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Viking London
Viking Britain author Thomas Williams returns with a brief history of the interaction between the Vikings and the British to tell the story of the occupation of London.
The Vikings remoulded the world, changed the language, and upended the dynamics of power and trade. Monasteries and settlements burned, ancient dynasties were extinguished. And nowhere in these islands saw more aggression than London. Between 842 and 1016, the city was subjected repeatedly to serious assault.
In this short history, bestselling historian Thomas Williams recounts the profound impact Viking raiders from the North had on London. Delving into London’s darkest age, he charts how the city was transformed in this period by immigrants and natives, kings and commoners, into the fulcrum of national power and identity. London emerged as a hub of trade, production and international exchange, a financial centre, a political prize, a fiercely independent and often intractable cauldron of spirited and rowdy townsfolk: a place that, a thousand years ago, already embodied much of what London was to become and still remains.
This remarkable book takes the reader into a city of spectres, to its ancient past, to timeworn street names hidden beneath concrete underpasses, to the crypts of old churches, to a stretch of the old river bank, or the depths of museum collections. Nothing is lost in the city. And memories of the Vikings hover like a miasma in these places, blowing across the mud and shingle on the Thames foreshore – ghosts of Viking London.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published June 13, 2019
10 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Williams
6 books29 followersThomas Williams is a historian of the early Middle Ages and a former curator at the British Museum’s Department of Coins and Medals (2017-2018). He worked as project curator for the major international exhibition Vikings: Life and Legend (British Museum 2014) and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
In 2016 Thomas was awarded his PhD by UCL’s Institute of Archaeology. His thesis, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, investigated the relationship between landscape and warfare in early medieval Britain (c.450 – 1016). Prior to this he gained an MA with Distinction in Cultural Heritage Studies (UCL) with a prize-winning dissertation that explored the role of fantasy and medievalism in the modern interpretation of cultural heritage sites in Britain and Germany.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This is Thomas^^Williams. (2 spaces)
In 2016 Thomas was awarded his PhD by UCL’s Institute of Archaeology. His thesis, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, investigated the relationship between landscape and warfare in early medieval Britain (c.450 – 1016). Prior to this he gained an MA with Distinction in Cultural Heritage Studies (UCL) with a prize-winning dissertation that explored the role of fantasy and medievalism in the modern interpretation of cultural heritage sites in Britain and Germany.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This is Thomas^^Williams. (2 spaces)
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 13, 2022
The king grasps the steering oar as the archbishop cradles the corpse of his predecessor in the bilge.
Just finished Viking London which is both overly stylish and geared alongside the psycho-geographic work of Ackroyd and Sinclair, in fact there are a pair of references to Iain which is only slightly less than the space afforded to Edward the Confessor—only half joking. Again not the worst thing to read while sipping—London Bridge thwarting Cnut and all that. One thinks of the mud larks and mutual friends trawling the Thames, much of the citation sources the Anglo Saxon Chronicle or the Sagas—the details appear exclusively to be detritus, some of archeological provenance. The writing is often gripping even if the source material is scant or too general for the subject.
Just finished Viking London which is both overly stylish and geared alongside the psycho-geographic work of Ackroyd and Sinclair, in fact there are a pair of references to Iain which is only slightly less than the space afforded to Edward the Confessor—only half joking. Again not the worst thing to read while sipping—London Bridge thwarting Cnut and all that. One thinks of the mud larks and mutual friends trawling the Thames, much of the citation sources the Anglo Saxon Chronicle or the Sagas—the details appear exclusively to be detritus, some of archeological provenance. The writing is often gripping even if the source material is scant or too general for the subject.
April 28, 2021
This short study, first published in 2019, grew out of Williams’ larger book called ‘Viking Britain’. I picked it up as a lover of all things Viking, but also as someone who lived in London for twenty years. My love of the Vikings goes back to when I was 18, working with a group of archaeologists to excavate the burial mound of Ivar the Boneless – now a much more familiar figure due to the TV series Vikings, but back in the 1980s, a virtually unknown minor character from the annals of Anglo-Saxon history.
This is a short book which is short for a reason; we are short of information. What remains to show us a glimpse of Viking London is tantalisingly sparse. It is only when we get to the year 1000 that any coherent picture begins to emerge. Before that, the Viking impact is little more than a brooding threat lurking around the boundaries. Barbarians at the gates.
