Svear

• The Svear was one of the primary tribes in Southern Scandinavia during the Viking Age. The tribe was based in what is now modern day Sweden. In fact, Sweden was named after this tribe. Nova's episode "The Vikings" postulates that Vikings from this part of Scandinavia traded frequently with -- and raided -- the Slavic tribes in Russia. A rune stone near Lake Malaren provides evidence that Swedish Vikings did venture into Russia and south to the "Arab lands." Many modern scholars believe that the Rus who founded Russia were Vikings.
  
  

Gotar

• The Gotar, like the Svear, lived in what is now Sweden. They are believed to be the tribe originally referred to as the Goths. The Goths historically are best known as the upstart barbarians who stood up to Rome. The Gotar lived farther south than the Svear in the agricultural centers. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica, the Gotar and the Svear combined to create a single state around 1000 AD.
  
  

Danes

• The Danes were a very powerful group within the Viking tribes. In the mid-ninth century after years of raiding, King Alfred brokered a deal in which the Danish Vikings ruled the northern and eastern portions of England. For 100 years, the Danes ruled in England from Jorvik (York). They became permanent and powerful political fixtures in the British Isles as a result.
  
  

Norwegians

• The Norwegian Vikings were the first group to settle in Iceland. Most of what is known about Viking life was preserved in the Icelandic Sagas. These were stories and poems detailing the beliefs and everyday lives of the Norwegian Vikings living in Iceland. One of the most famous of the Viking adventurers, Erik the Red, was originally from Norway. Erik is credited with creating a settlement on Greenland as well as being the father of one of the first Europeans to set foot in North America -- Leif Erikson.