Vikings were one of the most fearsome barbarian tribes living in Europe. They came from northern Europe and had advanced weaponry. During the Middle Ages, the Vikings got great power, and as the time passed by they disappeared in Europe. There are several reasons for their success. They were forced to get out of their land in order to find a good farming place so they explored the sea and conquered many regions. But as time passed, the Vikings had conquered vast land and it was getting difficult for them to protect and control it. Later on the countries around them got more advanced weaponry and the Vikings were defeated in battles.
     The Vikings lived in Northern Europe in a very mountainous and rough land. There was not enough good land for farming. They didn't have enough food, and at the same time their population was increasing. The Vikings were forced to leave their homeland and explore new farming areas for more food. Vikings were very good sea explorers. They had excellent long ships with slaves rowing them. They also had shields protecting the ship on both sides in case anybody attacked them.
     In 815, a guy named Floki went to explore new places for better farming areas and settlements. After a very rough and a dangerous voyage, he discovered a new land called Iceland which is located near Greenland. Then many Vikings left their homeland and followed Folk's route to Iceland to have a better life. At that time there was plenty of food for everybody and people lived happily. But by 930, the population of Iceland was more than 60000. They didn't have enough good farming land to grow food and so the search of new lands became urgent. Another guy named Eric went out to explore new lands. After a long, rough, tiring sail, they came to a rocky land. This island was called Greenland. After exploring the island for a while, he went back to his homeland to give the good news to the other people. The very next day more than twenty-five ships went out for Greenland. Soon they went on exploring and discovered North America, but they didn't settle there because they had enough land conquered.
     The Vikings were spreading rapidly to many different islands in Europe. They also attacked several other civilizations and empires. They surprised the enemies by attacking them at night and then they would loot the city. They also traded with many different countries and in this way they got richer and richer. At that time they had the most power in whole Europe.
     Soon the long-lasting Viking Empire became to fall apart. The main reason for this was because the other countries also began to make weapons which were equally dangerous or even better. They built ships which were equally dangerous and powerful so the Vikings also lost on the seas. They were not organized in one fighting force. Norsemen often fought among themselves. They were getting attacked from all sides and their power was getting weaker and weaker.
     Christianity was spreading in Viking land and people started to build churches all over the city. The Viking people were getting converted to Christianity and so their power was greatly weakened. All these factors contributed to only one thing, the end of the Age of the Vikings.
     The Vikings were one of the most fearsome barbarian tribes during the Middle Ages. They came from northern Europe and as time passed, they got more and more powerful by trading and conquering northern countries like Iceland, Greenland and North America. Eventually their empire was very vast and it was hard to control it. They were even attacked by other people and so they started to lose power. Soon they disappeared in time.