine miracle.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45A moment commemorated in some early Christian art.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Here, on these gilded plates, set into the altar.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54In this one, you can see a priest performing a miracle.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58He can extend his hand into the fire
0:31:58 > 0:32:01and then withdraw it, apparently unhurt,
0:32:01 > 0:32:05although he does seem to be wearing a giant oven glove.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Then, in this one, we have Harald himself, a fine figure of a man,
0:32:09 > 0:32:14being baptised while standing up to his waist in a barrel.
0:32:15 > 0:32:21This is all very nice, but you can see it as PR spin,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23stories to please the masses,
0:32:23 > 0:32:27because Harald's conversion to Christianity, more than anything else,
0:32:27 > 0:32:29was a calculated political move.
0:32:33 > 0:32:39Christianity wasn't just a belief - it was a social and political institution.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42It dominated every other kingdom in Europe.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48And Harald Bluetooth knew that joining the club
0:32:48 > 0:32:52would give him protection from aggressive neighbours.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55Because no other Christian ruler
0:32:55 > 0:32:58could now claim a legitimate right to attack him.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06The land to the south of Denmark was ruled by Otto the Great,
0:33:06 > 0:33:11Duke of Saxony, King of Germany and Italy, and Holy Roman Emperor.
0:33:11 > 0:33:16And he wanted to add Denmark to his list of territorial acquisitions.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20But Harald's conversion made that impossible, because now the Danes,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24like everyone else, were protected by the one true God.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26And that wasn't all.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31Christianity also helped Harald to rule as a king, and all because of this -
0:33:31 > 0:33:33the Bible.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Christianity gave kings a divine right to rule under a single god.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46The days when a brave warrior might rise to fight alongside the old gods
0:33:46 > 0:33:49through epic earthly adventures was over.
0:33:51 > 0:33:56For those being ruled, Christianity would change their lives for ever,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00because conversion to the one true God struck at the very heart
0:34:00 > 0:34:03of all that it had meant to be a Viking.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Seeing the benefits of Harald's conversion,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12other Viking rulers started to follow suit.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14Within just 100 years,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17most of Scandinavia was officially Christian.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24And as their ancient pagan roots were left behind...
0:34:25 > 0:34:30..the modern nation-states of Denmark, Norway and Sweden were being born.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36Christianity was central to that modern world.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41The King was Christian. The trading partners all across Europe were Christian.
0:34:41 > 0:34:45Christianity also dictated that the old pagan beliefs were to be stamped out,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48not just in Denmark, but all across the Viking world.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51In Norway, edicts were issued,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54banning the performance of spells to awaken trolls -
0:34:54 > 0:34:56strict no-no.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00I'll get that, please.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04There was also a raft of new laws.
0:35:04 > 0:35:05Perfect.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08Meat could only be eaten on certain days.
0:35:09 > 0:35:15Rules for married life even dictated when you could and couldn't have sex.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22The old pagan gods had been like friends.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Provided you made your sacrifices,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28then you felt entitled to help from Odin and Thor.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31But the new Christian God wasn't like that.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34He was more of a judge. If you misbehaved,
0:35:34 > 0:35:39he was the injured party and you would be made to suffer in the next life.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41So instead of the promise of Valhalla,
0:35:41 > 0:35:45now, Vikings learned to live in fear of eternal damnation.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49The whole focus of Viking life was shifting,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51away from the here and now,
0:35:51 > 0:35:56the adventure, the heroic deed, the reputation.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59Instead, it became about hoping for life after death.
0:35:59 > 0:36:04And there was something about that that feels a little bit sad.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12The wild north that had been the backdrop for the entire Viking world
0:36:12 > 0:36:16was leaving its mysterious and ancient past behind...
0:36:16 > 0:36:20and emerging into a much more European age.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29It was all very well becoming Christian and exercising royal power,
0:36:29 > 0:36:34but to effectively run a state, you also needed an efficient administration
0:36:34 > 0:36:37and effective taxes as well.
0:36:40 > 0:36:45And the masters of that operated just across the North Sea -
0:36:45 > 0:36:47the Anglo-Saxons.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52Now, I'm heading for England...
0:36:54 > 0:36:56..because for the ninth-century Danes,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59this country was more important than ever...
