The Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

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Some of the agricultural-elite Norwegians settled Iceland, beginning around 870 CE, to escape pirate rule. He possesses both an archaeologist's ability to interpret large quantities of scholarship and data, and the skill to translate it creatively. The author never lost his professionalism and not once condemned or praised the actions of a historic peoples, something which is bafflingly rare and it shouldn't be. This is a very comprehensive walk through the archeological evidence and giving sensible theories on what that means. In the past many histories that give a history of the Vikings view them through the eyes of another culture, and usually with the result of placing the contact culture in the positive light and the Vikings in a negative light.

It explores their unique understandings of personhood, gender, and the place of the individual in the many dimensions of the cosmos. This fascinating part of European history is particularly interesting, and reveals much about human interaction, philosophy and so much more. It was narrated by someone who is clearly comfortable with a variety of languages that appear in this reading.His vivid prose illuminates both the physical and the psychological dimensions of the early medieval north, while at the same time leaving space for uncertainty: the possibility of future discoveries and theories that will alter the picture yet again. In depth analysis of their cultural, social, mythological/religious and political structures, as well as the economic incentives that influenced their decisions, is examined in depth. Far from a dogmatic approach to considering history, this book looks at a particular topic with ambiguity, examining multiple points of view, and how they interact with the written and archaeological record.

It is a fascinating and extensive examination of the Vikings, children of the great ash tree Yggdrasill, their culture, explorations and sweeping travels. Over 500 pages of narrative, he skillfully blends extended discussions of the recent finds at settlement and burial sites with his own anecdotes, reflections and investigations. There's a really great look at a massive burial site found off the coast of Estonia as recently as 2012. These are based not just on past scholarship but also on the many recent finds, new ways of interpreting them, and on the very many discussions within and outside of academia.From here, he begins to trace the sociopolitical developments that came together to spark the Viking phenomenon. In die zin is deze Nieuwe Geschiedenis waarlijk nieuw en gaf het me goede inzichten in het Vikingtijdperk.

The nursery rhyme about London bridge falling down is purportedly recording Viking attack in England. Sites of first-phase Viking raids, 750–833 CE: most are on Irish coast; English monasteries and ports; French coastal towns. However, believe it or not, there is an LGBTQI+ agenda interspersed throughout the book that is very frustrating to have to get through. He is able to do this in a way that is thought-provoking (tying them to modern culture) and engaging. A narrator with some knowledge of Scandinavian words and places should have been chosen to read this book.Al met al een mooi gebalanceerd overzicht voor iedereen die kennis wil maken met het fenomeen Viking. The reason why is largely unknown, although numerous theories abound, including unrest due to warring polities and the slow centralization of political power on mainland Scandinavia, a lack of eligible brides for the average warrior, environmental impacts from a warming period, and so forth. While it is a ton of information to take in, this is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the Viking Age or Viking culture, whether you are a beginner to the topic or familiar with the material. Es un libro interesante, bien investigado y escrito, pero en lo que yo buscaba, no ha sido tan completo como lo esperaba. This equates to approximately 14 percent of the entire monetary output of the Frankish empire—for a century—evaporated in the payment of extortion demands that produced no tangible positive gain, and, in many cases, failed to appease the Vikings anyway.

Writing about Vikings from a Viking perspective is a bold claim, but I think the author has succeeded in doing just that. I enjoyed the book for the most part, appreciated the writing style and the wry humour when it occasionally appears, and learned a lot about the Vikings along the way.Its consequences included an urban revolution in the Scandinavian economies and the reorganization of the countryside, paralleled by the consolidation of royal power and the rising influence of a new faith. Their dramatic expansion will not be ignored, of course, but its context, its origins, are at the core of what follows. The emphasis here is very firmly on who the Vikings really were, what made them tick, how they thought and felt. Any and all of these may provide the answer, although it is certainly not for any one particular reason, as most moments in history seem to attest too. If the data from the Continental written sources is combined, the protection money paid to the Vikings during the ninth century totalled about thirty thousand pounds' weight of silver, most of it in cash: a sum equivalent to seven million silver pennies over a period when the estimated total output of the Frankish mints was in the region of fifty million coins.