Pagan graves are particularly useful because the bodies were fully dressed and accompanied by personal belongings, some of which indicate important activities of the living. But for the details of everyday life, we depend on archaeological evidence from excavations. For example, in Shetland, Haroldswick in the island of Unst means Harold's bay, while Lerwick or 'mud bay' perpetuates the Vikings' scorn for what was for them a useless harbour. The spread of Scandinavian place names not only helps to chart the extent of Scandinavian settlement but records the names of lesser people and how they reacted to the landscape around them. History tells of events, places and important people. Above all, we need to remember that the story is likely to have varied across Britain and Ireland, and that we should balance historical, linguistic and archaeological evidence within a local framework.Įxquisite craftsmanship on a Viking strap-end Blanket replacement of native names, as in Orkney and Shetland, may have happened gradually rather than suddenly. But we should not assume that density of place names equals numbers of colonists, or that the creation of place names can be dated precisely. In Scotland, the most densely concentrated area of Scandinavian names is Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, where a Norwegian earldom was established. In England, for instance, Scandinavian names are concentrated within the Danelaw, the area of northern and eastern England that was in Danish hands. Place names are an invaluable source of information on the extent of Scandinavian influence, and their distribution mirrors the geographical spread of colonisation known from historical and archaeological evidence.

But there is also the evidence of place names and archaeology, and they can be interpreted in more than one way.

Historical atlas of the vikings