Ivy G.’s Reviews > The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire > Status Update

Just when I thought that the ravaging and pillaging by the Danes were terrible, the book reminded me that the rest of the world exists and in a world that made profit through violence, slave trade and markets were huge from 700’s to the late 900’s. Historically, we came a long way towards progress.

Viking culture really is male-centric built, at the foundations of war and violence. Kings and leaders had to wage wars to make profit.

In this culture, these men started young. They had to because their fathers before them became their example. A result of this culture is the glorification of war and violence, sang in poems and saga tales, favored to how legacies were created.

Æthelred is a vulnerable leader who couldn’t protect their country and even lead his own higher-ranked men into becoming a united front. What’s frustrating is how these men couldn’t set aside their differences for the sake of their country. As a leader, he didn’t learn from these attacks.

Instead, he cowered with his men and paid tribute to the Danes when he could. England was unserious at this time.