The joy of this book was where it pointed out things that I had never noticed. The number of churches in the City of London with the patron saint of St Olaf. There are six of them, one of them in Old Jewry was right next to the building that I worked in. All six churches had their dedications by at least the mid-1200s. Williams offers some explanation. The cult of the Norwegian King Olaf Haraldsson grew quickly after his death in 1030. Although a dubious Christian role model, soon after his death miracles began to be associated with his corpse. The impetus came from his household bishop, Grímkell, who despite the Scandinavian name, came from England to serve Olaf. When he returned, after Olaf’s death, he was made bishop of Selsey in Sussex in 1038. We will never know exactly how much of a role he played in promoting St Olaf in England. Beyond the six Olaf dedications there is St Magnus the Martyr and the strangely named St Nicholas Acons, a name likely derived from Haakon.
Beyond these tantalising references, we rely a great deal on the archaeologist – a Scandinavian style tombstone from St Paul’s churchyard showing a many-legged beast and with runic inscription and the swords, grappling irons and huge war axes pulled from the River Thames, hinting at the many raids on the city, many of them unsuccessful.
One fact that I did not know is that the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok (father to my famous Ivar the Boneless) credits Ragnar with the founding of the city which it calls Ludúnaborg. While that is clearly not true, Ragnar fascinates me for another reason; he sits on the boundary of myth and history. While historians will only grant him mythical status, they are happy to say that all his sons, Bjorn, Sven, Ivar, etc, are real historical figures. How wonderful to be so exact about the point at which fables end and history starts.
Williams uses the changing name of London as his chapter headings. We start with Lundenwic, with ‘wic’ being the Anglo-Saxon word for trading centre. This London was not the old Roman city, but was built further along the Thames at Aldwych and The Strand. The ‘wych’ of Aldwych also derives from ‘wic’.
After the mid-800s we start to use Lundenburh, where the ‘burh’ is a fortified town, built to resist the raids by the Danes. Alfred the Great built a series of fortified burhs as part of his defensive schemes. And it seems that is what the robust citizens of London did all too often, repulsing successive Viking raids, or later paying them to go somewhere else.
Next comes Lundúnir, and it is only here in the late-900s that we really begin to get a sense of Vikings living in London. This was a period in which Scandinavians took over the throne of England; Cnut and Harthnacnut were kings of England.
Finally we have Lundúnaborg, the city in the 1000s when those churches dedicated to St Olaf were established and many Scandinavian named men were minting coin within the city.
Scant evidence, what little there is can only give us a hint of what was happening. Thomas Williams has his own particular writing style, which sometimes heads off into passages of outspoken prose which I rather enjoyed. For example:
Or:
He also has a pop at the modern building at no 1 Poultry which replaced the marvellous Victorian block that housed Mappin & Webb.
This is a short book which is short for a reason; we are short of information. What remains to show us a glimpse of Viking London is tantalisingly sparse. It is only when we get to the year 1000 that any coherent picture begins to emerge. Before that, the Viking impact is little more than a brooding threat lurking around the boundaries. Barbarians at the gates.
The joy of this book was where it pointed out things that I had never noticed. The number of churches in the City of London with the patron saint of St Olaf. There are six of them, one of them in Old Jewry was right next to the building that I worked in. All six churches had their dedications by at least the mid-1200s. Williams offers some explanation. The cult of the Norwegian King Olaf Haraldsson grew quickly after his death in 1030. Although a dubious Christian role model, soon after his death miracles began to be associated with his corpse. The impetus came from his household bishop, Grímkell, who despite the Scandinavian name, came from England to serve Olaf. When he returned, after Olaf’s death, he was made bishop of Selsey in Sussex in 1038. We will never know exactly how much of a role he played in promoting St Olaf in England. Beyond the six Olaf dedications there is St Magnus the Martyr and the strangely named St Nicholas Acons, a name likely derived from Haakon.
Beyond these tantalising references, we rely a great deal on the archaeologist – a Scandinavian style tombstone from St Paul’s churchyard showing a many-legged beast and with runic inscription and the swords, grappling irons and huge war axes pulled from the River Thames, hinting at the many raids on the city, many of them unsuccessful.
