Customer Reviews

The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings (Oxford Illustrated Histories)

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This is one of the best books on the Vikings I've ever read (and I've read dozens!). With numerous contributors from many universtities, each chapter is written with detailed authority and offers a fresh perspective. The chonology at the back of the book is a bonus feature. My only criticism is that, depspite chapters on exploration to the west (what I consider to be the most important legacy of the Vikings), Sawyer still tends to let the British perspective of victimization by the Vikings dominate the book.

This book falls below what I would expect from Oxford (at least the traditional Oxford of yester-year). The pictures are nice as well as a lot of the text. The main problem with this book is the chapter "The Vikings in History and Ledgend." The author of this essay insinuates that those who take pride in their Viking heritage are Nazis. This chapter is full of inappropriate partisan politics and hurts this book. It reads like propoganda straight out of a typical ADL hate tract.
One reader has obviously fallen for this line (see below).
There are far-better books on the Vikings out there. Go for Gwen Jones for a more balanced account.

'The Nazis adopted Viking imagary therefore the Vikings must be Nazis' - was the person who came up with that howler having a blonde moment at the time?

Apart from that gem, the Vikings:

- Interests' lay more in establishing trade routes rather than looting and pillaging cities.
- Had an intricate and surprisingly sophisticated civilization for their time.
- Were heathens (non-Christians) in a period of time in which the rest of Europe was largely Christianized. This was to change over time; some by peaceful adoption of the new religion, others by torture. Still, much of the negative history of the Norsemen was written by Christian scholars...
- Were strongly family-oriented, believing that their strength came from their heritage and the blood of their ancestors.
- Used an alphabet (called a "futhark") consisting of only 16 letters (a reduction of their ancestors' earlier alphabet of 24 letters.)

To this day, their influences can be felt in the language, arts, and literature of modern-day American culture.

Or are you more comfortable with the 'murderous barbarians' conclusion. If not, buy another book.

A perfect reference is rare. This book is not a 100% perfect source of information on Nordic history, but its generally a good start for the uninitiated.

The primary value I found from this volume was a clarification of the literary sources, such as the Sagas, and how they relate to the study of Viking heritage. A considerable volume of Icelandic Sagas was actually found in the remains of a farm-house that was being demolished! Imagine what literature has already been lost forever, under similar circumstances. We will never know what we have lost. We have an idea of generally knowing what was lost, by what literary sources managed to be saved.

Here is an indication of Viking influence one-thousand years later:

If you have read some of the "history" written by stodgy, opinionated, British academics-types from the mid 19th century, you will see some laughable attempts by misguided nationalists to derisively dismis the Norse people as merely "rude, crude, pillaging barbarians". Such banter was rather common-place in Europe, with the nationalistic posturings of professors who overly-subscribed to glorified perceptions of their own nations' histories.

...But the truth, was far more complex!

The archeological findings of the last century, have shown us that the "crude barbarian" image of the Nordic people was quite inaccurate. The Sagas alone were already evidence enough.

DNA technology revealed something even more astounding. It turns out that, Britain has so much Nordic DNA in its population, they can almost be classified as a Nordic people themselves! The stodgy old professor didn't realize he was deriding an ancestor!

In our time, some fools naively and stupidly compare the Vikings to "Nazis". Absolutely ridiculous!
There is a reason for the vast spread of Nordic DNA in Europe. The Vikings, in their many settlements throughout Europe, ASSIMILATED with the indigenous people: mainly Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Finland, France, and Russia. I don't think "Nazis" would "condescend" to assimilate with anyone.

A very good analysis of Viking history. Fairly sloww reading and st times repetitive.

if ya get all romantic thinking about the vikings, just remember that they were the nazis of their day, in terms of senseless destruction and inhumanity.