Viking

Viking (Dan.; Icel. víkingr; A.S. wicing), a name given to the piratical Northmen who infested the coasts of the British Islands and of France in the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries. This word is quite unconnected with 'king,' being derived from the Scandinavian vik, 'a bay' (the same which appears in the names Lerwick, Berwick, &c.), and this class of marauders were so called because their ships put off from the bays and fiords. See NORTHMEN.