VIKINGS in the Low Countries

Our fascination with the Vikings never wanes! They appeared off the coasts of Engeland and the European mainland more than a thousand years ago. Gradually the penetrated deep into the interior in their fast ships. We know them from history books as bloodthirsty barbarians who wreaked terrible devastations. But what do we know about the Vikings now? How did they live and how did they view the world? Were they really only barbaric plunderers and so much more violent than Charlemagne's troops?