Title: Vikings at war /
Authors: Hjardar, Kim; Vike, Vegard,
Year: 2016
Subjects: Civilization, Viking.; Viking antiquities.; Vikings History; Northmen; Vikings Social life and customs.; Vikings Material culture.; Civilization, Viking.; Northmen.; Viking antiquities; Vikings; Vikings Material culture; Vikings Social life and customs; Scandinavia History
Abstract: Vikings at War presents a sumptuous depiction of how the Vikings waged war; their weapons technology, offensive and defensive warfare, military traditions and tactics, their fortifications, ships and command structure. It also portrays the Viking raids and conquest campaigns that brought the Vikings to virtually every corner of Europe and even to America. Viking ships landed on almost every shore in the Western world during the 350 years that followed the introduction of the sail into the region, from the 9th to the 11th century. Viking ravages united the Spanish kingdoms and stopped Charlemagne and the Franks' advance in Europe. Wherever Viking ships roamed, enormous suffering followed in their wake, but the encounter between cultures changed both European and Nordic societies. Employing unorthodox and unpredictable strategies, which were hard for more organized forces to respond to, the most crucial element of the Viking's success was their basic strategy of evading the enemy by arriving by sea, then attacking quickly and with great force before withdrawing quickly. The warrior class dominated in a militarized society. Honor was everything, and breaking promises and ruining one's posthumous reputation was considered worse than death itself. If a man offended another man's honor, the only way out was blood revenge. Never before have the Viking art of war, weapons and the history of their conquests been presented together in such detail. With over 380 color illustrations including beautiful reconstruction drawings, maps, cross-section drawings of ships, line-drawings of fortifications, battle plan reconstructions and photos of surviving artifacts including weapons and jewelry.
Contents: Foreword -- Beaduheard meets his fate -- 1. The Vikings (Who were the Vikings? ; Viking society ; The Viking warriors' religion) -- 2. The art of war (Viking troops ; Viking military techniques) -- 3. Viking fortifications (Viking fortifications) -- 4. Viking ships (The Viking ship) -- 5. Viking weapons (The Vikings and their weapons) -- 6. Viking invasions (The world of the Vikings ; The islands in the West ; Ireland ; England ; The Frankish Empire and France ; The Iberian peninsula ; The lands in the East ; Byzantium ; Greenland and America)