A Brief History of the Vikings

A Brief History of the Vikings PDF Author: Jonathan Clements
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1472107756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
'From the Fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord.' 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.

A Brief History of the Vikings

A Brief History of the Vikings PDF Author: Jonathan Clements
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1472107756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Get Book

Book Description
'From the Fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord.' 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.

A History of the Vikings

A History of the Vikings PDF Author: Gwyn Jones
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192801340
Category : Civilization, Viking
Languages : en
Pages : 556

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Book Description
A look at the ancient Scandinavian peoples.

A History of the Vikings

A History of the Vikings PDF Author: Sir Thomas D. Kendrick
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136242392
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 437

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Book Description
First published in 1968. The barbarians of the distant and little-known north, of Scandinavia, that is, and of Denmark, became notorious in the ninth and tenth centuries as pests who plagued the outer fringes of the civilized This volume is an English narrative of the Vikings and their activities in the west, far north as well as east and south-east also.

Children of Ash and Elm

Children of Ash and Elm PDF Author: Neil Price
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465096999
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 629

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Book Description
The definitive history of the Vikings -- from arts and culture to politics and cosmology -- by a distinguished archaeologist with decades of expertise The Viking Age -- from 750 to 1050 -- saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples into the wider world. As traders and raiders, explorers and colonists, they ranged from eastern North America to the Asian steppe. But for centuries, the Vikings have been seen through the eyes of others, distorted to suit the tastes of medieval clerics and Elizabethan playwrights, Victorian imperialists, Nazis, and more. None of these appropriations capture the real Vikings, or the richness and sophistication of their culture. Based on the latest archaeological and textual evidence, Children of Ash and Elm tells the story of the Vikings on their own terms: their politics, their cosmology and religion, their material world. Known today for a stereotype of maritime violence, the Vikings exported new ideas, technologies, beliefs, and practices to the lands they discovered and the peoples they encountered, and in the process were themselves changed. From Eirík Bloodaxe, who fought his way to a kingdom, to Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, the most traveled woman in the world, Children of Ash and Elm is the definitive history of the Vikings and their time.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings PDF Author: P. H. Sawyer
Publisher: Oxford Illustrated History
ISBN: 9780192854346
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Were the Vikings, as an early description had it, a 'valiant, wrathful, foreign, purely pagan people' who swept in from the sea to plunder and slaughter? Or in the words of a Manx folksong, "war-wolves keen in hungry quest', who lived and died by the sea and the sword? Or were they unusually successful merchants, extortionists, and pioneer explorers? This book considers the latest research and presents an authoritative account of the Vikings and their age. Excavations as far apart as Dublin and Newfoundland, York and Russia, provide fascinating archaeological evidence, expertly interpreted in this extensively illustrated book.

The Vikings

The Vikings PDF Author: Robert Ferguson
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101151420
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
A comprehensive and thrilling history of the Vikings for fans of the History Channel series From Harald Bluetooth to Cnut the Great, the feared seamen and plunderers of the Viking Age ruled Norway, Sweden, and Denmark but roamed as far as Byzantium, Greenland, and America. Raiders and traders, settlers and craftsmen, the medieval Scandinavians who have become familiar to history as Vikings never lose their capacity to fascinate, from their ingeniously designed longboats to their stormy pantheon of Viking gods and goddesses, ruled by Odin in Valhalla. Robert Ferguson is a sure guide across what he calls "the treacherous marches which divide legend from fact in Viking Age history." His long familiarity with the literary culture of Scandinavia with its skaldic poetry is combined with the latest archaeological discoveries to reveal a sweeping picture of the Norsemen, one of history's most amazing civilizations. Impeccably researched and filled with compelling accounts and analyses of legendary Viking warriors and Norse mythology, The Vikings is an indispensable guide to medieval Scandinavia and is a wonderful companion to the History Channel series.

The Vikings

The Vikings PDF Author: J. D. Richards
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192806076
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
Highlighting the latest archaeological evidence, Julian Richards reveals the whole Viking world: their history, society and culture, and their expansion overseas for trade, colonization, and plunder.

Sons of Vikings

Sons of Vikings PDF Author: Kurt Noer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781790425846
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
Sons of Vikings tells the story of the Viking Age (793-1066 A.D.) through the lives of extraordinary people. Each chapter is a biography of Ragnar Lothbrok, Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Ironside, Rollo, Brian Boru, Erik the Red, Floki, Leif Erikson, Lagertha, Alfred, Rurik, Sviatoslav, William the Conqueror, and many other heroes and villains. It provides an understanding of this pivotal historical period in a way that facts and chronologies alone cannot. Sons of Vikings is meticulously researched from almost 100 sources but is also not afraid to challenge conventional beliefs and offer new perspectives. It is the perfect introduction for the casual fan of Vikings in television and popular culture but also offers a new take for the well-read history enthusiast. From myths, legends, sagas, and stories, to the most-recent archeology and DNA research, this book brings the Viking Age to life.

The Vikings in History

The Vikings in History PDF Author: F. Donald Logan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136527095
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Completely updated to include important primary research, archaeological findings and debates from the last decade, this third edition of F. Donald Logan's successful book examines the Vikings and their critical role in history. The author uses archaeological, literary and historical evidence to analyze the Vikings' overseas expeditions and their transformation from raiders to settlers. Focusing on the period from 800–1050, it studies the Vikings across the world, from Denmark and Sweden right across to the British Isles, the North Atlantic and the New World. This edition includes: a new epilogue explaining the aims of the book updated further reading sections maps and photographs. By taking this new archaeological and primary research into account, the author provides a vital text for history students and researchers of this fascinating people.

Vikings

Vikings PDF Author: Patrick Auerbach
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781530661336
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
The Vikings were a seafaring people from the late eighth to early 11th century who established a name for themselves as traders, explorers and warriors. They discovered the Americas long before Columbus and could be found as far east as the distant reaches of Russia. While these people are often attributed as savages raiding the more civilized nations for treasure and women, the motives and culture of the Viking people are much more diverse. These raiders also facilitated many changes throughout the lands from economics to warfare. Many historians commonly associate the term "Viking" to the Scandinavian term vikingr, a word for "pirate." However, the term is meant to reference oversea expeditions, and was used as a verb by the Scandinavian people for when the men traditionally took time out of their summers to go "a Viking." While many would believe these expeditions entailed the raiding of monasteries and cities along the coast, many expeditions were actually with the goal of trade and enlisting as foreign mercenaries. Many modern perceptions of Vikings found their origins through Catholic propaganda. Upon the sacking of multiple Christian facilities and the loss of countless relics and treasures, the Catholic ministry sought to dehumanize them. Until Queen Victoria's rule of Britain, the Vikings were still portrayed as a violent and barbaric people. During the 19th and 20th centuries, perceptions changed to the point where Vikings were glamorized as noble savages with horned helmets, a proud culture and a feared prowess in battle. Scroll to the top of the page and click Add To Cart to read more about this extraordinary forgotten chapter of history.