Scan barcode
andy_bookworm5137's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
tomleetang's review against another edition
4.0
Neil Price is much more skilled as a researcher than a writer, but his book is fantastically informative and scrupulously sourced. As long as you can get passed the dry, droning tone of the text, it's an excellent resource for all aspects of Viking life.
harlando's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it. I was hoping for more axes in faces and fewer sheep, but I did learn some things.
I know that Marvel has hopelessly muddled Norse cosmology for me, and also that it wasn't super coherent even for the Vikings themselves, but I picked up a few interesting bits. Not all valiant warriors go to Odin. He has a 50/50 split going on with another god. Pendants that looked a bit like Thor's hammer, and a bit like a cross were popular during the transition to Christianity. The bits about Christianization were interesting. If alien evangelists showed up tomorrow and converted humanity to a new religion, I think
Does slavery always have to be such a fraught topic? The Vikings predominantly enslaved other Europeans, treated them badly, and profited from their trade and labor. African slavery in the new world certainly has more bearing on contemporary life, but it felt like he was tiptoeing around the topic a little too much, rather like someone discussing slavery in the US.
- I'd have liked to hear a bit more about the slave economy in Viking held territory. It seems like it would have been easier for thralls to escape. Race based slavery has the feature of making escaped slaves easy to identify. I think a captive Irishman who learned decent Swedish might be able to blend in if he could escape and put some miles behind him. It would also be rather hard to identify the children of slaves without direct knowledge.
He didn't spend much time on technology. I'd read in other histories that the long ship was quite a thing for a few hundred years.
He also didn't mention a theory I had read years ago that the medieval warm period benefitted the far north quite a bit and that Vikings were consequently larger on average than other Europeans.
Price goes out of his way to compliment the Vikings on their openness, egalitarianism, and lack of prejudice. I think many pre-industrial societies had those qualities as well. Many of the indigenous north Americans were initially friendly. Price relates an anecdote about a few African traders/travelers in Scandinavia. The locals treat them like human beings (of the period) and he uses that to illustrate Viking social openness. I didn't find it very convincing. I think most societies that engaged in regular trade (which is most societies) would treat exotic traders decently. I don't think human prejudice is driven mostly by novelty or difference. It's some accumulated experience, jealousy, and insecurity. A town that had no contact with the east might treat a Chinese trader well because he is unique and treat Jewish merchants from the next town badly because they have formed a prejudice against them.
I know that Marvel has hopelessly muddled Norse cosmology for me, and also that it wasn't super coherent even for the Vikings themselves, but I picked up a few interesting bits. Not all valiant warriors go to Odin. He has a 50/50 split going on with another god. Pendants that looked a bit like Thor's hammer, and a bit like a cross were popular during the transition to Christianity. The bits about Christianization were interesting. If alien evangelists showed up tomorrow and converted humanity to a new religion, I think
Does slavery always have to be such a fraught topic? The Vikings predominantly enslaved other Europeans, treated them badly, and profited from their trade and labor. African slavery in the new world certainly has more bearing on contemporary life, but it felt like he was tiptoeing around the topic a little too much, rather like someone discussing slavery in the US.
- I'd have liked to hear a bit more about the slave economy in Viking held territory. It seems like it would have been easier for thralls to escape. Race based slavery has the feature of making escaped slaves easy to identify. I think a captive Irishman who learned decent Swedish might be able to blend in if he could escape and put some miles behind him. It would also be rather hard to identify the children of slaves without direct knowledge.
He didn't spend much time on technology. I'd read in other histories that the long ship was quite a thing for a few hundred years.
He also didn't mention a theory I had read years ago that the medieval warm period benefitted the far north quite a bit and that Vikings were consequently larger on average than other Europeans.
Price goes out of his way to compliment the Vikings on their openness, egalitarianism, and lack of prejudice. I think many pre-industrial societies had those qualities as well. Many of the indigenous north Americans were initially friendly. Price relates an anecdote about a few African traders/travelers in Scandinavia. The locals treat them like human beings (of the period) and he uses that to illustrate Viking social openness. I didn't find it very convincing. I think most societies that engaged in regular trade (which is most societies) would treat exotic traders decently. I don't think human prejudice is driven mostly by novelty or difference. It's some accumulated experience, jealousy, and insecurity. A town that had no contact with the east might treat a Chinese trader well because he is unique and treat Jewish merchants from the next town badly because they have formed a prejudice against them.