Problem: More than one thousand years ago, people from what is now Norway, Denmark, and Sweden began spreading from their native lands. These people, commonly referred to as Vikings, have a complicated historical legacy. On the one hand, there exists the popular image of Vikings as pirates and raiders who attacked villages and cities all over Europe. On the other hand, more modern studies emphasize the Vikings' cultural, artistic, and political innovations. One fact that no one doubts, however, is that the Vikings were among the greatest sailors of the ancient world.