Description:
The fourth edition of The Viking Age provides an extensive deep dive into the world of the Vikings, spanning from the eighth and ninth centuries to the present, while also featuring key scholarly interpretations from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Building on the structure and content of previous editions, nearly every chapter has been reworked and expanded, with the addition of an entirely new chapter on commerce and trade. This edition broadens the range of materials while preserving the innovations of earlier editions and advancing them in new directions.
In The Viking Age, readers are submerged in a comprehensive exploration of the Viking era, covering essential topics such as the role of women in Viking society, the significance of slavery in the Viking economy, commerce and trade, the use of Arabic sources, Viking religion, fertility gods, guardian spirits, the exploits of the Norse kings of Man and the Isles, the importance of Scandinavian and maritime law, the enduring legacy of the Vikings, and more. This extensively revised edition ultimately brings the Vikings and their world to life for twenty-first-century students and instructors.
Review Quotes:
"Like me, you may have one or more of the earlier editions of The Viking Age: A Reader and think to yourself, 'That will do.' It won't. With every edition the collection becomes more comprehensive-new material is added to old themes and entirely new themes make their début. This is one of those rare books that is as valuable for teachers as for their students: try opening it to any page and you are sure to learn something, as it is simply full of surprises."
--Seán Duffy, Trinity College Dublin"The world of the Northmen comes into even sharper focus with expanded material from Arabic, Irish, Manx, Icelandic, Frankish, Old English, and Byzantine sources. We learn more about trade routes and the merchants who traveled them, currencies and exchange values, furs and fine textiles, and the pervasiveness of the slave trade. This revised edition is absolutely essential for teachers, students, and any reader wanting a clear view of life in the Viking Age."
--Karen Overbey, Tufts University"Reflecting recent scholarship, the fourth edition of The Viking Age expands our understanding and appreciation of Viking society and culture as well as that of medieval northern Europe. This impressive collection of early medieval documents combined with examples of revivalist literature from the thirteenth to the twenty-first centuries gives active voice to Viking Age life well as entry to the on-going dialogue with the Viking Age over the centuries."
--Terje Leiren, University of Washington