The image of the societies of Scandinavia in the late Iron Age has been based predominantly on their economic character, involving aspects such as agriculture and settlement, economy and society, trade and urbanisation. What are known as the Middle Ages in Scandinavia begin around the year 1000, half a millennium later than for the rest of western and central Europe. Only from this date onwards did Scandinavia consist of unified kingdoms and was Christianity established as a serious force in pagan Scandinavia. Much of what was written about Scandinavian history actually comes from Iceland. In Europe, the roman script was adopted at an early date, and only in Scandinavia did the runic script develop further during the Viking period. The settlement structure in late Iron Age Scandinavia clearly developed hierarchically with respect to size and function. Myths played a vital role in the creation of a political mentality amongst the new Germanic warlords and kings in Europe.

The Germanic communities of the early Roman Iron Age had developed settlement forms that were much more complex and sophisticated than would have been deduced from the literary record. In terms of tactics, Germanic warfare probably changed little during the third and early fourth centuries. Weaponry certainly improved, and access to Roman armament, however achieved, added a new dimension. Trading and other exchanges continued unabated between the Roman provinces and the Germanic peoples throughout the late second and third centuries, though with significant changes in the goods which changed hands and in the overall pattern of trade. The status of iron smiths was carefully defined in the later Germanic law codes and it is a reasonable surmise that they enjoyed a relatively elevated position in earlier Germanic society. Cult-places of several kinds are strongly in evidence from the end of the second century and a number remained in use until the fourth or fifth centuries.

Roman written sources suggest little change within the social order of the Germanic peoples from the first contacts to the migrations. The impact of environmental change in the later Roman Iron Age must also be allowed for, in certain areas at least, most notably in the northern coastlands. From some areas of northern Gaul, however, there have come clear signs of German settlement dating from the late fourth and early fifth centuries. The peoples of the northern German coastlands who posed an increasing threat to the security of the frontier on the lower Rhine and to the coasts of northern Gaul and Britain in the fourth century were lumped together by Roman sources as 'Saxons', though that name embraced wide ethnic variety. By the early fifth century, whether in Gaul, the Danube lands or Scandinavia, Germanic leaders could express a growing confidence that their place in a changed world was assured as never before.