One fact that I did not know is that the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok (father to my famous Ivar the Boneless) credits Ragnar with the founding of the city which it calls Ludúnaborg. While that is clearly not true, Ragnar fascinates me for another reason; he sits on the boundary of myth and history. While historians will only grant him mythical status, they are happy to say that all his sons, Bjorn, Sven, Ivar, etc, are real historical figures. How wonderful to be so exact about the point at which fables end and history starts.
Williams uses the changing name of London as his chapter headings. We start with Lundenwic, with ‘wic’ being the Anglo-Saxon word for trading centre. This London was not the old Roman city, but was built further along the Thames at Aldwych and The Strand. The ‘wych’ of Aldwych also derives from ‘wic’.
After the mid-800s we start to use Lundenburh, where the ‘burh’ is a fortified town, built to resist the raids by the Danes. Alfred the Great built a series of fortified burhs as part of his defensive schemes. And it seems that is what the robust citizens of London did all too often, repulsing successive Viking raids, or later paying them to go somewhere else.
Next comes Lundúnir, and it is only here in the late-900s that we really begin to get a sense of Vikings living in London. This was a period in which Scandinavians took over the throne of England; Cnut and Harthnacnut were kings of England.
Finally we have Lundúnaborg, the city in the 1000s when those churches dedicated to St Olaf were established and many Scandinavian named men were minting coin within the city.
Scant evidence, what little there is can only give us a hint of what was happening. Thomas Williams has his own particular writing style, which sometimes heads off into passages of outspoken prose which I rather enjoyed. For example:
Around London Wall the dystopian ramparts of the Barbican Estate rise, grey walkways and balconies, stairwells and underpasses, cold light and hard shadows – a dream of how the future used to look, filtered through the cathode ray tube and comic-book pages of 2000AD; all cyberpunk visions, block-wards and ultraviolence.
Or:
Bull Wharf is gone now, disembowelled by archaeologists and obliterated by nondescript glass and steel; a nameless aquarium for bankers.
He also has a pop at the modern building at no 1 Poultry which replaced the marvellous Victorian block that housed Mappin & Webb.
This was the boundary that was revealed thanks to the tragic obliteration of the glorious Mappin & Webb building at no 1 Poultry. In a supreme irony, James Stirling’s replacement has recently been granted listed status – as if the preservation of this blot could somehow atone for the act of vandalism that demolished its forebear.
August 28, 2023
can’t choose between 3 or 4 stars so lowkey a 3.5 stars for me ✨
April 24, 2024
I wasn't a fan of Williams's writing style, but the information is solid and this book is about exactly what it advertises: Vikings and London.
July 21, 2020
This isn't supposed to be an academic book, so it's not fair to criticise it for being a bit lightweight. However, it can be criticised on almost every other ground.
I'll start with the positive:
It's an easy read.
Williams has done some research. He includes lines such as English towns burned like beacons wherever viking armies marched (a nod to the ASC) and has a few comments on the London Peace Gild.
There are some impressive names in the foreword, with Rory Naismith, Andrew Reynolds and Gareth Williams thanked.
And now the negative:
The research is very limited and it's pretty apparent that he has no wider feel for the period.
This is an incomplete list of problematic entries
He has St Augustine of Canterbury as an archbishop in 597, whereas he received his pallium in 601.
842 Londinium (as opposed to Londenwic) still deserted, whereas in fact it was occupied in part and had been for a fair while.
East Anglia having influence in London (possibly confusing them with the East Saxons).
Cnut being the oldest son of Sweyn. He wasn't, that was Harold.
He has a simplistic approach to Cnut gaining support in the areas associated with Danelaw.
Heregeld translated as horde tax, whereas army tax is much more accurate.
Has Cnut's first wife, Aelfgifu also known as Emma, which she wasn't.
States that Harthacnut was most likely poisoned, when a stroke is the usual explanation for his death and I can't think of anyone else suggesting this, nor of any evidence for it.
There were other entries that were debatable.
In addition to this is the tone.
For a start, no opportunity is ever lost by Williams to throw crap at modern glass and steel developments in London. After the first three disparaging comments about the architecture of some current building, standing where something of significance took place, you've got the point and it gets wearing. However, what was even more grating was Williams re-imagining a few aspects of the history. The results of this were questionable.
