The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age

by Neil Price

From the acclaimed author of Children of Ash and Elm , an intimate, continent-spanning human journey through the Viking world. “[Price] has a talent for visual reconstruction; it’s like being with him on these digs, watching as ancient secrets are revealed. Nearly every page brings a surprise, sometimes disturbing, often moving, always profound.”― Times (UK)For centuries, Vikings have been stereotyped as brutish and violent pillagers. But now, based on the latest archaeological research, preeminent scholar Neil Price reveals the true diversity and individuality of the Viking Age. From an arctic hunter to a woman of Persian ancestry; from a Sámi nomad to a bear endowed with personhood; from Viking raiders to Rus’ river traders; from sorceresses to shape-shifters; from immigrants to diplomats; from followers of many gods, to the worshippers of one; from settlers to farmers—as we meet all these and many more, Price enlists the full range of modern archaeological knowledge to reconstruct Norse lives in personal detail, presenting a new and complex image of the Viking Age. Taking the reader from Greenland to Greece and across three centuries, Price demonstrates that Vikings—in all of their heterogeneity—were both surprisingly similar to us today, and also thrillingly strange.Densely peopled, beautifully rendered, and impressively wide-reaching, The Sea-King and the Sorceress sheds a light on the realities of life in the Viking diaspora.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2026

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

[heptagrammaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich, readable, engaging, carefully considered, exploring (as best that we can make it out) the world of the Norse in its great breadth across space and time: fluid, tender, brutal, glorious, alien, familiar, built on ( and by, and for) the perverse vicious economic cycles of slave trade.
   Price's intimate portraits of grave sites consider local historical contingencies and ask you to consider real individual lives. You are asked to see the hands that deliberately piled up stones into barrows, and laid goods in their ancestors' graves for generations, and sealed up great chambers in a sudden hurry as if in awareness they had created a space of power and death, not for them (Price's reconstruction of events around Oseberg have something of great horror to them, certainly momentous atmosphere.)

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This review is based off a reading of a digital advanced review copy provided by Basic Books through NetGalley.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This informative book gives a view into Norse culture by focusing on the intricate burials and from archaeological finds that have been discovered.

The burials are certainly intriguing. They are no more or less elaborate than any Egyptian pharaoh's pyramid. I certainly learned a lot about the Norse culture, much of which we think we know but have been misled/misinformed about.

Of course everyone thinks they are an expert on Vikings but I had no idea that to be a viking was as much about a job description as part of Norse culture.

This is a well researched book that is easy to read and follow. There were one or two parts regarding female warriors that I found a bit patronising but otherwise it was an interesting look at an early but highly civilised and exceptionally far-travelled culture that we are still learning so much about.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone even slightly interested in thus subject. You will learn a lot. Some of it quite eye opening.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Basic Books for the digital review copy.

I also listened to the audiobook version which was beautifully narrated by Nikolas Salmon. I would definitely recommend it.

[Jifu · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley)

History lovers definitely should not pass this book up. In The Sea-King and the Sorceress, Through deft use of the archaeological record, Neil Price curates a diverse selection of individuals (one of whom turns out to not even be human, to my surprise and delight), and takes as deep and intimate a delve into each one of their lives as scholarly possibly. The end results cut through popular narratives about the medieval Norse world, and reveal a society that was richly complex in all of its own ways, just as we are on our own in the present day. It makes for reading that not only is marvelously and eye-openingly informative, but also (or at least in my opinion) the historical reality that so Price meticulously puts on display here is frankly far more fascinating than all the stereotypes and tropes surrounding all things Viking.

[Julia Dudley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was spectacular. I have a professional & personal interest in textiles, adornment, and costume history so I was here for the discussion of trade and grave goods, and then I was completely and pleasantly surprised by the discussion of gender and identity. The research - weaving primary and secondary sources and firsthand knowledge - was impeccable, including opposing viewpoints and the bibliography is stacked. Not to make this sound dry: this was lyrical, emphatic, enthusiastic, solemn by turn. More often than not, I would narrate parts to my partner out of sheer amazement.

(My only ask would be for even more visuals, maps, reproductions, etc.!)

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neil Price is well-known in the field of Norse studies, and has consulted for Robert Eggers’ film The Northman, which served as part of the inspiration for Price’s latest popular history book about Scandinavian societies during the Viking Age. The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age. In this book, Price discusses the diversity of northern European populations and the boundaries of what we can know about them using inscriptions, graves, grave goods, and skeletal remains of people from across the lands that the Vikings lived in from around 750CE to around 1050 CE. Price is quick to denounce the racist motivations some groups use to promote their false views of a pure white Viking society, and he uses actual physical evidence to back up his arguments. The Rus’, Norse, and Sami societies engaged in extensive trade with other parts of Europe and Asia, and analysis of their grave goods shows this. They also traveled extensively, leaving behind evidence of their presence from the Byzantine Empire to the shores of eastern Canada.

