I have several questions regarding the ethnicity/heritage of the Normans...
Re: N^o 8
Is it accurate to refer to some Normans as 'Vikings'? The term Vikingr, means to go raiding, and Viking typically denotes a Scandinavian who's gone raiding. Is there an actual difference between say, the actions of Ragnar Lothbrok for example, and William Iron Arm? Technically speaking, they were both ethnic Scandinavians and they were both raiders.
It wouldn't really be accurate at all; vĂkingr were Scandinavian pirates and naval raiders. Norman raiders were, well, Normans; if they went pirating or naval raiding, they would use whatever word it would have been in Norman. They were of a different tribal grouping, by that point.
At any rate, going a-viking had, by the 11th century, really fallen out of style; with the centralization of authority in Scandinavian kingdoms (and the unification of each kingdom), you're looking at fewer and fewer sea-kings going freebooting and ruining everyone's day in the name of plunder and more jarlar being sent to deliberately damage and disrupt other kingdoms, or plunder foreign coasts in order to bring back spoils for the kingdom. VĂkingar weren't plundering or looting for anyone but themselves.
hi! you may be interested in a few previous discussions
re question #5
re question #8
In how far can the Normans (specifically those of William's campaign in 1066) be called "Vikings"?
Did William the Conqueror and Robert Guiscard know each other?
re question #11
Norman identity in Southern Italy and Sicily in the 12th century
How does the Norman conquest of southern Italy compare to the Norman invasion of Britain?
Website for finding a source about the Norman kingdom of Sicily from 1070-1200 ish?
off topic, but interesting To what extent was the Norman conquest of Sicily in the 11th/12th century considered a crusade or Holy War?