Holy Vikings

The saga of the Vikings rises and falls on the banks of history, ebbing and flowing with popular opinion and whimsical anecdotes. The Vikings are routinely typecast and labeled anywhere from bloodthirsty tyrants to valiant heroes. They have been condemned as pirates and praised as explorers. We have all heard the stories of the fierce warriors with long ships and horned helmets storming onto the shores of medieval Europe; but who were these men really? Inside your will read about... ✓ From the Fury of the Northmen ✓ Retaliation, Royal Ambition, and Bribery ✓ The Viking Age of Exploration and Expansion ✓ Tidings from the East ✓ The End of the Viking Age ✓ The Vikings Come to Christ ✓ The Second Viking Invasion This book helps to unravel the mystery. Helping to finally shed the light on why the Vikings abruptly descended onto the world stage in such dramatic fashion, this book begins to explore the motives of the Viking exodus like no other and takes an in depth evaluation of all the geographical, political, economic and religious underpinnings that led the Viking Age.

'The Poetics of Commemoration' is a study of the role poetry played in the commemoration of kings during the Viking age, investigating the variety of ways in which poets responded to the death of a king, and how poetry helped to construct a shared memory and identity for the community he left behind.

Beginning in 789AD, the Vikings raided monasteries, sacked cities and invaded western Europe. They looted and enslaved their enemies. But that is only part of their story. In long boats they discovered Iceland and America (both by accident) and also sailed up the Seine to Paris (which they sacked). They settled from Newfoundland to Russia, founded Dublin and fought battles as far afield as the Caspian Sea. A thousand years after their demise, traces of the Vikings remain all the way from North America to Istanbul. They traded walruses with Inuits, brought Russian furs to Western Europe and took European slaves to Constantinople. Their graves contain Arab silver, Byzantine silks and Frankish weapons. In this accessible book, the whole narrative of the Viking story is examined from the eighth to the 11th century. Arranged thematically, Vikings – A History of the Norse People, examines the Norsemen from exploration to religion to trade to settlement to weaponry to kingdoms to their demise and legacy. But today questions remain: what prompted the first Viking raids? What stopped their expansion? And how much of the tales of murder, rape and pillage is myth?

This book analyses the Nordic pre-Christian ideology of rulership, and its confrontation with, survival into and adaptation to the European Christian ideals during the transition from the Viking to the Middle Ages from the ninth to the thirteenth century.

A comprehensive guide to a crucial aspect of Old Norse literature.

This is an unusual book for young readers. However, she will be interested in adults who are fond of the history of the Vikings. The first part is 12 newly discovered adventure stories about the Vikings such as Ivar the Viking by Paul B. Du Chaillu, Eric Brighteyes by H. Rider Haggard, The Story of Rolf and the Viking's Bow by Allen French, Olaf the Glorious: A Story of the Viking Age by Robert Leighton, Wulfric the Weapon Thane by Charles W. Whistler, Viking Boys by Jessie Margaret Edmondston Saxby, King Alfred's Viking by Charles W. Whistler and others.

Factual and fanciful tales of the Nordic warriors known as Vikings have proven irresistible to filmmakers for nearly a century. Diverse, prominent actors from Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier to Tim Robbins and John Cleese, and noted directors, including Richard Fleischer, Clive Donner and Terry Jones, have all lent their talents to Viking-related films. These fourteen essays on films dealing with the Viking era discuss American, British and European productions. Analyzed in detail are such films as The Vikings (1958), The Long Ships (1964), Alfred the Great (1969), Erik the Viking (1989) and Outlander (2008), as well as two comic-strip adaptations, the 1954 and 1989 films of Prince Valiant and the animated Asterix and the Vikings (2006). A comprehensive filmography is also included.