The Age of the Vikings

This was one of the first books I read when I decided to write about Vikings and I found it a treasure trove filled with information about the daily lives of the Scandinavians, away from raids and the shield walls.

It told me everything I needed to know about what Vikings wore, what they ate and how they cooked their meals. I learnt about the hierarchy of the ruling classes and how they traded with the nations of the Middle East. It is filled with information about their religion, how they felt about life and death, and much more.

The Age of the Vikings by Anders Winroth is a more scholarly tome but far from pedestrian. This book takes you on a tour of the life and times of a Norseman, describing not just how they fought, but how they lived – detailing their poetry, politics, settlements, and ships. The Vikings you think you know are paper thin, two dimensional caricatures – Winroth makes sure the real deal leaps off the page and disabuses you of stereotypes.

Anders Winroth puts Viking violence into historical context and finds them “no worse” than their contemporaries. Emperor Charlemagne, for example, “killed and plundered on a much greater scale than the northern raiders.” Winroth makes a good argument that by focusing on whether they were primarily raiders or traders, we really don’t come to know the Vikings at all.

The Age of the Vikings is meant as a general introduction; as such, it covers a lot of familiar ground. But it’s worth the price of the book to learn the story of Estrid Sigfastsdotter, who died in the late 11th century… show more.