Chronicles of the Vikings: Records, Memorials, and Myths

By R.I. Page

Book Overview

The Vikings are not known for their literate legacy. Little of what they once inscribed in runes on wood, bone, and stone has survived. However these runic inscriptions are a valuable primary source of information on the Viking Age. They alow us to see the Vikings from their own point of view, unlike the records of prejudiced observers who saw the Vikings only as savage invaders. Chronicles of the Vikings attempts to show the Vikings through their own writings: runic inscriptions left behind, poems of their official skalds, literary works that entertained them, the few prose historical accounts that derive direct from Vikings, and eyewitness reports of how the northern peoples lived. Chronicles of the Vikings defines the social values of the Viking Age, their heroic view of life which sometimes contrasts with their more prosaic way of looking at things. It looks at the problems they encountered in discovering, populating, and cultivating new lands, the difficulties of keeping law and order and the solutions they tried. We discover how they coped with famine and other natural disasters, travel and its perils, something of their popular culture, proverbs and aphorisms, and their sometimes irreverent approach to their gods and goddesses, the supernatural, magic and charms. Both at home and overseas, the Vikings live in this book. To understand the primary sources it is essential to have some idea of how they came into being and how they were preserved. In his extensive introduction, R.I. Page discusses the problems involved in using writings of this sort and looks at the information that is preserved solely in these primary sources.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802071651
• ISBN13: 9780802071651
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.7" x 9.4"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

I really enjoyed and Loved it.

I really recommend reading this book if you want to learn more about the Vikings.It has some Norse words and some stories. The Ather also recommends book on Runs and Icelandic Literature at the end of chapter one.My favorite chapter was nine on Myths, religion and supestition.

A fine introduction to Viking culture.

Dr. Page is among the foremost scholars to focus on the Viking era. This particular piece is mostly introductory, but is of value even to those with a deeper interest in the subject. For beginners, the book presents the Vikings in their own words. Dr. Page has provided useful explication to the texts he has chosen to help the novice understand the issues and background involved. The book's introduction, which contains a priceless piece on the difficulties of language and transliteration, will give a new appreciation of this kind of scholarship to those who have only dealt with this material in translation. For the serious scholar comfortable with Runic writing and transliteration, Page's work in this volume stands as a guide to the art of teaching this difficult material. Page's work is accessible--moreso to the novice, probably, than this review. This book is a welcome addition to any Viking scholar's library.