He has translated Charlemagne's response to Offa's letter about trade into modern vernacular and I can't tell you how much I disliked this: 'make up some cloaks like they used to, bro; you know – like the ones we used to get back in the day...' and his description of Cnut being 'in danger of soiling his breeches' when Williams tried to recreate the scene and tension of St Alfheah's body being moved was even more ghastly.
The final chapter, 'Vikings drink tea' concerns the various Victorian Viking societies in London and felt like filler.
I bought this book for a reasonable price, but frankly you'd just be better off buying Rory Naismith's Citadel of the Saxons, as it is superior in every way.
I'll start with the positive:
It's an easy read.
Williams has done some research. He includes lines such as English towns burned like beacons wherever viking armies marched (a nod to the ASC) and has a few comments on the London Peace Gild.
There are some impressive names in the foreword, with Rory Naismith, Andrew Reynolds and Gareth Williams thanked.
And now the negative:
The research is very limited and it's pretty apparent that he has no wider feel for the period.
This is an incomplete list of problematic entries
He has St Augustine of Canterbury as an archbishop in 597, whereas he received his pallium in 601.
842 Londinium (as opposed to Londenwic) still deserted, whereas in fact it was occupied in part and had been for a fair while.
East Anglia having influence in London (possibly confusing them with the East Saxons).
Cnut being the oldest son of Sweyn. He wasn't, that was Harold.
He has a simplistic approach to Cnut gaining support in the areas associated with Danelaw.
Heregeld translated as horde tax, whereas army tax is much more accurate.
Has Cnut's first wife, Aelfgifu also known as Emma, which she wasn't.
States that Harthacnut was most likely poisoned, when a stroke is the usual explanation for his death and I can't think of anyone else suggesting this, nor of any evidence for it.
There were other entries that were debatable.
In addition to this is the tone.
For a start, no opportunity is ever lost by Williams to throw crap at modern glass and steel developments in London. After the first three disparaging comments about the architecture of some current building, standing where something of significance took place, you've got the point and it gets wearing. However, what was even more grating was Williams re-imagining a few aspects of the history. The results of this were questionable.
He has translated Charlemagne's response to Offa's letter about trade into modern vernacular and I can't tell you how much I disliked this: 'make up some cloaks like they used to, bro; you know – like the ones we used to get back in the day...' and his description of Cnut being 'in danger of soiling his breeches' when Williams tried to recreate the scene and tension of St Alfheah's body being moved was even more ghastly.
The final chapter, 'Vikings drink tea' concerns the various Victorian Viking societies in London and felt like filler.
I bought this book for a reasonable price, but frankly you'd just be better off buying Rory Naismith's Citadel of the Saxons, as it is superior in every way.
March 25, 2024
Super informative and useful overview, especially for such a short book
September 24, 2021
It's a great book to get to know all the details of the Viking era in London! However with my short attention span I would rather just watch a documentary, instead of reading this. 😅
December 27, 2021
Better when he wasn't being dramatic.
February 8, 2025
I'd never heard of Thomas Williams or his previous work Viking Britain. However I got this for Christmas, and as someone who's lived in London for basically all his life, and a lover of history, and an epic consumer of Bernard Cornwell's The Saxon Stories (or what TV people know as The Last Kingdom) — this was a perfect present.
The volume may be slim, but the prose is dense. It took me longer to read than I expected, and that was no bad thing. Thomas Williams does a fantastic job of transporting you back to a period of London we are only starting to understand. Using new archeological evidence, he weaves anecdotes from when the Danes came to London, the various kings who tried to conquer it, and bringing you back to more recent periods, like Herman Melville not realising his hotel was above the old Thames waterfront, above ruins of old boats and whale bones....
This book is extra delightful for the Londonphile. Whether a resident or simply a fan. I learned more about my city (I confess to be ignorant enough to have not known the significance of All-Hallows-by-The-Tower church. I shall be paying a visit next time I'm walking around the city), and got a perspective of London's eternal cosmopolitan nature. As different as things were back in 890AD, some things remain the same - Londoners are a melting pot of culture, they're stubborn, and they're outward looking.
4 stars. Highly recommend if the subjects interest you.
The volume may be slim, but the prose is dense. It took me longer to read than I expected, and that was no bad thing. Thomas Williams does a fantastic job of transporting you back to a period of London we are only starting to understand. Using new archeological evidence, he weaves anecdotes from when the Danes came to London, the various kings who tried to conquer it, and bringing you back to more recent periods, like Herman Melville not realising his hotel was above the old Thames waterfront, above ruins of old boats and whale bones....
