Scandinavians And The English In The Viking Age

From shortly before AD 800 until the Norman Conquest, England was subject to raids from seafaring peoples from Scandinavia - the Vikings. However, they were not only raiders but also traders and settlers. During this period, the English state was unified under a single ruler for the first time and Anglo-Saxon society underwent great changes. Using the latest archaeological evidence from places such as London, Lincoln and York, the author reassesses the Viking contribution to Late Anglo-Saxon England and examines the creation of a new Anglo-Scandinavian identity.

The Viking Age lasted a little over three centuries, but has left a lasting legacy across Europe. These dynamic warrior-traders from Scandinavia, who fought and interacted with peoples as far apart as North America, Russia, and Central Asia, are some of the most recognizable historical figures in the western world. In the modern imagination they represent ruthlessness, heroism, adventurousness, and a unique prestige embellished by the wondrous tales and poetry of the sagas. Yet the sum of evidence for the Viking presence is far less clear than their reputation implies. In Search of Vikings presents a collection of papers from experts in a broad range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics, to provide a detailed understanding of the Vikings in peace and in war. This book focuses on one particularly exciting area of the Viking world, namely the north-west region of England, where they are known to have settled in large numbers. North-west England was the crossroads between Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It was a battleground for distant powers and dynasties, and its Irish Sea coastline created opportunities for trading and settlement. Silver hoards, burials, and Old Norse place-names attest to the Viking presence, and Scandinavian DNA is detectable amongst the modern population. The 12 integrated studies in this book are designed to reinvigorate the search for Vikings in this crucial region and to provide must-reading for anyone interested in Viking history.

From shortly before AD 800 until the Norman Conquest, England was subject to raids from seafaring peoples from Scandinavia: the Vikings. They were not only raiders but also settlers and colonizers. In this book, the author assesses how far local developments responded to these events and discusses rural settlement and economy, the growth of towns, trade and exchange, craft and industry, and burial rituals and stone memorials. Features almost 100 maps, plans, reconstructions, and photographs.

"This book reveals another very different side of Viking society. It claims that the Viking legacy was not simply one of 'rape and pillage', but included law and order, agriculture and trade, as well as language and heroic literature. It also provides evidence that the influence of Scandinavians in the British Isles continued well after 1066"--Jacket.

THE VIKING AGE (ca 800-1050), generic term for a period when traders, warriors, emigrants and discoverers from southern Scandinavia spread to the coasts of England and France, through Eastern Europe to Constantinople, and westwards to Iceland, Greenland and North America. NORWEGIAN HERITAGE is a series of books about our most important and best-known national icons. The respective titles introduce major personalities from the worlds of art and literature, science and sports, but also the many natural wonders of the country, as well as significant historical periods and cultural expressions. Each book offers an updated introduction to readers who wish to familiarize themselves with a given subject.

Professor Sawyer offers some new interpretations of the development of Scandinavian society and the history of the Christian conversion.