0:37:00 > 0:37:02..as an easy source of cash.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12England had been Christian for centuries, and she was also streets ahead
0:37:12 > 0:37:15of her Viking counterparts when it came to commerce.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18- Hiya. - Hi. How are you doing?
0:37:18 > 0:37:21Not bad. Can I have four of these Braeburns, please?
0:37:21 > 0:37:22Thank you.
0:37:24 > 0:37:30Manufacturers and farmers ensured a steady flow of goods and currency.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Thank you.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40Relatively speaking, this was a rich trading nation.
0:37:41 > 0:37:47There was also a huge army of bureaucrats, administrators, to look after the land,
0:37:47 > 0:37:50to dispense the justice and to collect the tax.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53Thank you, sir. That's £5.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56- Lovely.- 15, 20. - Thank you, OK.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00To put it mildly, she was rich and well organised.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11For nearly 100 years, between 866 AD and 954 AD,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14Denmark had had a piece of the action,
0:38:14 > 0:38:19controlling the kingdom of the York from the Danish city of Jorvik.
0:38:21 > 0:38:26Now though, York was back under Anglo-Saxon control.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29So Harald Bluetooth's descendants had to resort
0:38:29 > 0:38:31to some very old-fashioned Viking tactics.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40Not that that just meant more raiding for slaves or monastic treasure.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45By the late 10th century, the Vikings had a new scheme -
0:38:45 > 0:38:48to issue threats and demand tribute payments
0:38:48 > 0:38:51in cold, hard cash.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59England had the most well-organised
0:38:59 > 0:39:03and efficient currency anywhere in Western Europe at this time.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07They had up to 70 mints active at any one time,
0:39:07 > 0:39:10from York down to Exeter and Canterbury.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14And each of them would be making silver pennies, much like this one.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18So they're all solid silver, that's this unifying feature of them,
0:39:18 > 0:39:20- they've all got the same worth? - Precisely, yes.
0:39:22 > 0:39:28England had a sophisticated coinage system and well-organised tax collection.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Denmark had neither.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35But King Harald's son and successor, Sweyn Forkbeard,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38didn't see the need for improvement.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44Not when you had neighbours who did it so well for you.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56Sweyn might have been baptised, but his veins ran with Viking blood.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59And when he came to the throne,
0:39:59 > 0:40:04he crewed up the Danish longships once more and set sail for England.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10So it's from around the 980s that the Vikings begin to go and attack
0:40:10 > 0:40:13and extract money from England again.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17And we see the English coins begin to flow into Scandinavia in massive quantity.
0:40:17 > 0:40:21How much money are the Vikings taking out of the country?
0:40:21 > 0:40:23A very great deal.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26We know from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that more than £200,000
0:40:26 > 0:40:30was paid to them overall between 991 and 1018.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36Are the English producing coins precisely because they know the Vikings are coming
0:40:36 > 0:40:38and will want paying?
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Well, the most vivid example we have of this is this coin here.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46With all of these other types, you have the bust of the King and a cross.
0:40:46 > 0:40:49But in this case, you don't, you have the Lamb of God
0:40:49 > 0:40:52and you have the Holy Dove.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56This coinage is all about an invitation to God,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59trying to get him to send the Vikings away and bring the English to safety.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05But, invoking God on their coins didn't help.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09The more they paid the Vikings off, like any blackmailer,
0:41:09 > 0:41:12the more they came back with new demands.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17Realising that England was being bled dry,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19the English king decided to hit back.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27Now, the English king, Ethelred,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30we generally know him as Ethelred the Unready.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34He was given that nickname, "Unready", for very a good reason.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37In old English, unready means ill-advised,
0:41:37 > 0:41:42and the policy of continually buying off the Vikings was a pretty poor plan.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45In 1002, he made a ruthless decision
0:41:45 > 0:41:49and ordered that all Danish men in England were to be killed.
0:41:49 > 0:41:54What happened next is known as the Saint Brice's Day Massacre.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05By the 11th century, England was home to thousands of born-and-bred ethnic Danes,
0:42:05 > 0:42:09whose families had lived in England for generations.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15But they dressed differently and they stood out in society.
