Vikings began life as a BBC television project and so I am also indebted to the team that slaved away to give it life. Huge thanks therefore to series producer Cameron Balbirnie, whose commitment to the job in hand is always humbling. Executive producer Eamon Hardy was also a champion of the cause. Directors Jon Eastman, Rosie Schellenberg and Simon Winchcombe led the journeys and adventures, each in their own unique and revealing way. It’s one thing to read about Vikings — quite another to spend time following in their footsteps. Hopefully this book conveys at least some of the wonder and excitement I felt during visits to locations as diverse and unforgettable as Reykjavik, Birka and Istanbul.
When the going gets tough, both on and between locations, it’s so often the humour of the crews that gets everyone else through. Deep gratitude then to cameramen Patrick Acum, Neville Kidd, Toby Wilkinson, Jamie Cairney and Nik Porter, as well as to soundmen Edward Capes and Mike Williams. Researchers Eirin O Høgetveit, Ivan Lazic (both of whom also showed real potential as sound recordists, incidentally!) and Tom Watkinson were endlessly helpful and their careful work underpins much of what is contained in the pages that follow. The editors who each brought skill and dedication to the job of assembling and finessing the three episodes of the series were Martin Johnson, Matt White and Ben Harrison — so my thanks and appreciation are owed to all.
None of us would have got anywhere or done anything useful without the tireless efforts of production co-ordinators Dominic Bolton, Poppy Corbett and Gezz Mounter — so huge thanks to them too. Love as always to my agents — Eugenie Furniss at Furniss-Lawton and Sophie Laurimore at Factual Management.
But my greatest debt is owed to my wife Trudi, and to our children, Evie, Archie and Teddy. My work takes me away from home more than I would like, and their tolerance of both my absences, and then of my deadline-inspired distraction while I am actually in the house, makes it all possible. I cannot thank them enough.
INDEX
Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), 8, 76, 84
Aase, Queen, 104, 181
Abbasid Caliphate, 130–1
Aberlemno Stone, the, 79
Achilles, 61–2
Adam of Bremen, 63, 90–1, 206, 230
Aelfheah, Archbishop, 245–6
Aethelbald, King of Mercia, 173
Aethelred, King of Northumbria, 84–5, 97
Aethelred the Unready, King of
England, 240–6, 251
Aethelstan, King, 194–6, 197–8
Aethelweard, 196
afterlife, the, 89, 93, 114, 175
Aggersborg, 235
Aidan, St, 8, 111–12
Alamanni, the, 67
Alcuin of York, 8, 76, 84–5, 97, 115
Alfred Jewel, the, 171, 172
Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, 12, 63, 171, 177–8, 194
Angles, 66–7, 78, 79
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, xvii, 8, 116, 116–17, 168, 170, 172, 176, 178, 195, 196, 237, 241
Anglo-Saxon ‘Heptarchy’, the, 168
Anglo-Saxons, 78, 80, 171, 221
Annals of Fulda, 154
Annals of St Bertin, 147, 168
Annals of the Four Masters, The, 154
Annals of Ulster, 148, 192–3
Ansarve, 81–2
Ansgar, Apostle of the North, 226, 233
Antoninus Pius, Emperor, 66
Ardnamurchan boat burial, 2–3, 188
Ari Thorgilsson, 201, 202
Arklow, 162
Arminius, 58–9
Asgard, 203
Ashingdon, Battle of, 246–7
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 170–2, 239
Assandun, Battle of, 246–7
Athelney, 177
Atlantic, Battle of, 200
Augustine, 78
Augustus, Emperor, 57, 58
Baghdad, 124, 132
Baltic Sea, 118–19
Balts, 132
Bamburgh, 114
Barbary pirates, 159
Barrow River, 152, 153
Barrowman, Rachel, 185–6
Basil II, Emperor, 132–3
Bede, the Venerable, 77–8, 112, 114
Beloozero, 130
Beorhtric, King of Wessex, 116–17
Beowulf, 92–3
Bergman, Ingmar, 82
Bernicia, 79, 168
Betjeman, John, 173
Biddle, Martin and Birthe, 174–6
Birka, 141–5, 226
Birka Girl, 143–5, 252–3
Bjældskovdal, 49
Bjarni Herjólfsson, 216
Björkö, 141
Björn ‘Ironside’ Jarnsida, 147–8
Black Sea, 124
Bloody Bay, Battle of, 190
boat burials, 2–3, 68, 78, 92–3, 104–5, 189
Bodmer, Sir Walter, 187
bog-bodies, 49–52
Bogren, Bror, 82
Bohuslan, 39
Borgeby, 235
Borremose bog, 51
Borremose Woman, 51
Borum Eshøj
burial mounds, 47–8
reconstructed house, 45–8
Borurn Eshøj family, 32–3, 47
Bosphorous, the, 124
Boyne River, 152
Bradley, Richard, 35–6
Bredaror cairn, 36–7
Brendan, St, 201, 212
Britain
Bronze Age, 40
Christianity in, 78
human sacrifice, 51
peoples, 79
Roman, 66, 77–8
separation from Europe, 9–10
British Crown Jewels, 249
British Museum, 239
bronze
importance of, 37–9
iron’s advantages over, 43–4
loss of confidence in, 39–42
monopoly on, 33
source of, 30
Bronze Age, 25–6, 28–42, 48
burials, 28–9, 31–3, 39
Late, 39–42, 44
lurs, 33–4
power and status in, 37–9
reconstructed house, 45–8
religion, 34–5
rock art, 83
settlements, 29
Shetland Islands, 183
ships 26, 34–7
trade, 30, 41
voyages, 36–7
warriors, 38–9
Bruce, William Speirs, xix
Brudevælte Lurs, 34
Brunanburh, battle of, 196, 197–8
Brussels Chronicle, The, 134
Bulghars, the, 109
Burgred, King of Mercia, 173–4
burial practices, 24–5
burials
Birka, 142
boat, 68, 78, 92–3, 104–5, 189
Bronze Age, 28–9, 31–3, 39
Christian, 231–3
Ireland, 156
Jelling, 226–9
pagan, 232
Plakun, 121–2
Repton, 174–6
Roman period, 68
St Ninian’s Isle, 185
Byock, Jesse, 205–6
Byrhtnoth, 241
Byzantine Empire, 67, 70–1, 72, 73–5, 80, 132–3, 138, 159, 248
Caelius, Marcus, 59
Caesar, Julius, 57, 58
Caithness, 188–9
Cambridge, 177
Canna, xv
Canterbury, 245–6
Carolingians, the, 75–7
Carpathian Basin, 40–1
Carrick hoard, the, 162
Caspian Sea, 124
Castledermot, battle of, 156
Celts, the, 65–6
Cenel mac Gabhrain, 192–3
Ceolwulf, King of Mercia, 173
Cerball, King of Osraige, 156
Charlemagne, 75–7, 80, 95, 115–16, 145, 146–7, 166, 167, 220
Charles Martel, King of the Franks, 75, 95
Charles the Bald, 147, 148
Charles the Simple, King of France, 148
Chippenham, 177
Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway, 1
89
Christianity, 131–2
benefits of, 220–1, 224–5, 233–4
in Britain, 78
Celtic, 111–12, 150–1
communion, 91–2
conversion of Iceland, 231
conversion of the Danes, 224–34
conversion of the Rus, 223–4
Coptic, 95
emergence of, 70
first converts, 133
hermits, 198–9
impact, 223
Olaf Tryggvasson’s conversion to, 242
retrospective conversions, 227–8
in Scotland, 79
spread of, 72, 211, 219–21
survival in Europe, 75, 80
Viking resistance to, 8
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, 196
Cimbri, the, 57
