The old Norse word "viking" is actually a verb, that means "to go on an expedition by sea". The word for those fierce warriors who went on such cruises was "vikingr" or "vikingar".

The Vikings were Scandinavian explorers, merchants and pirates who plied the coasts of Europe and Great Britain from the late 8th to early 11th century. They traveled in their longboats as far east as Constantinople and Russia, even the Middle East, and west to Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. Often portrayed as murderous pagans, the Vikings were quick to accept Christianity alongside their own gods. The period of Norse expansion, which has come to be known as the Viking Age, forms a major part of the medieval history of northern Europe.

The Victorian era in England and Germany brought a revival of interest in the Viking period, and served to romanticize Vikings as "barbarian warriors" or "noble savages". This attitude led to an almost cartoonish depiction, as frequently seen in early Wagnerian opera productions, with horned helmets and drinking vessels made of human skulls. In reality, the Vikings were a coastal people of superior seafaring skills who explored and settled in far reaching territories.