0:42:18 > 0:42:23Now, every one of them was a target for revenge.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28These are the skeletons of three men.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34They were excavated in Oxford during work in advance of a building project.
0:42:34 > 0:42:40There's three here on display but 38 skeletons were found together.
0:42:40 > 0:42:42There are far too many to display here and now,
0:42:42 > 0:42:46so the rest are in their carefully numbered and catalogued cardboard boxes.
0:42:48 > 0:42:54All men, all, as far as we can tell, aged between 16 and 25,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56certainly none of them older than 40.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01But what is particularly amazing about them
0:43:01 > 0:43:03is that they're all the victims of violent death.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06I almost don't know where to start.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09This individual here, you can tell that he's a big robust character.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13But for all that, he's been felled initially
0:43:13 > 0:43:16by a blow to the back of the legs.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20Like a sword swung at him from behind and it's cut through the muscles
0:43:20 > 0:43:23the flesh, the tendons and finally through the bones themselves.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26So he's been felled like a big tree.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29But that's not the end of it for this guy.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31On this side of the pelvis, do you see that hole?
0:43:31 > 0:43:33That puncture wound?
0:43:34 > 0:43:38That's where the point of whatever it was, spear or sword, went in
0:43:38 > 0:43:40and out the other side.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Huge damage to the skull.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46Something like a sword or something sharp and heavy has caused
0:43:46 > 0:43:50this massive slicing blow, it's opened his head up like an egg.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54There are cut marks on the ribs.
0:43:54 > 0:43:56Too much has been done here. Any one of these wounds
0:43:56 > 0:43:59would kill the person - this is crazy violence.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03These are not the kinds of injuries that are inflicted on people
0:44:03 > 0:44:05who are standing up and fighting.
0:44:05 > 0:44:10All of these men - the three here and the rest in the boxes -
0:44:10 > 0:44:13were killed, butchered, while they were running away.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22A particularly grim piece of evidence suggests
0:44:22 > 0:44:26that all these men were victims of Ethelred's massacre in 1002.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32If you look at this one, you see this burning on the forehead
0:44:32 > 0:44:34on the front of the skull?
0:44:34 > 0:44:38And then there's more burning here, on the right hand.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42He's been in a fire somewhere after death.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46And some of the other bodies show evidence of burning as well.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53An account of the killings from Oxford, where these skeletons were found,
0:44:53 > 0:44:58records that a group of Danes sought sanctuary in a church.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00To no avail.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04The local Anglo-Saxons simply burnt it to the ground
0:45:04 > 0:45:07with everyone inside.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13So it's possible, just possible, that this, and they, were some of those
0:45:13 > 0:45:17who sought refuge in a church 1,000 years ago,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19for all the good it did them.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24King Ethelred's desperate action, though, was a failure.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28The Viking raids continued unabated.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32And soon, England was on its knees.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36For the Danish king, it was the chance of a lifetime.
0:45:38 > 0:45:44In 1013, Sweyn Forkbeard launched a full-scale invasion of England,
0:45:44 > 0:45:46and it worked.
0:45:46 > 0:45:50The English king, Ethelred the Unready, simply ran away,
0:45:50 > 0:45:52abandoning the English crown to the Dane.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54But it turned out to be a very short reign.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Five weeks later, Forkbeard was dead,
0:46:02 > 0:46:06but, by his side, was his young son called Canute.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Now there's a name we're all familiar with.
0:46:12 > 0:46:17Canute was grandson of Harald Bluetooth and son of Forkbeard -
0:46:17 > 0:46:21a continuation of the Jelling royal dynasty.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26Canute returned to Denmark,
0:46:26 > 0:46:29but he kept his eye firmly on the English crown.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Just two years later, he was back,
0:46:35 > 0:46:38with 200 ships and 10,000 men.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41And after some bloody fighting,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44he became King of all England.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Everyone knows the story about King Canute and the sea -
0:46:51 > 0:46:54how he ordered that his throne be taken down onto the beach
0:46:54 > 0:46:59and then he sat there, and as the tide came in, he told the waves to turn back.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01And of course they didn't.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05And his feet got a wet and he ended up looking a bit foolish, a bit arrogant.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08But that wasn't what he intended at all.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13What happened that day was a pure PR stunt.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17His subjects, his followers, were supposed to see that he was just a man
0:47:17 > 0:47:22and that only God had the power to control the sun and the moon and the tides.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28In conquering England with an axe, Canute had shown his Viking roots.
