Violence in Viking Society

In popular imagination, the mention of Vikings immediately conjures images of bloodthirsty warriors, raiding and killing their way across any land their dragon-prowed longships could reach. There is barely a corner of this world that has not heard of Vikings and associated them with violence. Even the dates of the age they lived in, the Viking age, is defined by their violent acts, beginning with the raid in Lindisfarne in 793 and ending in the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Yet, since the mid-twentieth century, a contrary view has become widespread in scholarly and popular circles, suggesting that, while Vikings did indulge in violence at times, they were primarily peaceful farmers and traders. William R. Short and Reynir A. Óskarson’s previous book on Viking combat drew a strong reaction from academics holding this revisionist view. In response, the authors have made a fresh review of the evidence to test and reassess these previous interpretations. The reader will be taken on a journey of adventuresome discovery analyzing the violence in Viking society. Were they brutal warriors or just farmers? The authors’ thoroughly researched and clearly argued reappraisal delivers a hefty logical axe-blow to the argument.