<P> A.D. 793 . This year came dreadful fore - warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons flying across the firmament . These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy - island (Lindisfarne), by rapine and slaughter . </P> <P> In 794, according to the Annals of Ulster, there was a serious attack on Lindisfarne's mother - house of Iona, which was followed in 795 by raids upon the northern coast of Ireland . From bases there, the Norsemen attacked Iona again in 802, causing great slaughter amongst the Céli Dé Brethren, and burning the abbey to the ground . </P> <P> The Kingdom of the Franks under Charlemagne was particularly devastated by these raiders, who could sail up the Seine with near impunity . Near the end of Charlemagne's reign (and throughout the reigns of his sons and grandsons), a string of Norse raids began, culminating in a gradual Scandinavian conquest and settlement of the region now known as Normandy . </P> <P> The clinker - built longships used by the Scandinavians were uniquely suited to both deep and shallow waters . They extended the reach of Norse raiders, traders and settlers along coastlines and along the major river valleys of north - western Europe . Rurik also expanded to the east and in 859 became ruler either by conquest or invitation by local people of the city of Novgorod (which means "new city") on the Volkhov River . His successors moved further, founding the early East Slavic state of Kievan Rus' with the capital in Kiev . This persisted until 1240, when the Mongols invaded Russia . </P>

Who did the vikings lose to this year