Everyday Life in the Viking Age

Everyday Life

by Jacqueline Simpson

Book by Simpson, Jacqueline

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Medieval

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Dr. Jacqueline Simpson (born 1930) is a United Kingdom researcher and author on folklore and legend.
She studied English Literature and Medieval Icelandic at Bedford College, University of London. Dr. Simpson has been, at various times, Editor, Secretary, and President of the Folklore Society. She was awarded the Society's Coote Lake Research Medal in 2008. In 2010 she was appointed Visiting Professor of Folklore at the Sussex Centre of Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy at the University of Chichester, West Sussex. She has a particular interest in local legends (as opposed to international fairytales), and has published collections of this genre from Iceland, Scandinavia in general, and England (the latter in collaboration with the late Jennifer Westwood). She has also written on the folklore of various English regions, and was co-author with Steve Roud of the Penguin Dictionary of English Folklore. She lives in West Sussex, England.
She has been a point of reference for Terry Pratchett since he met her at a book signing in 1997. Pratchett, who was then researching his novel Carpe Jugulum, was asking everyone in the queue how many magpie rhymes they knew; and whilst most people gave one answer – the theme from the TV series Magpie – Simpson stated that she knew "about nineteen". This encounter eventually led to collaboration.

Reviews

[Jeremy Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy, informative read although a bit out of date. It seemed to me that this book wasn't so much dealing with every day life of the vikings as it was a survey of the highlights of their society during the height of their society's dominant period.

[Julie Kuehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly the book I was looking for. It was a broad, layman's level look at life in Viking times based on the facts known at the time. It's nearly 50 years old so there have been some new findings and understanding since then, but it's still relevant. It was kind of fun to read about famous archeological digs that were then currently in progress. I am specifically interested in blacksmithing and found some really good information that I will be able to use in my work.

[Matthew Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an excellent reference book for the Viking age. It is packed to the brim with little facts and tid bits of information I had not read from any other source and found it to be quite intriguing! Jacqueline Simpson does an incredible job at using language that is accessible to any reader, making this easily digestible by the average layman. She is clearly very well informed and is an amazing researcher, which shines through her ability to convey all of that information in a quick and concise way.

This definitely is not for everyone, as it does hand a tendency to get a bit dry at times but if you are a 'History Nut' like I am, then it is an enlightening read that you don't want to miss! It includes some eye-opening information in various archeological digs around Scandinavia that I just find absolutely fascinating! It is a bit aged, as it is almost 60 years old now, but it still has some interesting revelations that stand true to this day.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good broad overview, covered various topics, well-informed, and loved the inclusion of illustrations of objects. Happy to add it to my collection of history books.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as preliminary research for a new novel. I think this book is part of a series, and I've enjoyed some of the other titles when researching different time periods. But this one left me with little useful information. And I wish it were more thoroughly footnoted so I could track down her sources.

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically a text book about Vikings, this is not a gripping tale by any means, but then it was not meant to be. This is a factual presentation of what Vikings were like. I learned a few things which is why I wanted to read it.

[Susan Abernethy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Link to my review of this book: http://flhwnotesandreviews.com/2014/0...