Northmen

"Northmen" was a common term for the Vikings, famously used in the prayer A furore normannorum libera nos domine ("From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord!"), doubtfully attributed to monks of the English monasteries plundered by Viking raids in the 8th and 9th centuries. The word "Norman" is a derivation.

Related Topics:
Viking - Monk - Monasteries - 8th - 9th centuries - Norman

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The Northmen were also known as Ascomannii by the Germans (perhaps due to their mythological ancestor Ask), Lochlanach by the Irish and Dene (Daner) by the Anglo-Saxons. The Slavs, the Arabs and the Byzantines knew them as the Rus' or Rhos (probably from various uses of roþs-, i.e. "related to rowing", hence Russia). The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them Varangians (Væringjar, meaning "sworn men"), and the Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian Guard.

Related Topics:
Ask - Daner - Slavs - Arabs - Byzantines - Rus' - Russia - Varangian - Varangian Guard

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