Vikings

I read recently a few paragraphs about the Vikings in a book about Medieval Europe and I am intrigued; I need to know more! I really enjoyed Jack Weatherford's Genghis Kahn and the making of the modern world, and I'm looking for something similar about the Vikings: something meant for the general reader (not overly academic), grand in scope, and well written. There seems to be an overwhelming number of books written about the Vikings, and many of them are very well regarded. Can anyone make a recommendation? Thank you.

Hi! IMHO the best way to get aquainted with the Vikings is to read the sagas...theres a ton of them out there. They're fun, full of adventure and really the best indication of life at that time. Try The Sagas of Icelanders which is a great collection, or Njal's Saga

touchstones aren't working, but both are available on amazon.com

The Vinland sagas, saga of the early Norse visits to North America. Sagas are OK, I have to disagree with jenknox though, but are not historic accounts but sagas. Hammer of the North by Magnus Magnusson is very readable. Magnusson is Iceland's most famous son. Women in the Viking Age by Judith Jesch is supposed to be the best work on Viking women in English. Else Roesdahl's book The Vikings is the best one volume work on the Vikings, she covers evrything.

I asked a friend of mine who specializes in early Norse history, especially Icelandic, for some recommendations, and am waiting to hear back from him. In the meantime, the Viking Answer Lady has a bibliography section on her Web site. Maybe you could find something of interest there. :)

Thank you to all. The Else Roesdahl book sounds like it hits the spot.

Seems to me that the quickest way is to buy (best to wait for a sale) or borrow the lectures on the Vikings put out by The Teaching Company. There are 24, 30 minute lectures that survey the entire subject along with a guide that outlines the lectures, provides suggested readings and has a good, annotated bibliography. The Teaching Company has a web site by the same name.

My concern about reading sagas, etc. is that I think they miss the mark of your inquiry. If I understand your reference to Weatherford's book correctly, you're looking for a discussion of the impact of the Vikings on the development of Western culture. It was considerable in terms of economic development. They were considerable traders, and their routes ran from the British Isles, through Scandinavia, down the Dnieper to the Crimea and on to what became the Ottoman Empire. Another route stretched west to Novgorod, and, of course, the name of Russia derives from Rus, the redheaded Vikings. Perhaps the most interesting part is the number of Arabian coins and even a Buddha, found in Viking burials.

Sagas are quite good if Viking culture is your interest, but if your interest is in how the Vikings powered the economic development of proto-Europe, the Teaching Company is your bet. And it includes a very good measure of Viking culture too.

James Graham-Campbell 's The Viking World is a good general all around all purpose quick splash into the viking world. I picked it up in either Rosekilde, Denmark or Oslo, Norway at one of the viking museums there.

asabel: There are innumerable books about Vikings. A particularly good one that's well-written, factual, FULL of information, but still readable for an intelligent beginner is Eric Christiansen's The Norsemen in the Viking Age. The whole Peoples of Europe series is really excellent.

Well, I fall into the Jenknox category. You can't go wrong with the saga's.

To her list I would add Snorre/Snorri Stulason is a great resource: Heimskrinkgla. (Amazon uses two spellings of Snorri's name.)

Ah, but if you're going to mention Snorri, Egil's Saga should also be mentioned. It's about as historical as the early king bios in Heimskringla And yes, I have both 8-)

Hmm. I noticed the year you posted this was 2007, lol. But! I would strongly recommend Magnusson's "Hammer of the North" over Rosedahl's "Vikings". Rosedahl's book is very very good, don't get me wrong. But as an introduction to the Vikings, Magnusson's is hands-down the best. Very good read--and very fun to read! Rosedahl's is a very large work, almost a reference book for a student swamped with research papers.

>11 theudanjoz:

By no means would I say Roesdahl's is a very large work. It's roughly 300 pages, and contains images and maps - and the book itself isn't very large dimensions wise. I, personally, would say it is one of the best introductory books on the Vikings and would recommend it to anyone interested. Plus, it seems to be one of the most popular for college study, in my experience.

I'm just now realizing the question is almost two years old, so hopefully some information was found and enjoyed! The Vikings are great fun to study and read about. As others have mentioned, the Sagas are excellent, and the Poetic Edda will give a great grasp on the mythology of the Vikings. Another general introductory book similar to Roesdahl is A Brief History of the Vikings by Jonathan Clements. Of course, as theudanjoz mentioned, Magnusson's is excellent as well.

