Vikings

General websites

Lots of movies, TV shows and books have been inspired by the Vikings and their mythology, like the Thor movies, and the How to Train Your Dragon book series. To find out about the real people and cultures that inspired them, check out these websites.

Britannica School

Britannica School is part of the EPIC collection of reliable databases put together especially for New Zealand school students.

• You can choose what level of information you want to read, eg Primary, Middle (Intermediate) or Secondary.

• Search using the keyword 'Vikings'.

• The Primary level has information about Viking life, conquests and the end of the Viking era.

• The Middle level has a good amount of information about Viking life, like their longships that they used to sail, trading, education, government, religion and more.

Elementary (Gale In Context)

This database from EPIC is an easy-to-use information site for primary school students on a wide range of topics like art, music, health, geography, science, sport and social studies.

• Go to Social Studies, then select World History.

• Then go down the page to Vikings.

• You will find facts, book and magazine articles, and biographies of famous Vikings such as Leif Eriksson.

Tips: To get to the EPIC resources you will need a password from your school librarian first. Or you can chat with one of our AnyQuestions librarians between 1 and 6 pm Monday to Friday and they will help you online.

BBC Bitesize

This website is run by the BBC, a reliable British news agency, so the information should be accurate.

• Search for your keyword 'Vikings'.

• Choose the first result called Vikings (KS2 level).

• Select each heading to find out who the Vikings were, how they fought, as well as trading, daily life and more.

Tips: We can't watch most of the videos on this site because of where we are in the world. Luckily there are transcripts that we can read instead - look under the play button of each video to find a link that says Transcript.

Ted-Ed

This site is the youth and education part of TED. It has videos about lots of different topics including vikings.

• Search for 'Vikings'.

• Browse the videos to find out about Viking Ships and Runes (an old alphabet).

• Or look for myths about Loki and Thor.

Ducksters

This education site is easy to read and interesting.

• Search for 'vikings'.

• Go to Middle Ages for Kids: Vikings.

• Find out about Viking Raids, the Viking Age, and ships.

Books

There have been many books written about the Vikings — check out your local public or school library to see what they have.

Some recommended titles are:

• Viking!: myths of gods and monsters by Kevin Crossley-Holland

• The last Viking by Terry Deary

• The genius of the Vikings : clever ideas and inventions from past civilisations by Sonya Newland

• Did Vikings have horns on their helmets? : and other questions about the Vikings by Tim Cooke.

SCIS no: 1850786