Northmen Book Reviews

Northmen by John Haywood Book Summary

This sweeping medieval history follows the Vikings from Finland to Newfoundland, from Jelling to Jerusalem, and from paganism to Christendom.

In AD 800, the Scandinavians were just barbarians in longships. Though they held sway in the north, their status was based on their ability to pillage and plunder. As these Norse warriors left their strongholds to trade, raid, and settle across wide areas of Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic, their violent and predatory culture left a unique imprint on medieval history. But in time, contact with these new territories would leave an indelible mark on the Vikings as well.

By the year 1200, what remained of the Vikings’ pagan origins floated beneath the surface and the strong, strange territories of the north had become a part of Latin Christendom. In Northmen, medieval historian John Haywood chronicles this transformation, paying homage to what was lost and celebrating what was won.

Focusing on key events, including the sack of Lindisfarne in 793 and the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, Haywood recounts the saga of the Viking Age, from the creation of the world through to the dwindling years of halfhearted raids and elegiac storytelling in the thirteenth century.

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