• c. 4000 BCE - c. 2300 BCEDepictions of ships in stone (in burial settings) and metal found in Scandinavia.
  • c. 350 BCEHjortspring boat - the earliest known plank-built Scandinavian vessel.
  • c. 200 CE - c. 400 CERoman technology used by Vikings in shipbuilding.
  • c. 350 CE - c. 400 CEThe Nydam Ship built, first able to easily travel long distance overseas.
  • c. 750 CE - c. 800 CEThe presumed founding of the important Viking trading center of Birka in Sweden.
  • 780 CE - 950 CEThe commercial Viking centre at Kaupang thrives.
  • c. 790 CE - c. 880 CEStyle E (also 'Oseberg' or 'Broa' style) of the Scandinavian animal ornamentation styles flourished between the late 8th- and late 9th century CE.
  • c. 790 CE - c. 1100 CEThe Viking Age.
  • 793 CEFirst Viking raid in Britain at Lindisfarne Abbey.
  • c. 800 CE - c. 1050 CEApproximate timespan of the Viking Age.
  • c. 829 CE - c. 831 CEThe Frankish missionary St. Ansgar (801-865 CE) first introduces the Swedes to Christianity in the Viking trading town of Birka.
  • 845 CEViking chief Ragnar Lothbrok raids Paris.
  • c. 850 CE - c. 990 CEThe Borre Style of the Viking Age animal ornamentation styles flourished between c. 850 and the late 10th century CE.
  • 854 CE - 858 CEViking raids on West Francia allegedly led by Bjorn Ironside and Hastein (although this attribution is more likely legendary rather than historical).
  • 876 CEViking raids involving Rollo.
  • 885 CE - 886 CEViking siege of Paris. Odo of West Francia successfully defends the city.
  • c. 890 CE - c. 990 CEThe Jelling Style, a Viking Age animal ornamentation style, cropped up just before 900 CE and was in vogue until the end of the 10th century CE.
  • c. 900 CEViking Hedeby is at its height. It encompasses an area of around 24 hectares and has a population of approximately 1,500 people.
  • c. 950 CE - c. 1000 CEThe Mammen Style, a Scandinavian animal ornamentation style, flourished in this period.
  • c. 950 CEThe Viking trading center of Birka in present-day Sweden goes into abrupt decline around the mid-10th century CE.
  • c. 990 CE - c. 1050 CEThe Ringerike Style, a Scandinavian animal ornamentation style, flourished in this period.
  • c. 1000 CEVikings first land in North America, in Newfoundland and other parts of eastern Canada.
  • c. 1040 CE - c. 1100 CEThe Urnes style, the last of the Viking Age animal ornamentation styles, flourished in this period and even extended into the 12th century CE in certain locations.
  • 1066 CEViking Hedeby is sacked by Polabian Slavs, after already having been sacked by Harald Hardrada of Norway a few years before. Residents relocate to Schleswig, and Hedeby's role as mercantile center ceases.
  • c. 1066 CEHarald Hardrada of the Vikings killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; accepted date of the end of the Viking Age.
  • 25 Sep 1066 CEBattle of Stamford Bridge in which Harold Godwinson (Harold II) defeats an invading army led by Harald Hardrada, king of Norway.
  • 21 Sep 1069 CEA Viking force led by King Sweyn II of Denmark's brother Asbjorn sacks York.
  • May 1070 CEKing Sweyn II of Denmark joins forces with Anglo-Saxon rebels led by Hereward the Wake to threaten East Anglia in England.
  • c. 1220 CEThe Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson is written.
  • c. 1270 CEThe Poetic Edda is written. It contains poetry that dates further back, though.
  • 2018 CEThe Viking trading center of Hedeby is made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018: the "Archaeological Border complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke".