Viking Research

Hello Year Three,
I hope you're having a lovely holiday.
How is the research into the Vikings going?

I spent last week in Istanbul (in Turkey). 
One day I went to an amazing building called (the) Hagia Sophia.
This is a very old building indeed! It was once a church and then became a mosque, and is now a museum that tourists can visit.

One of the things I saw inside was some Viking writing (or Runes). This had been scratched onto the stone balustrade. It says "Halfdan carved these runes".
(Halfdan was here!)

Istanbul used to be called Constantinople and was a part of the Roman Empire. (A more important city than Rome in its day.) The Viking writing was done during the 9th century AD. This shows how far south the Vikings managed to travel.

Have you managed to find out any fascinating facts about the Vikings?
                                                                                                                                    DM