Jonathan Clements: A Brief History of the Vikings(paperback)

Pehmeäkantinen. Englanninkielinen. (takakannessa kulmataite)
273 pages

Jonathan Clements: A Brief History of the Vikings
- The last pagans or the first modern europeans?
Robinson 2005

'From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord.'

Between the eighth and eleventh centuries, the Vikings surged from
their Scandinavian homelands to trade, raid and invade along the coasts
of Europe. Their reach stretched 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, King
Canute to Leif the Lucky. It explains why the Danish king Harald
Bluetooth lent his name to a twenty-first century wireless technology;
why so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; and how the last
Viking colony was destroyed by English raiders.

Looking beyond the traditional 'Viking age' Jonathan Clements places
Scandinavian population movement in a wider historical context. He
presents a balanced view of these infamous sea wolves, examining both
their supremacy and its supposed end. Supposed because the Vikings
never really went away. Instead, they became part of us.