The Vikings

by Neil Price

The Vikings provides a concise but comprehensive introduction to the complex world of the early medieval Scandinavians. In the space of less than 300 years from the late eighth to the late eleventh centuries CE, people from what are now Norway, Sweden and Denmark left their homelands in unprecedented numbers to travel across the then-known world. Over the last half-century archaeology and its related disciplines have radically altered our understanding of this period, and beyond the stereotypical Viking raider we can now perceive a cosmopolitan mix of traders and warriors, craftsworkers and poets, explorers and colonists. Over the course of the Viking Age, their small-scale rural, tribal societies gradually became urbanised monarchies firmly emplaced on the stage of literate, Christian Europe. In the process they transformed the cultures of the North, created the modern Nordic nation states and left a far-flung diaspora with legacies that still resonate today.

This volume explores the society and economy, identity and world-views of the Scandinavian peoples, and their unique religious beliefs that are still of enduring interest a millennium later. The Viking expansion is discussed in detail, including analyses of its origin and consequences for a vast area stretching from the Asian steppe to North America, culminating in the long-term reshaping of Scandinavia itself. Written by one of the leading experts in the period, this book presents students with an unrivalled guide through this widely studied and fascinating subject, revealing the Vikings as a sophisticated civilisation of fundamental importance for the later course of European history.

Genres: History, Archaeology

228 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2014

About the author

Neil Price is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of Viking Age Scandinavia and the archaeology of shamanism. He is currently a professor in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Born in south-west London, Price went on to gain a BA in Archaeology at the University of London, before writing his first book, The Vikings in Brittany, which was published in 1989. He undertook his doctoral research from 1988 through to 1992 at the University of York, before moving to Sweden, where he completed his PhD at the University of Uppsala in 2002. In 2001, he edited an anthology entitled The Archaeology of Shamanism for Routledge, and the following year published and defended his doctoral thesis, The Viking Way. The Viking Way would be critically appraised as one of the most important studies of the Viking Age and pre-Christian religion by other archaeologists like Matthew Townend and Martin Carver.

Reviews

[anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

really good!

[José Lopes · Rating 5 out of 5]

O autor, nesta obra magistral, consegue esculpir um retrato mutíssimo bem detalhado de quem eram, efetivamente, os Vikings. Há poucos reparos a apontar, naquilo que podemos considerar uma autêntica obra prima que compila o conhecimento arqueológico com uma crítica das fontes muito bem cuidada. Se há livro que um entusiasta da época medieval e da era viking deve ler é, exatamente, "The Vikings", de Neil Price.

[Vasco Simões · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mais um calhamaço de 500 e tal páginas lido em 2023. História e histórias do povo Viking que dominou terras e mares após a queda do Império Romano até sensivelmente o século X. Interessante descobrir algumas coisas que não conhecia. Para ir lendo aos poucos. Nada de eloquente.

[Emg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a Recommended Reading for a class I took; wish the tutor had grounded more of his material on this book rather than the "this is what was dug up." Nice to see things but social, political and cultural context are necessary to put objects in persepctive and give them meaning.