This book is extra delightful for the Londonphile. Whether a resident or simply a fan. I learned more about my city (I confess to be ignorant enough to have not known the significance of All-Hallows-by-The-Tower church. I shall be paying a visit next time I'm walking around the city), and got a perspective of London's eternal cosmopolitan nature. As different as things were back in 890AD, some things remain the same - Londoners are a melting pot of culture, they're stubborn, and they're outward looking.
4 stars. Highly recommend if the subjects interest you.
November 4, 2023
This book offers a quick tour of London, from its years as decrepit ruins after the departure of the Romans, up to the Norman Conquest of 1066 when it was the crown jewel of the monarchy. It tells of how London developed over time under both the Saxons and the Danes (or Vikings) and how it eventually came to be the most important city in England, for strategic and economic reasons. I would love to have seen it at that time, when the people of London looked with equal share of wonder and horror at the fleet of longboats sailing towards their home, changing the city forever. As it is, this book is the closest we will get to standing in their boots and sharing that view. I enjoyed it a lot.
July 6, 2024
Listened to the audio book read by Marston York.
I did find it interesting, but not enough to renew it with the library. I kept drifting off and realising I hadn't heard the last 10 minutes, but honestly that didn't seem to make much difference. I guess it wasn't a story as such, so not important to get all the details.
I would read more on the era, which is interesting, but perhaps not as an audio book? The actual narration was great - good voice and pace.
I did find it interesting, but not enough to renew it with the library. I kept drifting off and realising I hadn't heard the last 10 minutes, but honestly that didn't seem to make much difference. I guess it wasn't a story as such, so not important to get all the details.
I would read more on the era, which is interesting, but perhaps not as an audio book? The actual narration was great - good voice and pace.
July 24, 2025
This is book 13 of my 20 books of summer 2025.
I listened to this on audiobook and found myself fascinated by what I learnt! It's only a short book - 3h and 43 minutes to listen to - but it was packed full of fabulous snippets of information about the impact of the Vikings on London and the surrounding areas.
As I'm from Essex, I found the Essex mentions the most interesting and learnt more about the local area, but it was also so interesting to hear the comings and goings in London and how the locals were affected and how the society evolved. There's lots of mentions of places to visit and things to look out for if you're wandering London and for a small book it's big on information that's made me even more intrigued about the Vikings!
I listened to this on audiobook and found myself fascinated by what I learnt! It's only a short book - 3h and 43 minutes to listen to - but it was packed full of fabulous snippets of information about the impact of the Vikings on London and the surrounding areas.
As I'm from Essex, I found the Essex mentions the most interesting and learnt more about the local area, but it was also so interesting to hear the comings and goings in London and how the locals were affected and how the society evolved. There's lots of mentions of places to visit and things to look out for if you're wandering London and for a small book it's big on information that's made me even more intrigued about the Vikings!
December 19, 2020
Took me a while to read because finding it hard to concentrate. I did find some of the writing hard to read but found it interesting in places. I did prefer his other book about Viking Britain though. Love the book cover.
April 10, 2022
Packed with fascinating curiosities and anecdotes, for which the author clearly points out the difficulty of marrying sagas and poetry with actual history, this is an interesting and highly readable slice of London’s history.
Bought on a whim, and read in pleasure.
Bought on a whim, and read in pleasure.
July 10, 2019
An enjoyable and interesting account of the centuries that laid the foundations of modern London. Plenty of inspiration for a closer look at some parts of the city.
September 30, 2019
This is a very short book and although well-written leaves you wanting either more depth or more extension of the subject.
July 28, 2020
Poetic and very well written. Enjoyed it a lot.
April 20, 2021
Abandoned - an unsatisfactory hybrid of history and anecdote
October 5, 2021
Superb insight into Vikining London, brilliant story telling. Fully recommended.
May 2, 2022
To the point and very much a focused book. Accessible for everyone, there are things someone with specialist knowledge might want to know more about. Still, a lovely read.
December 25, 2023
This had a little too much snark about Modern London.
June 22, 2024
A great introduction and overview with some really beautiful descriptions.
January 15, 2025
A brief but involved biography of Viking London.
December 29, 2023
Nothing important in this book.. Sadly, it was a waste of time and money..
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews