The Vikings - The Background to a Fierce and Fascinating Civilization

In the east these Northmen thrust fown the great rivers of Russia to the Caspian and the Black Sea. In the west they sailed along the Atlantic coasts, past Arab Spain, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and over the Mediterranean. They reached out across the wild and unknown Atlantic, to Iceland, Greenland and America. How did it happen? Why did Europe permit Danes and Norwegians to rule parts of England, Ireland and France, and the Swedes to form a ruling class in Western Russia? Why was Scandinavia strong and the rest of Europe weak? What inner forces led the Viking raids? In this classic study, Professor Brondsted examines the motives of their voyages and investigates the origin of the people, their industries and equipment, ships and armies, social organization, daily life and religious beliefs as they are reflected in runic inscriptions, burial customs and Icelandic medieval literature...