Medieval

Let’s take the Vikings (being from Norway, I find it natural!)

Actually, they’re not ‘medieval’, since most Viking activity was finished before 1000-1100 AD.

They were important in many ways, and not just as bloodthirsty warriors that dashed around, pillaging and raiding. (By the way, they never wore horned helmets, although the ancient Celts apparently did… not the Vikings)

The eastern Vikings (mainly from Sweden) travelled throughout today’s western Russia, down the big rivers and all the way to Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). As traders and city-founders, not warriors.

The ones we know of from their battles in today’s Great Britain did more than fight and kill. Large numbers of them settled down (especially in today’s Lake District in England), helping to populate and farm areas where few people had been living… and also to infuse new genetic material in the population.

They left their imprint on the language as well. Old English and Old Norse were very similar - speakers of both tongues could usually understand each other. And many everyday words and forms in English today (like the pronoun ‘him’) actually come from the Old Norse forms.

Does that help?