Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

Neil Price

Aug 2020 · Sold by Basic Books

About this ebook

The definitive history of the Vikings -- from arts and culture to politics and cosmology -- by a distinguished archaeologist with decades of expertise
The Viking Age -- from 750 to 1050 -- saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples into the wider world. As traders and raiders, explorers and colonists, they ranged from eastern North America to the Asian steppe. But for centuries, the Vikings have been seen through the eyes of others, distorted to suit the tastes of medieval clerics and Elizabethan playwrights, Victorian imperialists, Nazis, and more. None of these appropriations capture the real Vikings, or the richness and sophistication of their culture.
Based on the latest archaeological and textual evidence, Children of Ash and Elm tells the story of the Vikings on their own terms: their politics, their cosmology and religion, their material world. Known today for a stereotype of maritime violence, the Vikings exported new ideas, technologies, beliefs, and practices to the lands they discovered and the peoples they encountered, and in the process were themselves changed. From Eirík Bloodaxe, who fought his way to a kingdom, to Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, the most traveled woman in the world, Children of Ash and Elm is the definitive history of the Vikings and their time.

Ratings and reviews

This is not a tedious university text but a very readable melding of archaeology, lore, and more complete with photos and maps (thus the innumerable page count). It presents the religion of the Northmen, why they believed as they did, why they began to move away from the lands they knew, the purpose of the written records they left behind, and more. It's extensive and it points out the use that various authors have made of the lore and the language. It also points out that much of what we think we know of their past was written by the literate Christians who wanted them destroyed as heathens. I think of this book as a "read through and then keep at hand as a reference tool". But I plan to get a print copy as the photos and maps are easier to enjoy in that format. I requested and received a free ebook copy from Perseus Books/Basic Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Insightful as well as factual, n though not narrative the inclusion of lore, cultural terms, their histories and internal as well as external societal impacts adds a vicarious sense of life for these people.

About the author

Neil Price is distinguished professor and chair of archaeology at Uppsala University, Sweden. He has been researching, teaching, and writing on the Vikings for nearly thirty-five years and is the author of several books on the history of the Viking Age. He lives in Sweden.