To be honest I am sick and tired of all you people who want to add the 'Scandinavian Civilization'... The three Scandinavian countries have never been a single, united civilization.
Just to give you an idea of how stupid it is, it would be like throwing the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans together and calling it the 'South American Civilization'...
I say again... It should be the DANISH Civilization as I have described in detail (with map and all) on page 2 (I think) of this thread. And for all you Swedes out there, I have no problem with adding Sweden too, as Sweden was a powerful economic force in the 1500-1600's.
But when we are talking about the 'Viking' era, the Danes were the absolute power in Scandinavia, and the word 'Danes' was the only one used about the raiders and settlers who influenced Western Europe from 793 to 1066 (and yes, Norwegian Vikings were also known as 'Danes').
So forget 'Scandinavians', 'Vikings', 'Norsemen' or any other daft name you think would work.
I am a history major with special focus on the early middle ages, so trust me on this.
Sorry for the rant...