Seafarers of Peace?

No, Vikings really were violent monsters.

Funny, but not being in academia, I wasn't aware of two generations of scholarship that painted Vikings as having a record that showed they carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment were "farmer/traders who have a great record as city founders, brilliant seafarers and traders with an interest in good governance."

In reality, the Vikings really were "violent bastards."

About the only thing the revisionists got right, apparently, is that Vikings didn't wear horned helmets.

Yeah, sometimes the obvious explanation really works best.

Tip to Mad Minerva.