Though he has written academically-minded books before, The Sea-King and the Sorceress is more of a popular history like Children of Ash and Elm. Price keeps his discussion of the evidence readable for the layperson without sacrificing the more technical aspects of it, like when he talks about strontium analysis of dentition being able to point to where people grew up and how that shows the distances that some people traveled during their lives and how others stayed near their childhood homes. The chapters are fairly short, providing a good deal of detail about each of the burial sites Price has chosen to discuss without going so far into the weeds that the average reader’s eyes will start to glaze over. I always appreciate how Price is able to use the evidence to give us a window into the Viking Age while also reiterating the fact that we will never truly know what the Norse, Rus’ Sami, and other people of the past thought about their world and their lives.

Still, though we can’t fully understand the people of the past, books like The Sea-King and the Sorceress go a long way to helping us get an inkling of what life was like for these people in all its violence, strangeness, and often mundanity. As much as I enjoy a good period drama on TV or at the movie theater, I prefer non-fiction works like Price’s that aren’t afraid to show how alien these societies were as compared to our modern ones. They give us all the drama of the past along with the facts as we know them, thanks to techniques like ancient DNA analysis and mineral analysis that can show where the people and their things came from. Some like to claim that populations were homogenous because they couldn’t travel very much, but these analytic techniques show just how far they could actually travel. I thoroughly enjoyed The Sea-King and the Sorceress and learned a lot about the people and diversity of the Viking Age.

Thank you to NetGalley and Basic Books for the advance e-book for review.

[Caesar Murillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sea-King and the Sorceress moves beyond typical raid-and-conquest narratives to deliver an extraordinary, intimate history grounded in archaeological science. By focusing on individual lives , from sorceresses and maritime leaders to enslaved individuals and Sámi nomads, Price paints a brilliantly complex portrait of the Viking world.

His writing is immersive, accessible, and endlessly fascinating. A must-read for history buffs, archaeology enthusiasts, or anyone wanting a fresh, nuanced look at early medieval Europe.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am thankful to have received a complimentary eARC from Basic Books via NetGalley, which gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts ahead of publication.

Fantastic! This book takes you on a journey through time with each chapter generally focussed on one or more burials that are used to tell a larger story of culture and achievements in the Viking Age. I’ve always loved books that analyse burials and there is plenty of that in this book. I love contemplating questions around who these people were. What were their lives like? How did they come to be here?

There is plenty of analysis and depth to appeal to those already familiar with this period, and the history is also presented in such an engaging manner that it would be the perfect gateway for someone new that is looking to expand their knowledge. This book was a complete joy to read.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Price explores the rich diversity of people that made up the "Vikings" through archaeological evidence particularly through the graves and what that tells us about the people buried and the people who were deciding what to put in the burial. From North America to the Middle East and all places in between it is amazing how far these people traveled, traded, settled, and raided. Put aside the stereotypes, Price examines both the good and the bad about the variety of people who made up what we call Vikings. Even the work Vikings is very misleading as Price explain. There is a little bit of attitude I didn't quite agree with but overall, I did enjoy this work.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest Opinion.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunningly great book. Learning about the Viking world through genetics, grave goods and challenging assumptions due to advances in technology. This book should be a best seller.

[Beas Chattaraj · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like reading about the history of the world or love watching the Vikings series, this is for you! I am not exactly a history buff but I do have a lot of interest about the Viking Age and this is a good book to have on my shelf! A lot of knowledge about civilizations are gleaned from their burials. The Oseberg burial was intriguing, and like Egyptian burials, animals and humans were buried alongside the main body. Such strange coincidences and so many years apart! The matriarch Ástríðr, a powerful female in a history suppressed and dominated by men. This book gives you all the tidbits about the ones we called Vikings and how we are wrong about putting them all in a box. These were people with unique customs, fears and beliefs. The only thing I needed more of were drawings and more photos so I didn’t have to rely on the author’s imagination. Overall, I have enjoyed reading this book and I know you will too!
Thank you Netgalley for the e-arc.

[J.G. Harlond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neil Price’s very readable new book about what we call the Viking Age draws on on information gleaned through the latest archaeological investigation and historical research, which in turn rest on scientific analysis of human remains, grave goods and funeral practices. Using this information, Price brings to life a long-dead person’s environment and lifestyle. Tombs filled with daily goods such as bowls and combs reveal just as much as those filled with recognisable treasures. Referencing the ancient sagas and rune stones, he also shows where the people we call Vikings travelled to, what they valued, and how many, if not most, never went a’viking at all. Some were hunters, many were farmers, others went east and became Rus’ river-traders, some reached Constantinople and joined an elite Varangian unit. Some women were merchants; one was a respected matriarch and leader; another was a sorceress. Each of them really existed. Price examines their values and beliefs and shows why imposing modern perceptions of ‘right’ behaviour on the past is meaningless. In each case, however, it is fascinating to see how similar they were to us, and how wildly strange.
As with the excellent Children of Ash and Elm, this is a must read for anyone who wants to know more about Scandinavia during the mis-named Dark and Middle Ages. Highly recommended.
J.G Harlond
Author of The Doomsong Saga: The Doomsong Sword, The Doomsong Voyage, The Doomsong Legend @PenmorePress

