A major reassessment of the vikings and their legacy The Vikings maintain their grip on our imagination, but their image is too often distorted by myth. It is true that they pillaged, looted, and enslaved. But they also settled peacefully and traveled far from their homelands in swift and sturdy ships to explore. The Age of the Vikings tells the full story of this exciting period in history. Drawing on a wealth of written, visual, and archaeological evidence, Anders Winroth captures the innovation and pure daring of the Vikings without glossing over their destructive heritage. He not only explains the Viking attacks, but also looks at Viking endeavors in commerce, politics, discovery, and colonization, and reveals how Viking arts, literature, and religious thought evolved in ways unequaled in the rest of Europe. The Age of the Vikings sheds new light on the complex society, culture, and legacy of these legendary seafarers.

"You all know me as Highland Warrior Chief Cattan, a Sennachie who can recite all our ancestors, and as a parson looking to save your souls. Today, I give you a reason to fight and to keep hold of what we have created. The heathen Vikings, we now face, left their own homelands to explored the wider world. We need to know how far they have reached, and to dissuade those we meet from coming back to our western isles. We the Catti tribe are accepted by the Picts and are trusted to make their alliances. Be ready to fight on for what is your inheritance. I will be with you."

A story of Heathen Vikings enabling Cinaed (or Kenneth) MacAlpin take over Christian Scotland. Cattan, warrior priest and Chief of the Clan Chattan, converted the ambitious, Kenneth of Dal Riada and became his personal advisor. Follow James who became the caretaker Chief, forming alliances against the greater threat of raiding Vikings, by a circumnavigation of mainland Britain noting changes of the time and developing tactics to fight back. The Chattan Fleet's reputation was such, that neither Dane nor Norse wished to take them on, so they went after soft targets, sometimes as paid mercenaries to regain lost lands. Once Vikings settled in the northern isles, Man, and Dublin, they took possession of the east of Angleland that became England, and the west of Alba that became Scotland. Tribal identity became mixed as the kingdoms united but, the people still retained symbols of their ancient origins displayed on local banners, as they rallied to the nearest, strongest, High King's own standard.

An illustrated guide to Viking warfare from strategy and weapons to culture and tradition: “a very excellent introduction to the Viking age as a whole” (Justin Pollard, historical consultant for the Amazon television series Vikings). From the time when sailing was first introduced to Scandinavia, Vikings reached virtually every corner of Europe and even America with their raids and conquests. Wherever Viking ships roamed, enormous suffering followed in their wake, but the encounters between cultures also brought immense change to both European and Nordic societies. In Vikings at War, historian Kim Hjardar presents a comprehensive overview of Viking weapons technology, military traditions and tactics, offensive and defensive strategies, fortifications, ships, and command structure. The most crucial element of the Viking’s success was their strategy of arriving by sea, attacking with great force, and withdrawing quickly. In their militarized society, honor was everything, and ruining one’s posthumous reputation was considered worse than death itself. Vikings at War features more than 380 color illustrations, including beautiful reconstruction drawings, maps, cross-section drawings of ships, line-drawings of fortifications, battle plan reconstructions, and photos of surviving artifacts, including weapons and jewelry. Winner of Norway’s Saga Prize, Vikings at War is now available in English with this new translation. “A magnificent piece of work [that] I’d recommend to anyone with an interest in the Viking period.” —Justin Pollard, historical consultant for the Amazon television series Vikings

High King selection over other kings ensured there would always be an adult on the throne, but warfare and murder followed. Overlordship was only submission under duress, ignored unless enforced. Vikings kept coming, to settle, fight for possession, or for hire. Highland Chiefs are re-aligned by sourced history. Sigurd Rollo raided Scotland and became Jarl of Shetland and Orkney. He landed on the northern coast of France where his descendants became Dukes of Normandy. Erik Rollo accompanied his uncle, William the Conqueror, on the invasion of England, and Richard, followed King David I of Scotland when he left the English court to reclaim his Scottish throne. Wallace was betrayed. 'Rollo' first appears in a 1141 charter granted by Robert de Brus, another Norman Viking descendant. Sir Henry de Bohun, an English knight, was killed by Robert the Bruce before his Battle of Bannockburn.

Over 1 million sold in series! While visiting Mr. Whittaker at Whit’s Soda Shoppe, Beth and Patrick find a mysterious letter in the Imagination Station requesting a Viking sunstone. The letter is old and says that someone named Albert will be imprisoned if the sunstone isn’t found. Mr. Whittaker sends cousins Patrick and Beth to Greenland circa 1000. On their quest for the sunstone, the cousins meet Vikings Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson—and find the sunstone as they join Leif on his first voyage to North America. But the adventure is just beginning, for when they return to Mr. Whittaker’s workshop with the sunstone, there is another note waiting for them, requesting a silver goblet. Join Patrick and Beth as they continue their travel to various lands and time in the Imagination Station book series.

The definitive history of the Vikings -- from arts and culture to politics and cosmology -- by a distinguished archaeologist with decades of expertise The Viking Age -- from 750 to 1050 -- saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples into the wider world. As traders and raiders, explorers and colonists, they ranged from eastern North America to the Asian steppe. But for centuries, the Vikings have been seen through the eyes of others, distorted to suit the tastes of medieval clerics and Elizabethan playwrights, Victorian imperialists, Nazis, and more. None of these appropriations capture the real Vikings, or the richness and sophistication of their culture. Based on the latest archaeological and textual evidence, Children of Ash and Elm tells the story of the Vikings on their own terms: their politics, their cosmology and religion, their material world. Known today for a stereotype of maritime violence, the Vikings exported new ideas, technologies, beliefs, and practices to the lands they discovered and the peoples they encountered, and in the process were themselves changed. From Eirík Bloodaxe, who fought his way to a kingdom, to Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, the most traveled woman in the world, Children of Ash and Elm is the definitive history of the Vikings and their time.

"The Vikings have long been popular folk heroes, their exploits shrouded in the myths and legends which celebrate them as intrepid, war-like explores who sailed out into the unknown. We also think of them as the barbarians in horned helmets who ravaged Britain one thousand years ago and then faded away. But what were they really like, and what did they leave behind?" "In Blood of the Vikings, archaeologist Julian Richards peels back the layers of fiction to reveal that the Vikings' contribution to our culture is much more profound and much more interesting."--BOOK JACKET.

Sons of Vikings tells the story of the Viking Age (793-1066 A.D.) through the lives of extraordinary people. Each chapter is a biography of Ragnar Lothbrok, Ivar the Boneless, Bjorn Ironside, Rollo, Brian Boru, Erik the Red, Floki, Leif Erikson, Lagertha, Alfred, Rurik, Sviatoslav, William the Conqueror, and many other heroes and villains. It provides an understanding of this pivotal historical period in a way that facts and chronologies alone cannot. Sons of Vikings is meticulously researched from almost 100 sources but is also not afraid to challenge conventional beliefs and offer new perspectives. It is the perfect introduction for the casual fan of Vikings in television and popular culture but also offers a new take for the well-read history enthusiast. From myths, legends, sagas, and stories, to the most-recent archeology and DNA research, this book brings the Viking Age to life.