The World of the Vikings

About this book

A vivid picture of the Vikings that draws on the latest discoveries and augments written evidence with fine archaeological detail. Here is the complete story of the Vikings from their origins in Scandinavia during the early first millennium AD through the incredible period of raiding trading and settling known as the Viking Age and the huge impact that the Vikings had on the course of European history to the last surviving Viking settlements in fifteenth-century Greenland. The book explores Viking life and culture in detail from their costumes and appearance to their longhouses and towns including Hedeby York and Dublin and the extensive Viking pantheon. Viking warfare targets and tactics are analyzed as are their weapons crafts and other artifactsincluding their stunning pattern-welded swords their helmets and their hoards. The ship the linchpin of the Viking world is described and illustrated with numerous examples among them Oseberg and Nydam. Box features complement the text covering subjects as diverse as runes navigation silver hoards and the sagas. 330 illustrations 165 in color.