In Search of Vikings

In Search of Vikings
Author: Stephen E. Harding
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2014-12-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1040074650

This book presents a collection of papers from experts in a broad range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics, to provide a detailed understanding of the Vikings in peace and in war. It focuses on one particularly exciting area of the Viking world, namely the north-west section of England, where they are known to have settled in large numbers. The 12 integrated studies in this book are designed to reinvigorate the search for Vikings in this crucial region and to provide must-reading for anyone interested in Viking history.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings
Author: P. H. Sawyer
Publisher: Oxford Illustrated History
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2001
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780192854346

'the volume will indeed be a treasury for pictorial sources, and the illustrations to more off-the-beaten-track chapters (especially Noonan's, on European Russia) are correspondingly unusual.' -Guy Halsall, War in History, 8, 3, 2001'the truest picture yet of the Vikings and their age.' -Publishing News

A Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides

A Norse Settlement in the Outer Hebrides
Author: Niall Sharples
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 726
Release: 2019-12-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1789250498

The settlement at Bornais in the Western Isles of Scotland is one of the largest rural settlements known from the Norse period in Britain. It spans the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century AD when the Atlantic seaboard was subject to drastic changes. The islands were systematically ravaged by Viking raiders and then colonised by Norse settlers. In the following centuries the islanders were central to the emergence of the Kingdom of Man and the Isles, played a crucial role in the development of the Lordship of the Isles and were finally assimilated into the Kingdom of Scotland. This volume explores the stratigraphic sequence uncovered by the excavation of Bornais mounds 2 and 2A. The excavation of mound 2 revealed a sequence of high status buildings that span the Norse occupation of the settlement. One of these houses, constructed at the end of the eleventh century AD, was a well preserved bow-walled longhouse and the careful excavation and detailed recording of the floor layers has revealed a wealth of finds that provides invaluable insight into the activities taking place in this building. The final house in this sequence is very different in form and use, and clearly indicates the increasing Scottish influence on the region at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The excavation of mound 2A provides an insight into the less prestigious areas of the settlement and contributes a significant amount of evidence on the settlement economy. The area was initially cultivated before it became a settlement local and throughout its life a focus on agricultural activities, such as grain drying and processing, appears to have been important. In the thirteenth century the mound was occupied by a craftsman who produced composite combs, gaming pieces and simple tools. The evidence presented in this volume makes a major contribution to the understanding of Norse Scotland and the colonisation of the North Atlantic in a period of dramatic transformations.

Swords of the Viking Age

Swords of the Viking Age
Author:
Publisher: Boydell Press
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2002
Genre: History
ISBN: 1843830892

This title surveys some 60 examples of swords made and used in northern Europe during the Viking Age, from the mid 8th to the mid-11th century. It contains an illustrated overview of blade types and construction, pattern-welding, inscriptions and handle forms and Jan Petersen's classification.

People and Places in Northern Europe, 500-1600

People and Places in Northern Europe, 500-1600
Author: Ian N. Wood
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1991
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780851155470

A collection of essays dealing with the history and archaeology of Northern Europe in the middle ages. It looks at Anglo-Saxon England, at its contacts with Francia and Scandinavia, and at the impact of the Norwegians and the Danes on the place-names of the British Isles. Two papers deal with the history of women as recorded in runestones, and as evidenced by law suits of the medieval period.