Germanic tongue (which combined to form the basis of modern English). By the end of the tenth century England was one kingdom with a Germanic culture throughout. Under Norman rule the Anglo-Saxons and Danes gradually and peacefully merged into one people – the English people. 39 Notes 1. The Vikings were excellent seamen, fishers and shipbuilders. In the 9th – 10th centuries they sailed as far as Novgorod and Kiev. Constantinople and Cicily, Iceland, Greenland, and North America (A Viking leader Leif Eriksson reached it about the year 1000, that is 500 years before Columbus). Armed gangs of Vikings raided nearly all the European countries. The inhabitants of coastal and inland cities often collected money to pay them off. Besides the British Isles, the Vikings settled in Iceland, Greenland and a part of north- western France which became known as Normandy. It is believed that a Viking leader Rurik became king of Rus.
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