Timeline
The adventures of the Vikings
Chart the rise of these ambitious explorers, from their first-ever raids to their aggressive global expansion
AD 787
Viking longships are seen for the first time, lurking with intent off the Wessex coast. Six years later, they attack the holy island of Lindisfarne. Word of the Viking threat spreads throughout Europe.
AD 840-41
Vikings first overwinter in the modern-day location of Dublin, which they found and name Dyflin – the first and most important Viking settlement in the British Isles.
AD 844
A Viking raiding party sacks Lisbon and Seville before being defeated by a Muslim force at Córdoba. A year later, a group of Danes sacks Paris (pictured). The city is plundered again in the 860s and 880s.