The subject of this book is the Viking realms, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, their civilisation and culture, and their many-sided achievements at home and abroad.
A highly readable narrative follows the development of these Northern peoples the Nordmenn from their origins and the legendary pre-history to the military triumphs of Canute and the defeat of Harald Hardradi at Stamford Bridge in 1066, which symbolically ended the Viking age. The book recounts the Vikings’ exploits in war, trade and colonisation: the assault on Western Christendom; the trading and military ventures to the Slav and Muslim worlds and to Byzantium; and the western voyages of discovery and settlement to Greenland, Iceland and America.
Numerous photographs, maps and drawings contribute to Gwyn Jones’s rounded portrait of Viking civilisation and vividly evoke the importance in their culture of religion, art and seafaring.
About the Author
Professor of English from 1940, writer, translator and academic. Chairman of the Welsh Arts Council, CBE, holder of the Knight’s Cross of the Order of the Falcon (1963) and the Commander’s Cross (1987) of Iceland.