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Jonathan
Clements.
A
Brief History of the Vikings.
Constable
& Robinson, 2005.
Brief
History series.
ISBN
1845290763.
Paperback.
Publisher's
recommended price £7.99
The last pagans or the
first modern Europeans? Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the
Vikings surged from their Scandinavian homeland to trade, raid and
invade along the coasts of Europe. Their influence and expeditions
extended from Newfoundland to Baghdad, their battles were as far-flung
as Africa and the Arctic. But were they great seafarers or desperate
outcasts, noble heathens or oafish pirates, the last pagans or the
first of the modern Europeans?
This concise study puts medieval chronicles, Norse sagas and Muslim
accounts alongside more recent research into ritual magic, genetic
profiling and climatology. It includes biographical sketches of some of
the most famous Vikings, from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf, and King
Canute to Leif the Lucky. It explains why the Danish king Harald
Bluetooth lent his name to a twenty-first century wireless technology;
which future saint laughed as she buried foreign ambassadors alive; why
so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; and how the last Viking
colony was destroyed by English raiders.
Extending beyond the traditional 'Viking age' of most books, A Brief History of the Vikings
places sudden Scandinavian population movement in a wider historical
context. It presents a balanced appraisal of these infamous sea kings,
explaining both their swift expansion and its supposed halt. Supposed
because, ultimately, the Vikings didn't disappear: they turned into us.
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