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| | Vikings in Scotland and the Western Isles |
 | | Settlers from Norway came to the Shetlands, the Orkneys, the Hebridies, the Isle of Man, the Western Islands, and parts of the Scottish mainland, attracted because the land and climate were similar to that back home in Scandinavia, with the added attraction of their proximity to the profitable Viking centers in Ireland and England. |
 | | Archaeology and other sources show, however, that the original settlement of the Vikings in parts of Scotland and the North Atlantic islands in many cases began earlier, and was a part of the often violent conquest and settlement of the Vikings outside of their Scandinavian homeland. |
 | | The Isle of Man is placed in the middle of the Irish Sea, the most perfect outpost from which to base pirates and mobile raiding forces possible. |
| www.vikinganswerlady.com /scotland.htm (7124 words) |
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