The Viking invasions were amazing in many ways. The Vikings were shrewd traders, intrepid explorers, fearsome fighters, navigating their way without maps from North America to the Middle East. Wherever they found themselves, the Vikings never hesitated to apply their limited but well practiced skills to gaining mastery of the situation. Like other conquerors in the past, they never lost confidence that their basic tactics and tools would be sufficient to gain victory over whatever foe they faced, and were successful more often than not.
The Vikings had a very strong concept of the dark fate they called "rok," the understanding that every man has his death hour and there is nothing that can be done to change it. In a way, the Viking Age was the last hurrah of stoic pagan fatalism over a paranoid monotheism which attributed all ills to a wrathful God and valued piety over valor. This strange interaction bore perhaps its most interesting fruit during the First Crusade, during which cynical Viking/Normans accompanied a horde of fervent Christians seeking to profit from their attempt to liberate the tomb of Christ.
If you are looking to get lost in some history on this sad day when the revolution seems to be floundering, I got some tales to tell you.