0:47:30 > 0:47:34But he was also determined to prove he was a devout Christian king.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38Combining both powerful traditions,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41he would go on to become ruler of an empire,
0:47:41 > 0:47:44a member of the European royal elite.
0:47:48 > 0:47:53And when he died, his tomb was no Viking longship beneath a grassy mound.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56Instead, it was a cathedral.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00So that, nowadays, we hardly think of him as a Viking at all.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11Originally founded by the Anglo-Saxons over 1,000 years ago,
0:48:11 > 0:48:15Winchester Cathedral houses tombs of the great and the good,
0:48:15 > 0:48:19centuries of England's most worthy.
0:48:23 > 0:48:24In medieval England,
0:48:24 > 0:48:29a more celebrated, a more Christian location for your mortal remains
0:48:29 > 0:48:31could hardly be wished for.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35So, for a king who was born Viking, whose heritage was pagan,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38and who was viewed as a brutal conqueror of England,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42you might think this is an unlikely final resting place.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45But the truth is, by Canute's death in 1035,
0:48:45 > 0:48:48he was known as Canute the Great.
0:48:54 > 0:48:59Canute's invasion of England could be viewed as the ultimate Viking expedition.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03A rite of passage for a true hero of the Sagas.
0:49:06 > 0:49:12Though tradition had it that after your adventures, you were meant to return home.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18For most Vikings, that meant farming a plot of land at the end of a fjord.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21But Canute was King.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24And his bones are inside that box up there
0:49:24 > 0:49:26or possibly that one...
0:49:27 > 0:49:29..or that one.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31Any of these.
0:49:31 > 0:49:36The truth is, we don't actually know where his mortal remains really are,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40because during the English Civil War, around 600 years after his death,
0:49:40 > 0:49:45parliamentarian Roundhead soldiers used the bones inside these reliquaries
0:49:45 > 0:49:47to smash out what they regarded
0:49:47 > 0:49:50as the frankly idolatrous stained-glass window
0:49:50 > 0:49:52above the cathedral entrance.
0:49:52 > 0:49:53A bunch of killjoys.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04Soon after, the good people of Winchester collected up the glass
0:50:04 > 0:50:05and rebuilt the window.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11Although the colourful patchwork ended up more modernist than medieval.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20The bones used to smash the windows were collected up too
0:50:20 > 0:50:21and returned to the reliquaries.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25But, like the window, in a slightly random way.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30So although we don't know where his bones actually are,
0:50:30 > 0:50:33we hope and suspect he's up there somewhere.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45Canute's ambition had extended beyond ruling England.
0:50:45 > 0:50:49He was soon King of the Scottish islands, Denmark,
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Norway and parts of Sweden too.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57He had created a Viking empire.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08From England, I've come south to Austria,
0:51:08 > 0:51:10right in the heart of Europe.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Because Canute wasn't just a northern ruler,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17but an early European statesman.
0:51:21 > 0:51:22Canute was smart.
0:51:22 > 0:51:27He knew that more trade across Europe meant more taxes to fill his coffers.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31So he set about standardising the whole European economy.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39Now, you might think of the euro as a modern concept.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42But it's not really, and in the 11th century,
0:51:42 > 0:51:46it was neither France not Germany that was the centre for monetary union.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48It was England.
0:51:50 > 0:51:55First of all, Canute standardised Scandinavian and English coins,
0:51:55 > 0:51:58so that there was a common currency.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02And then, it appears that right across his empire, the ounce,
0:52:02 > 0:52:07the weight that was used for measuring gold and silver, was altered to match up
0:52:07 > 0:52:10with the ounce of Byzantium, of the Byzantine empire.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14And that was at a time when Constantinople was not only the largest,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17but also the wealthiest city on Earth.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21Canute was carefully integrating his empire
0:52:21 > 0:52:24into a medieval single European market.
