The Vikings Culture and Conquest

by Arnold, Martin

• ISBN13: 9781852854768
• ISBN10: 1852854766
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-15
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

The story of the Vikings is one of the most dramatic in European history. From their base in Scandinavia, Viking warriors and settlers spread across northern Europe, into Russia and across the Atlantic. After their first impact as fearsome raiders, destroying monasteries and plundering coastal settlements, the Vikings turned to conquest in England, Ireland and Normandy. In their longships they also penetrated into the Mediterranean and as far as Byzantium, as well as establishing settlements in Iceland and Greenland, and discovering Vinland, or America.The Vikings is a concise and clear survey of who the Vikings were, what they did, why they did it and how we know about them. It includes an account of their remarkable saga literature. It is likely to become a standard work on the subject. >

Author Biography

Martin Arnold is Senior Lecturer in Old Norse-Icelandic Studies at Hull University.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	vii
Introduction	x
Acknowledgements	xii
1 The Viking Age	1
2 Society and Religion	27
3 Battle on Land and at Sea	57
4 England, Ireland and Wales, 789-900	79
5 England, Ireland and Wales, 900-1070	103
6 Scotland and the Orkneys	131
7 Western Europe	147
8 Russia and the East	165
9 Atlantic Explorations and Settlements	191
Appendix	215
Notes	217
Bibliography	227
Index	233