The Vikings

This was the first book I ever read on Scandinavian religion/history/culture. It's written by a prominent scholar on the subject, who is well known for his translations of numerous Icelandic sagas. I liked this book because it presents the reader with a researched/educated understanding of the topic, through the author's knowledge of the archaeological findings, historical records, sagas, and mythology. It is a good introduction as it doesn't get too deep but it gives a good overview of the history of the Scandinavian culture and religion during the Viking Age. This book (at least, the one which I read) is large in height and width but shallow in depth. As such, it has some beautifully large illustrations and photos of Viking Age treasure, jewellery, boats, etc...] This book also dispels a few widely held misconceptions about the Vikings; such as the horned helmets that they were thought to have worn during battle (this is how most people have depicted them during the 20th century). In reality, the horned helmet was only ever found on figurines dipicting certain deities; there has never been archaeological findings of actual helmets in this form. The things about this book that I thought could be better: The book focuses chiefly on the Viking era, but includes a brief history leading up to this period of time. I read this book from my local library hoping that it would cover a larger span of time and also hoping to find comprehensive information on the pre-Christian religion of Northern Europe. Instead, I got an all-rounded approach which included not only an insight to the religion but also a lot of info about daily life (e.g. farming, building, diet etc...), history, and general culture (ethic, virtues, beliefs, worldview,). As it turns out, there isn't a lot of info about the pre-Christian religion before the Viking Age that is known to the world anyway. I found parts of it a little hard to read at times, such as the story of Sigurd and I got a bit lost with the storyline, since I'd never heard it before. A second or third read through these parts cleared things up for me. Anyway, a good book as an introduction to Viking religion, culture and history with some really good photos. I recommend it. If it's not in print, then look for it in a local library.

The Viking people hold a solid place in the history of the West, and Magnus Magnusson's study of them presents a lively discourse in The Vikings of a people who were both pillagers and raiders and great pioneers and traders. The Vikings is a 'must' for any college-level personal or academic library Viking Studies or World History collection.