A Brief History of the Vikings

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 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 incorporates a range of rare sources, including medieval chronicles, Norse sagas, and Muslim accounts, alongside more recent research into ritual magic, genetic profiling and climatology. It includes biographical sketeches of some of the most famous Vikings, from Erik Bloodaxe to Saint Olaf, and King Canute to Leif the Lucky.

Extending beyond the traditional "Viking age", 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 the situations that caused both their swift expansion and its supposed halt.

Find out:

Why the Danish king Harald Bluetooth lent his name to a 21st century wireless technology; how silver from Afghanistan ended up in a Swedish grave; how a girl from Northampton became the ruler of Norway; which future saint laughed as she buried foreign ambassadors alive; which Viking prince blinded a Byzantine Emperor; why so many Icelandic settlers had Irish names; and how the last Viking colony was destroyed by English raiders.

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Excerpt 1: The Valkyries
Excerpt 2: Finnwitching
Excerpt 3: The Irish in Iceland