0:52:29 > 0:52:34Canute the Great was a player on the world stage, and here in Vienna,
0:52:34 > 0:52:38there's an incredible object that shows us how influential he was.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42And how far he had come from his Viking roots.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48A decade after becoming King, Canute attended the coronation
0:52:48 > 0:52:51of the man who ruled most of central Europe -
0:52:51 > 0:52:53the Holy Roman Emperor.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01And this glorious object is what he was crowned with.
0:53:01 > 0:53:03It's called Die Reichskrone,
0:53:03 > 0:53:07the Imperial Crown, and back in 1027,
0:53:07 > 0:53:10watching this being placed on the Emperor's head
0:53:10 > 0:53:13was the hot ticket of the season.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27It's decorated with 144 emeralds,
0:53:27 > 0:53:30sapphires and amethysts.
0:53:30 > 0:53:34Back then, the technique of cutting facets
0:53:34 > 0:53:37into precious stones was unknown.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42Instead, they were polished into these smooth shapes.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46They look a bit like boiled sweets, to be honest.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48Although a lot more expensive.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52And they're then mounted to let light shine through them.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10The final touch are the four picture plates,
0:54:10 > 0:54:14which depict messages from the Old Testament.
0:54:14 > 0:54:19And most important, most tellingly for our story,
0:54:19 > 0:54:21is this one on the corner.
0:54:22 > 0:54:28It shows Jesus Christ enthroned as the Lord of Hosts.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33And above his head, in red enamel, are the words in Latin,
0:54:33 > 0:54:36"Per me reges regnant" -
0:54:36 > 0:54:39"By me, kings rule."
0:54:40 > 0:54:45And this idea, this concept of divinely ordained kingship,
0:54:45 > 0:54:49was something Canute was very enthusiastic about.
0:54:52 > 0:54:55When the Holy Roman Emperor was crowned,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Canute the Great walked as part of the Imperial procession.
0:55:02 > 0:55:07And afterwards, the Emperor even arranged for his own son to marry Canute's daughter
0:55:07 > 0:55:10to cement a powerful political alliance.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15Canute's attendance at that coronation
0:55:15 > 0:55:20showed that he was a major European player, he had arrived.
0:55:20 > 0:55:25And he clearly believed that he was the equal of the Holy Roman Emperor.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Because when he got home, he had one of these made for himself.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38Canute's reign lasted less than two decades.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42But in that time, he had utterly changed his Scandinavian world.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46He had been born a Viking,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48but he died a European.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55Canute himself had left four children and his empire was divided.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01Norway, Denmark and Sweden soon found their own new rulers.
0:56:15 > 0:56:18It was the end for the great Jelling dynasty.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21And, with it, the entire Viking age.
0:56:24 > 0:56:30But, by then, Scandinavia was no longer a remote, pagan backwater.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35The violent, plundering men from the north had become colonisers, Christians,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39nation and empire builders.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47It had been an incendiary time in European history.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50But it had burnt itself out.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54Nonetheless, the impact of the Vikings on modern Europe
0:56:54 > 0:56:56is inescapable.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58The politics, the economics,
0:56:58 > 0:57:02the national and religious identities were forged,
0:57:02 > 0:57:05at least in part, by their exploits.
0:57:07 > 0:57:12The Vikings had raided and pillaged coastlines across northern Europe.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19They'd set out on journeys beyond the knowledge of any other Europeans...
0:57:21 > 0:57:24..colonised uninhabited lands...
0:57:24 > 0:57:29..and traded goods from the distant empires of the Far East.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34In little more than two centuries,
0:57:34 > 0:57:37the Vikings had expanded the Western world,
0:57:37 > 0:57:41voyaging from Newfoundland in the west to Constantinople in the east.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49A world far, far bigger than even they could have imagined possible.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54And they're still with us today
0:57:54 > 0:57:56in our towns and cities,
0:57:56 > 0:57:58in our culture,
0:57:58 > 0:58:01in our language and in our blood.
0:58:01 > 0:58:06And in the very existence of the modern nation-states of northern Europe.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10But that's not what we remember, or why.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14The truth is, the myth and the legend of them,
0:58:14 > 0:58:17the excitement and the adventure,
0:58:17 > 0:58:20is all there in the sound of one word -
0:58:20 > 0:58:22Vikings.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd