The Viking Age was a period of intense change in Europe. At the beginning of that time, Europe was a disorganized place of small, fractured kingdoms and weak rulers. Charlemagne was the exception here. But when he died, even his empire proved unstable and vulnerable.

Vikings had been catalysts to many of these changes. Their activities brought wealth and power to their leaders back home, who fought each other to become real kings. They founded new empires and alliances as the Normans and Rus. They helped form England, first through their belligerence and then their participation. Everywhere Vikings settled, they added to the sociopolitical picture and blended with other populations.
Perhaps, it is ironic that these very changes they sparked eventually made the Viking lifestyle impractical and obsolete. Europe was moving in another direction, and the Vikings changed with it.
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