How did the Viking era come to an end?

The Viking era only ended when the raids stopped in 1066 after the Battle of Stamford Bridge and The Norwegian king Haraldr was  killed when he  attempted to claim a portion of England. It was the last major Viking raid in Europe.

The battle of Stamford bridge was the Vikings final battle

In September 1066 the Viking King Harald Hardrada, landed in Yorkshire in the hopes of taking over the English throne. The English king at the time was king Harold Godwinson . He had been faced with the difficult decision of whether he should go to the north to confront and try to stop Harald Hardrada, leaving the south unprotected against William of Normandy who was also after the throne,or remain where he was so he was ready for the Norman invasion.  He chose to go to north, hoping he would be able to defeat  Hardrada and being able to return to the south in time to confront William. Harold did end up defeating William Normandy and the Vikings but he died three weeks later at the battle of Hastings. Most Vikings families  mixed in with people from other countries as they were afraid the king would persecute them for being Vikings. The other Vikings that were already living in England agreed to be ruled under Harold's rein and were forced in Christianity.  

A Viking rune stone found in Upsala Sweden

it says  "Thorkunn and Bruni had this monument made

 in memory of their father Igulfast" , from the website    

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/evidence_01.shtml

After this the raids started to stop because the times changed and Vikings didn't need to raid villages any more. Monk monasteries who had always been an easy target for Viking raids,started to move inward away from where the Vikings could reach them and some even started building defence towers so they were prepared for attacks. Many people think the entire Viking population had died out after their final battle, but this, like many other beliefs about the Vikings, is untrue. The remaining Vikings simply joined other villages and adapted to their way of life. Christianity was also one of the causes of the breakdown of the Viking era as many converted their beliefs from pagan to Christian and started to rethink the they acted and lived. We know the Vikings all didn't die out from the artefacts they left such as runes made after the battle of Stamford bridge. The Vikings did not become familiar with the Roman alphabet until after they started becoming Christian so we know that if runes were around after this, they had not forgotten their Viking ways.


Sources
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/evidence_01.shtml

http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/what_happened.htm

Viking Gods and Religion

Although many people do not know this,the Vikings were actually pagans who had many gods. they lived in a land called Asgard and They often travelled down a bridge of rainbows to visit the human world which was know as Middle Earth. The Scandinavian legends and myths about ancient heroes, gods, and how the world was created was  developed out of the original common mythology of Germanic people and their beliefs. Although the Vikings had many different gods their greatest one was Odin who they believed was the king of the gods.This had many gods and goddesses, who lived in a separate world called

Odin

A primary source image of Odin with huginn and muninn on his shoulders

Odin was the Vikings greatest god and was the god of wisdom, magic, poetry and war. He had two black ravens called huginn (thought) and muninn (memory) who would fly across the lands and every day and bring back Odin back information on what was happening throughout his lands. It was said that Odin sacrificed one of his eyes so he could drink from the fountain of wisdom also known as  the mimir. Odin had three wives called Fjorgyn, Frigga and Rind who were all earth goddesses. 

Thor 

Thor was the eldest son of Odin and Fjorgyn and was the god of thunder, the sky, fertility and the law.

 Thor is  usually portrayed as a large, powerful man with red hair and a red beard and eyes of lightning.

He carries around his hammer which in viking mythologhy is said to be extremly powerful and can only be

 used by Thor himself. Thor had three children called Magni  modi and Thrud who are all from different mothers.

A painting depicting What the Vikings believed Thor
looked like.

Loki

Loki is known as the 'wizard of lies' and was one of most evil Gods in Viking mythology. He was the sworn enemy of the Gods and was said to be good looking, but mischievous, cunning and  not trustworthy. one of his wives,Sygin, was the complete opposite of Loki and was portrayed as the most loyal and sweet woman on the earth. Some of his children included Hel, ruler of the dead, Jormungand, The World Serpent and The Fenrir Wolf.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2590942/The-Viking-Era

What do we know of the Vikings from what archaeologists have found?

For 300 hundred years the Vikings controlled and visited parts of Scandinavia and other countries and left behind thousands of artefacts such as chess pieces, coins, brooches, helmets, boats, ice skates and even houses. Archaeologists have even proved that Vikings visited parts of North america from pieces of wool found there made from the same material as Viking clothes. 

What Scientists believe an adult

Viking woman looked like

Often we imagine tall, dirty scarred men when we think of the Vikings, when in fact it has been discovered that the Vikings were actually 8-10 cm shorter than what we are today and were often only marked by the hard work they put into everyday life not necessarily from battles and fights.We are able to know what they look like, what they wore, the colour of their hair and what an individuals life was like all from the bones Archaeologists have found. for example, Archaeologists have also discovered that men had more feminine features and women had more masculine features such as more pronounced jawbone probably and bigger eyebrows, probably because men were believed to put in more effort into looking good, often to get the attention of a woman they liked. 

A real Viking helmet that does not
display horns on the side

A common myth about the Vikings was that they wore horned helmets in battle. Archaeologists have found no proof to say that their helmets had horns and this myth was likely just made up in a story. The reason their helmets didn't have horns was because they would have gotten in the way in battles and may have ended up injuring the wearer. real Viking helmets actually  had protective metal down and around the ears and some helmets found in burial mounts had a metal mask in front. Viking vessels also helped shape what we know about the Vikings and how we see them. If  Archaeologists never discovered these massive ships, many questions would remain unsolved and we wouldn't be able to trace to them to other countries. Viking vessels also served as resting places for dead lords and their animals.

     

Sources 

http://www.anmm.gov.au/webdata/resources/pdfs/schools/Viking_Teacher_Resources.pdf

http://sciencenordic.com/what-vikings-really-looked

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/dig_reports_01.shtml