I agree, I have both Magnusson & Rosedahl and enjoyed them both. Historiographically they are very different. I have memories of watching Magnusson on 'Mastermind' ... "I've started so I'll finish".

Original poster here ... I am still around and continue to read LT message boards. Since posting the above during the summer of 07, I moved to a new city, started a new job, the Dow lost 50%, Obama replaced Bush in the white house, and I have read some 20 books, including Mr. Clements's (I started Ms. Roesdahl's, but gave up on it after 100 pages or so -- found it terribly dry).

My interests have meandered a bit since then ... I moved away from the vikings, but they remain fascinating, and I just might pick up Magnsusson's book after I get through the 2 or 3 books waiting for me.

Thanks to everyone who replied, belated or not!

>14 asabel:

Have you checked out or looked at any of the Sagas or Eddas? And if you're near a library that does interlibrary loans "iLL", the Acta Arcaologica journal is quite interesting and relevant to Viking studies and expansions.

What fascinates you most about the Vikings? Their ships? The people themselves, how they went around marauding? Keep in mind they worked for the Byzantines as the Verangian Guard and traded with the Middle-Eastern countries. Plus, they settled out west in Iceland, Greenland, and North America. Is it the religion/mythology they used? How they lived their daily lives? If pressed, I supposed I could send one of my larger papers written specifically on how the Norse lived in Greenland, which is interesting in itself. The area has areas that can be used for crop, but not much - and instead of practicing saeter usage, they sent their cattle elsewhere because the food for the animals to graze on just didn't grow high enough in the mountains in Greenland. Plus, there were run-ins with the Natives, they continually sent ivory (and was one of the best sources of ivory) to the mainland.

((...they worked for the Byzantines and the Verangian Guard...))

That's the part that fascinates me most at the moment. I have this image of huge red-headed guys wandering around Byzantium's market stalls on their off-hours.

Any good resources on them in this role (as guards)?

The Viking Road to Byzantium and Varangians of Byzantium are two interesting works that deal with the Vikings and Byzantium (as both titles obviously suggest!)

I still chuckle at the various runic graffiti found in Byzantium, especially the runes carved into the Hagia Sofia!

Deslni01, it sounds to me like your interest in the field is far deeper than mine. I fall squarely into the *general reader* category, and a particular though not unique subset at that -- a general reader with varied interests and not much time outside my work and family obligations.

I think my original post sums up what I was looking for: "something meant for the general reader (not overly academic), grand in scope, and well written." I am generally interested in the forest, not the trees.

Given the inherently fascinating subject matter, surely there is at least one inspired writer out there who devoted his life to the study of the Vikings, and chose to pen for the general reader a non-fiction ode to his academic obsession!

All that said, I don't really care for their religion or mythology. I am more interested in the concrete. I am also a bit ignorant when it comes to agricultural matters. I hate to admit it, but I am kind of interested in the marauding aspect. Overall, I would say a poster above assumed correctly -- I would like to gain a broad stroke sense of the impact the Vikings have had on Western civilization.

Am I asking for too much? =)

Thanks again for all the replies.

I am NOT a Viking aficionado but if I was looking for an intro to the Vikings - general and readable - I'd start with The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings.

I haven't read it but that's what these type of Penguin Books are for - topical intros for the general reader. They're usually inexpensive and well footnoted so if you want to research a bit further they make good starting points.

Just my $.02.

As a map freak, I have and have read that atlas. Neat book 8-)

In addition to the Penguin book, I've heard good things about Gwyn Jones' A History of the Vikings. (Haven't read it myself so can't speak from personal experience, but it is said to be a good generalist/introductory work.)

Gwyn Jones' History of the Vikings is very thorough. It relates the Norse/Vikings to other Germanic peoples and begins with the Migrations. (Actually, it includes some prehistory, too.) It's a great book but pretty thick for a first intro unless the reader already has some knowledge of early medieval history. A good atlas will help, too. The last edition is about forty years old but this is still (IMHO) the best overall work on the topic. Jones was one of the great Norse popularizers of the twentieth century. His writing is elegant and witty and a pleasure to read.