Why was life difficult in the vikings homelands?
You are probably refering to one theory of why the Viking Age started: namely that life was difficult in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. However, this theory is not completely substantiated. In fact, an alternate theory proposes that the land was *good* and therefore it was a population explosion that caused them to move outward. (For the record, there are a number of other theories as well). [BTW, you probably don’t care, but this question is a classic example of the logical fallacy known as a “loaded question”. The usual example is “Have you stopped beating your wife?” The question assumes a) the person has a wife, and b) he beats her. Likewise, this question assumes that life *was* difficult in the Norse (a better term than “viking”) homelands – an assumption which has not be first proven.] The evidence, such as archelogical finds of what appear to be properous farms and busy trading towns, seems to indicate the oppposite – that life was, in fact, pretty good in the Norse homelands.
