Book review: The Vikings

For those millennials rapidly approaching their 40s (yes, the current author is one of those), 1987 really isn't that long ago, right? In the field of Viking studies, a mere 36 years ago seems about as remote as the early medieval period itself. 

Consider the technological advances in archaeology and science that have allowed us to rethink and rediscover the Viking Age (c. 750 – 1100). 

In 1987, there was little research on the eastward expansion of people from Viking societies, little was known about why their settlements on Greenland dramatically ended, and the role of women or minorities (religious or ethnic) in Viking societies – including enslaved people – was non-existent. 

Yet all of these are addressed in Roesdahl's book, The Vikings, making this book groundbreaking and ahead of its time. 

Aside from the changing advances in the study of this period, the popular perception of Vikings has changed since 1987, too. 

Back then, they were seen as mere marauders and raiders, raping and pillaging everywhere they went. 

Now, with a recent surge in popularity, partly due to Hollywood depictions, Vikings and the societies that produced them are in vogue. 

A host of new authors, historians, and screenwriters have given a voice (sometimes fictional, sometimes historical) to previously silenced characters and subjects.

So, writing a review of a history book that is almost (but not quite) 4 decades old seemed a bit odd given the pace of change, especially in the fields of history and archaeology nowadays. 

Reading this book felt like reading something almost as outdated as a medieval chronicle. So much has changed in the study of the early medieval Viking world. 

None of this, however, is Roesdahl's fault. By 1987 standards, this was an impressive historical work, so much so that the Danish version of this book won a national prize. 

Yet, whilst the research is impressive (again, for the time), the presentation is not. The illustrations, photos, and maps, which can help readers visualize the past, are shabbily presented and displayed. 

Harald Bluetooth's Jelling runestone marks a key milestone in Scandinavia's shift from paganism to Christianity, a subject Roesdahl covers particularly well, highlighting the Vikings' surprising role in its spread. Photo: The National Museum of Denmark (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Solid but little color 

In The Vikings, Else Roesdahl takes a standard introductory path by explaining the context from which the Vikings came, providing an overview of the social, cultural, economic, and political factors that shaped early medieval Europe's favorite raiders, traders, and settlers. 

However, what Roesdahl does, and does well, in this book is that she helps communicate the history of the Vikings with an educator's eye for detail and patience. 

The section on the Christianization of Scandinavia and the Vikings' surprising role in its spread throughout the region is of particular note.

Some critics have been unjustly harsh on Roesdahl in this book despite all the accolades she and the book have won. 

The English version is, let's face it, a translation, and we all know that some things do indeed get lost in translation. 

She has spent a lifetime in the honorable pursuit of telling several generations of the complex history of the Vikings. 

She is a prize-winning author and has received an honorary doctorate from University College Dublin, one of the world's most prestigious universities. 

However, something is slightly lost without trying to bring the Vikings back to the modern world (ok, 1987... which is modern compared to the time elapsed since the Vikings roamed the world).

Roesdahl has delivered a solid, if slightly colorless, overview of The Vikings. Probably one for those who enjoy a textbook-like approach to the period.

The Vikings by Else Roesdahl is available for purchase on Amazon here.