Cimmerians, 41
Clark, Kenneth, 2, 71–2
Classical world, 54
climate, 14–15, 44, 48, 67, 214
Clonycavan Man, 51
clothing, 108–11
Clovis, King of the Franks, 75
Cnut the Great, 4, 222–3, 246–50, 251
Codex Regius, the, 210
Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaibh, 160
coins, xvii–xviii, 121–2, 142, 175, 238–9, 248
Columba, St, 78, 111, 150–1
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, 248–9
Constantine, Emperor, 70–1, 78
Constantine, King of Scots, 194, 195, 196
Constantinople, 70–1, 72, 74–5, 80, 132–3
Hagia Sophia, 1, 72, 133, 137–8
raids on, 134–7
renamed Istanbul, 137
Copenhagen, 31–3, 51, 55
Cork, 155, 162
cosmology, 203
Coutts, Douglas, 187–8
cremations, 89, 93
Cromwell, Oliver, 249, 250
Cuerdale silver hoard, 239
Cumberland, 243
Cunliffe, Sir Barry, 37
Cuthbert, St, 112, 113, 115
Cyprus, 30
Dál Riata, 79
Damascus, 130
Danegeld, 240–1, 241–2, 243
Danelaw, the, 177–9, 194, 237–8
Danes, 131, 145–6, 166–7, 194, 220, 224–34, 236, 241
Danevirke, the, 95–6, 145, 225
Danish islands, 18
Danube River, 40
Deira, 79, 168
Denmark, 55–6
Christian missionaries to, 225–6, 233
conversion to Christianity, 224–34
definition of kingdom, 95–6
grave goods, 25
kings, 96
Mesolithic colonisation of, 11
Mesolithic landscape, 17
Mesolithic population, 22
Roman circumnavigation of, 57
Roman trade, 67–9
unification, 145–6
Dicuil, 199, 201
Diocletian, Emperor, 67
DNA, 4, 104, 187
Dnestr, River, 124
Dniepr, River, 124, 130
Dogger Bank, 10
Doggerland, 10
Dorestad, 146
Dorset, mass burial, 3
Dorset raid, 116–17
dragon ships, 97, 99–100, 105–6
Dublin, 117, 149, 155–9, 160, 162–3, 197, 239
Dublin skeletons, the, 156–8
Dudo, 147–8
Dunrally Fort; 152–4
Dupuytren’s Contracture, 4
Durham, 113
Dyle River, 154
Eadfrith, Bishop, 113
Eadric Streona, 246–7
Ealhswith of Mercia, 194
Eamont Bridge, 194–5
East Anglia, 168, 169, 194, 247
Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Bede), 114
Ecgfrith, King, 79
Edgar the Aetheling, 252
Edgar the Peaceful, King of England, 237, 238, 240, 248
Edington, Battle of, 177
Edmund Ironside, 246–7
Edward, King of Wessex, 194
Edward the Confessor, 247, 251
Edward the Martyr, King of England, 240
Egil Skallagrimsson, 197–8
Egil’s saga, 197–8
Egtved Girl, 28–9, 31
Einhard, Vita Karoli Magni, The Life of Charles the Great, 76
Eirik, Earl, 242–3
Eirik Bloodaxe, 237
Eirik the Red, 4, 103, 213–14, 215–16, 219, 220
Eirikur Thorvaldsson, 211–12, 213
Elbing, 119
Elder Edda, the, 209–11
Elling Woman, 50
Encomium Emmae Reginae, 101–2
England
the Anglo-Saxon ‘Heptarchy’, 168
foundation of kingdom, 194–5
kings, 237
last Viking King, 237
English Civil War, 250
English language, loan words, 179
Epaves Bay, 218
Erteølle culture, 16–17
Essex, 168, 194
Etruscans, 53–4
Eyjafjallajokull volcano, 203
Falys, Ceri, 244–5
Fårö, 81, 82–4
Faroe Islands, 198–200
Fergus Mor mac Eirc, 79
Finnian of Clonard, St, 198
Flateyjarbók, 199
Floki Vilgertharson, 201
Forannan, Abbot, 160
Forte, Angelo, 57–8, 59–60
fortifications, 93–4, 152–4, 174, 235
Fosna, the, 22
Fossati, Gaspare and Guiseppe, 138
France, 41, 75
Frankish Annals, The, 145
Franks, the, 75–7, 145, 146–7, 148
Fyris, River, 92
Fyrkat, 235
Gaels, the, 79
Gainsborough, 246
