During the late 1960s, the Vikings built a powerful defense known as the Purple People Eaters, led by Alan Page, Carl Eller, Gary Larsen, and Jim Marshall.

The Vikings were led by quarterback Fran Tarkenton and the Purple People Eaters defense ; they advanced to their second consecutive Super Bowl and third overall after finishing the regular season with a 10-4 record and defeating the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs.

Aided by the " Purple People Eaters " defense, led by future hall of fame defensive linemen Carl Eller and Alan Page, and future hall of fame safety Paul Krause, the Vikings won the NFC Central for the sixth time in the previous seven seasons.

The Steelers ' " Steel Curtain " had led the AFC in fewest points allowed ( 189 ) and the Vikings ' " Purple People Eaters " had only given up 195.

In January 2010, Prince wrote a new song, " Purple and Gold ", inspired by his visit to a Minnesota Vikings football game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Wausa ’ s mascot is the Vikings and Lady Vikings and their colors are Purple and Gold.

Page was a member of the Vikings ' " Purple People Eaters ", a defensive line adept at sacking or hurrying the quarterback.

The Vikings team that Finks put together was powered by a dynamic defensive front four, popularly known as The " Purple People Eaters ".

As the left defensive end in the Vikings front four, he was a major factor in the unit known as the " Purple People Eaters ".

Purple People Eaters ( sometimes Purple Gang ) is a term for the defensive line of the Minnesota Vikings from the late 1960s to the late 1970s.

The Purple People Eaters were a major factor in the post-season success of the Vikings from the late 1960s through the 1970s.

He was part of the " Fearsome Foursome ", along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Lamar Lundy, often considered one of the best defensive lines in football history, along with the Purple People Eaters of the Minnesota Vikings, the Steel Curtain of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Dallas Cowboys ' Doomsday Defense.

He was a member of the Vikings ' famous " Purple People Eaters " ( which consisted of Marshall ( DE ), Alan Page ( DT ), Gary Larsen ( DT ), and Carl Eller ( DE ), and was the final player from Minnesota's initial expansion team of 1961 to retire.

They were # 1 in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed and lowest rushing attempt, there were also # 1 in fewest total yards allowed and were 2nd in fewest points allowed, behind the Vikings Purple People Eater defense.

Ancient People and Places: The Vikings.

In the Disney film Darby O ' Gill and the Little People, King Brian Conners of the Leprechauns shows Darby the sword Brian Boru used to drive out the Danes ( Vikings ).

His anthropological works include The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved ; Denmark: An Archaeological History from the Stone Age to the Vikings ; and Mound People: Danish Bronze-Age Man Preserved.

These have included novels directly based on historical events, such as Frans Gunnar Bengtsson's The Long Ships ( which was also released as a 1963 film ), and historical fantasies such as the film The Vikings, Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead ( movie version called The 13th Warrior ) and the comedy film Erik the Viking.

In, that stingy defense earned the Vikings their first Central Division title and their first playoff berth.

In Week 13 of the 2008 season against the Bears, Gus Frerotte hooked up with Bernard Berrian for a 99-yard touchdown pass after a goal line stand by the Vikings defense.

Since 2006, the Vikings have been known especially for their strong run defense (# 1 in the NFL in 2006, 2007, and 2008 ; they are the first NFL team to accomplish this since the AFL – NFL merger in 1970 ), anchored by the Williams Wall consisting of defensive tackle Kevin Williams and nose tackle Pat Williams ( no relation ).

* Observing the confusion in the Vikings defense: " Look at Kassulke ( Viking SS Karl Kassulke ) out there, it looks like he's in a Chinese fire drill.

Stram also concluded that the Vikings ' aggressiveness on defense also made them susceptible to trap plays ; Mike Garrett's rushing touchdown would come on a trap play.

The Vikings were demoralized after the game breaking touchdown and the Chiefs ' defense would continue to shut down the Vikings in the fourth quarter, forcing three interceptions on three Minnesota possessions to clinch the 23-7 victory.

Wrote Jim Langer, " We just hit the Vikings defense so hard and so fast that they didn't know what hit them.

Meanwhile, Minnesota allowed only a combined 24 points in their playoff wins against the St. Louis Cardinals, 30-14, and their narrow defeat of the Los Angeles Rams, 14-10, after their defense stopped an attempted comeback touchdown drive from the Rams on the Vikings ' own 2-yard line.

The Cowboys, with their offense and " flex " defense, became the first NFC wild-card team to advance to the Super Bowl after posting a 10-4 regular season record and postseason victories over the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams.

