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When did the Viking Age take place?

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Exhumed Viking ship with a tall, curved prow on display inside the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway, surrounded by stone flooring and visitors in the background. — Viking Exhumed Viking ship; in the Viking Ship Museum, Oslo, Norway.

The Viking Age in Europe began in 793 CE with the Viking raid on the monastery at Lindisfarne. While there were earlier incursions into the British Isles, such as a recorded arrival of ships in 787 CE, the attack on Lindisfarne is widely recognized as the definitive start of the era.1

The Viking Age concluded by the middle of the 11th century. This decline was driven by several factors, including the Christianization of Scandinavian peoples, the centralization of political power under emerging monarchies, and shifts in trade routes that diminished the dominance of Viking networks.2