Gallowglasses, 190
Gamla Uppsala, 86–92
burial mounds, 88–90
human sacrifice, 90–2
museum, 90
Plateaux of the Royal Demesne, 87–8
royal palace, 87
temple, 90–2
Garthar Svavarsson, 201
Germanic barbarians, 66
Germany, 51
Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesia Pontificum (Adam of Bremen), 63, 90–1
Gibbon, Edward, 71
Glasha River, 152, 153
Godfred, King of Denmark, 96, 145, 146
gods, 48–52, 90–1, 203, 210–11
Gokstad Ship, the, 105
Gorm the Old, 222–3, 225, 226–9, 234
Gorodisce, 139
Goths, 67
Gotland, 18, 35–6, 81–2, 126–9, 130–1
Grauballe Man, 50
grave goods, 25, 31–2, 60, 61–2, 68, 89–90, 93, 104–5, 142, 157–8 174–5, 233
Greath Heathen Army, the
attack on Northumbria, 169–70, 176–7
attack on Wessex, 177–8
first appearance, 169
landing site, 172
in Mercia, 172–7
motivation, 170–1
in Repton, 173–7
settlement in Northumbria, 177
splitting of the force, 174, 176–7
strength, 169, 170
Greek civilisation, 53, 54, 62
Greenland
abandonment, 218
conversion to Christianity, 219–20
discovery of, 212–13
landscape, 213
natural resources, 214–15
settlement of, 213–14, 215–16
Grentoft, 44
Grey Goose law, 206
Grimur Kamban, 199–200
Grobin, 119
Gronbjerg, 44
Gudme, 68–9, 86
Guldhoj man, 31–2
Gunnbjorn Ulfsson, 212
Gunnhild, 244
Guthrum, 177–8
Haakon IV, King of Norway, 191, 242
Hadrian, Emperor, 66
Hadrian’s Wall, 66, 77
Haervejen, the, 234
hákarl, 208–9
Halfdan (Greath Heathen Army chieftain), 176–7
Halfdan the Black, 104
Hallström, Gustaf, 36
Halogaland, 242
Harald II, King of Denmark, 246, 247
Harald Bluetooth, 27–8, 222–3, 240, 241, 242
conversion to Christianity, 225–34
death, 236
grand projects, 234–6
Harald Fairhair, 105, 181–2, 189, 198, 237
Harald Sigurdarsson (Hardrada), 251
Harold, King of Denmark, 154
Harold Godwinson, 251–2
Harthacnut, King of England, 247, 250–1
Harun al-Rashid, 77
Hassle hoard, the, 31
Hastein, 147–8
Hastings, Battle of, 252
Hávamál, the, 210–11
Heaney, Seamus, 50
Hebrides, the, 189–91
Hedeby, 141
Heimskringla, 86
Hekla, Mount, 204
Helgö, 141
Helgö treasure, the, 94–5
Helluland, 216
Henry the Fowler, Emperor, 222
Heraclius, Emperor, 73
heritage, 1–7
Hermitage, St Petersburg, 122–4, 140
Herning, 42–3
Hildebrand, Bror Emil, 88–9
Himlingoje, 68–9
Historia Normannorum (Dudo), 147–8
Historia Norwegie, 181–2, 187, 200–1
Historia Regum Anglorum, 96–7
History of the Wars (Procopius of Caesarea), 13–14
Hjortspring Boat, 52–3, 98
Hjortspring Hoard, 52–3
Hoby Chieftain’s Grave, 61–2
Hodde, 45
Holy Roman Empire, 77, 248–9
Homer, Iliad, 61–2
Horoaland, 117, 149
Huldremose Woman, 51
human sacrifice, 48–52, 90–2
Husby, 93
Ibn Fadlan, 109–11, 126–9, 139
Ibn Rustah, Ahmad, 125–6
Ice Age, 9–11, 14
Iceland
the Althing, 205–7
conversion to Christianity, 231
culture, 204–5
diet, 207–9
first visitors, 200–2
independence, 206
landowners, 205
landscape, 202–3
location, 207
population, 205
settlement of, 201–2, 204
Stong farmstead, 203–4
the Thingveuir, 206–7
volcanoes, 202–4
Icelandic sagas, 64, 119–20, 182
Ilmen, Lake, 139
Imperial Crown, Holy Roman Empire, 248–9
Ingolfr Arnarson, 201, 202
Ingstad, Helge and Anne, 217–18
Inisbofin, 148
Inismurray, 148
Iona, 8, 78, 111
Ireland
Christianity in 150–1, 220
dynastic struggles, 151