The Raiders were the first team to use the 3-4 in the Super Bowl in Super Bowl XI against the Minnesota Vikings, although the Miami Dolphins used a version of the 3-4 (" 53 defense ") in Super Bowl VI, Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII.

In addition, the Redskins set new NFL records with 541 points ( since broken by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings and 2007 New England Patriots ), a givaway / takaway ratio of + 43, and had the top rated rush – defense.

One possible reason for this expedition was because Alfred needed aid in his defense against the Danes or Vikings, who had taken over most of England.

Alan I, King of Brittany completes the defense of the dukedom from the invading Vikings, and becomes the first Breton ruler to be officially recognized as King by the Carolingian Emperor.

Despite not winning a Super Bowl in any of their 4 trips ( Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX and XI ), the Vikings ' defense is considered arguably among the greatest defense of all time.

In 1968, the defense led the Vikings to their first divisional title.

In 1969, all four members of the Vikings front line made the Pro Bowl as the defense gave up the fewest points, fewest yards, and sacked the opposing quarterback 50 times.

The next year, the Vikings defense once again gave up the fewest points, fewest yards, and recorded 49 sacks.

With the Vikings intimidating line leading their defense and their future Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton leading the offense, the Vikings went on to participate in Super Bowl's VIII, IX, and XI.

The Vikings ' offensive line was anchored by Pro Bowlers Grady Alderman and Mick Tingelhoff.

Van Brocklin, the quarterback who led the Eagles to the title, was signed by the Vikings last Wednesday.

A formula to supply players for the new Minneapolis Vikings and the problem of increasing the 1961 schedule to fourteen games will be discussed by National Football League owners at a meeting at the Hotel Warwick today.

The hereditary chieftains of Umhall were the O ' Malleys, recorded in the area in 814 AD when they successfully repelled an onslaught by the Vikings in Clew Bay.

* Adrian of May ( died 875 ), Scottish saint from the Isle of May, martyred by Vikings

Although not mentioned by Asser or by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfred probably also paid the Vikings cash to leave, much as the Mercians were to do in the following year.

The means by which they marshaled the forces to defend against marauders also left the Anglo-Saxons vulnerable to the Vikings.

In such cases, the Vikings were extremely vulnerable to pursuit by the king's joint military forces.

When the Vikings returned in force in 892 they found a kingdom defended by a standing, mobile field army and a network of garrisoned fortresses that commanded its navigable rivers and Roman roads.

The portrayal of the West-Saxon resistance to the Vikings by Asser and the chronicler as a Christian holy war was more than mere rhetoric or ' propaganda '.

* 991 – Battle of Maldon: the English, led by Byrhtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex, are defeated by a band of inland-raiding Vikings near Maldon, Essex.

In 844, Abd ar-Rahman repulsed an assault by Vikings who had disembarked in Cadiz, conquered Seville ( with the exception of its citadel ) and attacked Córdoba itself.

The idea of this name was proposed by Jim Kardach who developed a system that would allow cell phones to communicate with computers ( at the time he was reading Frans Gunnar Bengtsson's historical novel The Long Ships about Vikings and king Harald Bluetooth ).

In 2001, the Panthers won their season opener 24 – 13 over the Vikings, but set a ( then ) NFL record by losing 15 consecutive games to finish the season 1 – 15.

It is likely that Causantín's ( Constantine I ) reign witnessed increased activity by Vikings, based in Ireland, in Northumbria and in northern Britain.

The earliest event recorded in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba in Constantine's reign is an attack by Vikings and the plundering of Dunkeld " and all Albania " in his third year.

The Annals of Ulster record the defeat of an Irish fleet from the kingdom of Ulaid by Vikings " on the coast of England " at about this time.

Gailey led the team to two playoff appearances with a 10 – 6 record in 1998 and an NFC East championship, but the Cowboys were defeated in the playoffs by the Arizona Cardinals 20-7 ; after an 8 – 8 season in 1999 ( during which Irvin suffered a career-ending spinal injury in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles ) ending in another playoff loss ( this time to the Minnesota Vikings 27-10 ), he was fired and became the first Cowboys coach who did not take the team to a Super Bowl.

Many words derived from Norse, such as " gate " ( gade ) for street, still survive in Yorkshire and the East Midlands ( parts of eastern England ) colonized by Danish Vikings.

In 851 and 879 the city was however attacked and plundered twice by the Vikings.

Raids by the Vikings were frequent after about AD 800, and the Norsemen took control of large parts of what is now England.

However, by then the Vikings were almost certainly well established in Orkney and Shetland, and it is probable that many other non-recorded raids occurred before this.

Led by Rollo, some Vikings had settled in Normandy and were granted the land, first as counts and then as dukes, by King Charles the Simple, in order to protect the land from other raiders.