Though infamous for their pirating and raiding, active Vikings were actually only a tiny fraction of the total Scandinavian population during the so-called Viking Age. This exploration of their culture goes beyond the myths into the prosaic realities and intimate details of family life; their attitude toward the more vulnerable members of society; their famed longships and extensive travels; and the role they played in the greater community. In addition to images and maps, a timeline lays out Viking history.

"Describes the lives of Viking warriors. The readers' choices reveal the historical details of raiding the Lindisfarne monastery, invading England, and fighting at the Battle of Stamford Bridge"--Provided by publisher.

Through runic inscriptions and behind the veil of myth, Jesch discovers the true story of viking women.

The study of early medieval towns has frequently concentrated on urban beginnings, the search for broadly applicable definitions of urban characteristics and the chronological development of towns. Far less attention has been paid to the experience of living in towns. The thirteen chapters in this book bring together the current state of knowledge about Viking-Age towns (c. 800–1100) from both sides of the Irish Sea, focusing on everyday life in and around these emerging settlements. What was it really like to grow up, live, and die in these towns? What did people eat, what did they wear, and how did they make a living for themselves? Although historical sources are addressed, the emphasis of the volume is overwhelmingly archaeological, paying homage to the wealth of new material that has become available since the advent of urban archaeology in the 1960s.

Examines the daily lives of the Vikings.

An engaging look at life in the Viking Age.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Vikings created an unrivalled cultural network that spanned four continents. Adventurers, farmers, traders, conquerors and sailors, the Vikings were both peaceful and fierce, fighting or bargaining their way through as far as Constantinople in the East, North America and Greenland in the North, the British Isles in the West as well as into the Mediterranean. Throughout their existence, the Vikings encountered a remarkable diversity of peoples and inhabited an expansive and changing world. This beautifully illustrated book explores the core period of the Viking Age from a global perspective, examining how the Vikings drew influences from Christian Europe and the Islamic World and how they created a lasting historical impact on our world today. Highlighting an extraordinary range of objects and featuring new discoveries by archaeologists and metal-detector users, the cultural connections between Europe, Byzantium and the Middle East are explored in absorbing detail. Vikings: life and legend is published to complement a major exhibition developed jointly by the British Museum, the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen and the Museum for Prehistory and Early History, Berlin.