The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

By Julian D. Richards

The Viking recognition is certainly one of bloodthirsty seafaring warriors, again and again plundering the British Isles and the North Atlantic during the early center a while. but Vikings have been additionally investors, settlers, and farmers, with a fancy inventive and linguistic tradition, whose growth in another country led them to go the Atlantic for the 1st time in ecu heritage. Highlighting the newest archaeological facts, Julian Richards unearths the entire Viking international: their historical past, their tradition, and their legacy of out of the country growth for alternate, colonization, and plunder. Viking id is explored via what we have now discovered approximately their cities, paintings, shipbuilding, and spiritual rituals. the following the Viking tale is pointed out to the current, from the stories of event present in medieval Icelandic sagas, to their exploitation as an emblem of nationalism within the 19th century through Wagner, and later by means of Hitler and the Nazi get together. the writer additionally highlights their influence and effect at the heritage and other people of Northern Europe. Vikings, a desirable new examine a humans and tradition which have been reinvented all through historical past, will take readers in the direction of learning who they truly were.

Show description

Quick preview of The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) PDF

Best Archaeology books

The Jaguar Mask

Set within the middle of the yank jungle and that includes Declan Carberry, the not-so good-looking hero of Day of Wrath, this page-turner oozes pleasure, exotica and formulation One suspense. Archaeologist Leo is on a dig. yet this can be no usual project. he is deep within the middle of the Mexican jungle uncovering one other centuries-old Mayan urban.

The Origin of Our Species

Chris Stringer's bestselling "The starting place of our Species" tackles the large questions within the ongoing debate in regards to the beginnings of human lifestyles on the earth. Do all people originate from Africa? How did we unfold around the globe? Are we become independent from Neanderthals, or perform a little people even have their genes?

Gold and Gilt, Pots and Pins: Possessions and People in Medieval Britain (Medieval History and Archaeology)

During this hugely illustrated ebook, David Hinton seems at what possessions intended to humans at each point of society in Britain within the center a long time, from difficult gold jewelry to clay pots, and gives a desirable window into the society of the center a long time. Gold and Gilt, Pots and Pins is ready issues worn and utilized in Britain during the center a while, from the good treasure hoards that mark the tip of the Roman Empire to the hot expressions of rules promoted via the Renaissance and Reformation.

By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia

We are living in a globalized global, yet mobility is not anything new. Barry Cunliffe tells the tale of the way people first began development the globalized international we all know at the present time. Set on a tremendous continental degree, from Europe to China, it covers over 10,000 years, from the origins of farming round 9000 BC to the growth of the Mongols within the 13th century advert.

Additional resources for The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Show sample text content

Enquiries touching on copy outdoor the scope of the above might be despatched to the Rights division, Oxford college Press, on the handle above you need to no longer flow this booklet in the other binding or conceal and also you needs to impose this related on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in booklet facts information on hand Library of Congress Cataloging in ebook info info on hand ISBN 0–19–280607–6 978–0–19–280607–9 1 three five 7 nine 10 eight 6 four 2 Typeset via RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk published in nice Britain by way of TJ foreign Ltd. , Padstow, Cornwall Contents checklist of illustrations ix 1 2 three four five 6 7 eight nine 10 eleven 12 Vikings then and now 1 Early Scandinavian kingdoms eight Pagans and Christians 19 adjustments within the nation-state 29 cities and exchange 39 around the ocean: seafaring and abroad growth forty seven Settlers in England sixty three Raiders and investors round the Irish Sea seventy seven Vikings and Picts: genocide or assimilation? 88 Landnám within the North Atlantic ninety seven the sting of the area: Greenland and North the US 106 Reinventing the Vikings Timeline 134 additional analyzing Index 141 137 117 This web page deliberately left clean List of illustrations 1 crimson Erik: Danish luxurious beer eight Russia and the East Courtesy of Ceres Brewery, Denmark nine Scandinavian task in England sixty five 2 Viking Age Scandinavia eleven three Rune stone, Jelling sixteen 10 four Artist’s influence of the fort at Fyrkat sixteen eleven From J. Graham-Campbell et al. , Cultural Atlas of the Viking international (1994), fifty seven. © Brown Reference workforce five Burial mounds, Birka 22 Excavations in development at Coppergate, York sixty nine © York Archaeological belief for Excavation and learn Ltd © Julian Richards Middleton warrior, North Yorkshire seventy five © division of Archaeology, collage of Durham. picture: T. Middlemass 12 © Julian Richards 6 Aerial view, Hedeby fifty nine three Brough of Birsay: aerial view ninety one Crown copyright, reproduced courtesy of ancient Scotland forty three © Wikinger Museum, Haithabu 7 The Oseberg send; excavation group within the mound, 21 September 1904 forty nine © Museum of Cultural historical past, collage of Oslo, Norway thirteen Westness, Rousay. Male boat grave with the prow and stern jam-packed with stones to create a imperative chamber for the physique ninety three © Bergen Museum 14 The bay at Tjørnuvik, Faroes: web site of a Norse cemetery ninety nine 17 sixteen The North Atlantic routes 18 © Parks Canada The Vinland Map 127 The Beinecke infrequent booklet and Manuscript Library, Yale collage one zero one L’Anse aux Meadows reconstruction 111 one hundred twenty five © German old Museum, Berlin © Julian Richards 15 moment global conflict recruitment poster 19 highway scene, Jorvik a hundred thirty © York Archaeological belief for Excavation and examine Ltd The writer and the writer ask for forgiveness for any blunders or omissions within the above checklist. If contacted they are going to be happy to rectify those on the earliest chance. bankruptcy 1 Vikings then and now each February the schoolchildren of York costume up in conventional Viking gown and this northern English urban holds its annual Jorvik Viking pageant.

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.36 of 5 – based on 25 votes