Some people claim Vikings were uncultured snownigger savages but they founded and ruled a lot of kingdoms, duchies, or political entities all across Europe

How does that even work?
Were they actually smarter and more "political" than we think?

>Kievan Rus' – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus
>Duchy of Normandy – France
>Kingdom of Sicily
>Icelandic Commonwealth – Iceland
>Kingdom of York (Jórvík) – England
>Kingdom of Dublin – Ireland
>Kingdom of Man and the Isles – Isle of Man & Hebrides
>Kingdom of the Isles – Scotland
>Novgorod – Russia
>Danelaw – England
Principality of Polotsk – Belarus