[Nicki Markus · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

The Sea-King and the Sorceress charted a course through various countries looking at what we can learn about lifestyle and migration in the Viking era from the details found in their burials, from the style of interment to the grave goods within. While full of fascinating detail and archaeological exploration, this book never felt dry, helped, at least in part, by the division of the chapters into stories about an individual grave and its inhabitant. If I had one negative point, it would be that it might have been nice to have had a few more images in relation to the grave goods, to help us better understand what was being described. However, this was only a minor issue and didn't affect my enjoyment of the book to any great extent. In the end, I am giving this one 4.5 stars. It was informative but also entertaining, and I recommend it to those interest in the Viking era or historical records in general.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dry but informative🤔

A good study reconstructing the lives of men, women and even animals from their burial sites to explain the mentality, breadth and scope of the Scandinavian way of life during the Viking Age. My impression by the end was that I learned alot about the graves and not as much as I had hoped about the lives whose remains occupied them. The minute details provided of the contents of the archeological digs got a bit dry, though it saddened me to learn that so many horses and other animals, as well as slaves, were slain for inclusion in the graves.

Each chapter covers one grave site. I appreciated the range of the individuals covered, including a bear, a hunter, one who lived with a crippling form of dwarfism, a Varangian guard, slaves, a women warrior and a key matriarch in the Swedish Täby area, as well as other men and women from many walks of life and grave sites strewn from Greenland and Iceland to England, Estonia, Ukraine and throughout Scandinavia. Although boat burials of important people and Viking raiders are included, the range of walks of life and locations were more interesting to me. And the description of xenophobia and purges of immigrants even back in 1002 in the chapter on a burial in Gotland was tragically illuminating. From the examples offered here, it's obvious that "Vikings" were only a small, though more widely known and visible, part of Scandinavian society than generally acknowledged.

Thanks to Basic Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

[Eliza's Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neil Price is one of my favorite writers for history of the Viking age. In The Sea-King and the Sorceress, he is able to write non-fiction like an adventure. His writing style brings to life the subject matter and makes the story so engaging. As he did in Children of Ash and Elm he bases his writing on research and evidence and is able to deliver an amazing book that is accessible to the average person.

This book will open your eyes that there is much more diversity that the viking stereotype we all grew up being taught. Through the use of modern technology and the latest archaeological research, Neil Price presents a deep dive over three hundred years of the viking era to explain how incredibly individualistic they really were. Even if you don’t really have an interest in vikings, you won’t be able to put this book down. Neil Price brings to life, many individual vikings to show how they lived, worked, worshipped and traveled. What a wonderfully written and entertaining read.

Thank you, Neil Price and Basic Books for providing this e-ARC via NetGalley for review.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I shouldn't complain about this but... maps in an eARC just don't work. They're not clear (they're faint and the print is tiny) and can't be resized.

Having said that, this is definitely non-fiction, despite the title. The author is an archaeologist and he takes us from gravesite to gravesite -- with some stops at other sites -- exploring the various kinds of people and burials that appear in the area where the "Vikings" roamed. Growing up, didn't we all think of them as red-headed, large-sized people wearing helmets with horns on the top? Well, that's pretty wrong and Viking is more of a job description (think pirate or raider) than an ethnic group. And wow did they range: from Greenland/Iceland/the Arctic Circle to Northern Africa.

At times this is a little dull, but as an introduction to a group we tend not to think about in terms of how the world and society evolved.

eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.

[Bianca Vecchio · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book like all of Price's work completely rejuvenates the Viking Age. Children of Ash and Elm was a pivotal and foundational work, the Sea-King and the Sorceress builds on this work in a more detailed fashion. Narrowing down on 21 detailed deep dives the audience gets a thorough and encompassing idea on individual journey during the Viking Age. This bottom-up view of history adds an element that is often missing from the Viking Age, the hero's warriors and battles are easy to find in the sources and archaeology. The everyday person much harder. This intimate view of peoples lives in the Viking Age created a beautiful and deep insight form the audience. I recommend readi9ng Children of Ash and Elm first and then digging deeper with the Sea-King and the Sorceress. Like all of Price's work this can be read by anyone with an interest in the field.

[Christine Craft · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age was an educational read. It delivered lots of fascinating insight through the examination of different Viking burials. I enjoyed learning about each subject and discovering what science and archeology revealed about their lives. I also appreciated the included artwork. Overall, it was an interesting read. I’d recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and Basic Books for the ARC(advanced reader copy) in return for an honest review.