Books with title The%20Vikings

Thoroughly updated and with a new foreword "The Viking Age is shot through with the spirit of adventure. For 300 years, from just before AD800 until well into the eleventh century, the Vikings affected almost every region accessible to their ships, and left traces that are still part of life today." Far from being just "wild, barbaric, axe-wielding pirates," the Vikings created complex social institutions, oversaw the coming of Christianity to Scandinavia, and made a major impact on European history through trade, travel, and far-flung consolidation. This encyclopedic study brings together the latest research on Viking art, burial customs, class divisions, jewelry, kingship, poetry, and family life. The result is a rich and compelling picture of an extraordinary civilization.

Between the 8th and 11th centuries, Vikings stormed out of their Scandinavian homelands to raid and loot along the coasts of Europe. In old Norse, to "go viking" meant to take to sea in a long ship for an adventure. Sometimes this was a trading trip, sometimes a piratical raid. Often it was both. Explorers and traders, warriors and poets, they ranged between Byzantium in the south and ventured as far as Iceland and even North America. Their fame lives on. This entertaining and informative account was written especially for Naxos AudioBooks by David Angus, author of Great Explorers of the World, Great Inventors, and other spoken-word histories.

Leif Erickson came from a long line of Viking seafarers-men who for hundreds of years had sailed the Atlantic, North Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and everything in between. Whether sailing for trade, plunder, or in search of new lands to settle, the mysteries of seafaring were second nature to the Vikings. Their knowledge of the stars, and their sleek and seaworthy vessels took them swiftly and safely where they wanted to go. So it was not surprising that when just a young man, Leif determined to sail unaided from Greenland to Norway to meet the famous king Olaf Tryggvesson. And later when he learned there were lands to the west of Greenland, he didn't hesitate to voyage there to explore this unknown land. It was the saga of Leif's discovery and settlement attempts in North America that later convinced Columbus that the Atlantic Ocean could be crossed and that lands lay in the direction of the setting sun. Part of the original Landmark series of books for young people, The Vikings tells the remarkable story of the intrepid Leif Erickson and his important and exciting adventures as a seafaring Viking.

In the eighth century, The Vikings, the water-borne warriors of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, conquered much of the British Isles. They pillaged the coast of France, pushed inland to sack Paris, and seized Normandy. Sweeping south down the great rivers of central Europe, they overwhelmed the Slavs of Russia, captured Kiev, and clashed with the people of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire.In all this, the Vikings took untold treasures, but they weren't just barbarians, content to plunder and burn. They were builders of cities, founders of states, writers of poetry, and makers of laws. The Vikings also were bold and tenacious explorers who ventured across oceans to discover new territories - including the New World. Indeed, not since the golden age of the Roman Empire had any people so powerfully influenced the Western world. Here, from award-winning journalist Robert Wernick, is their dramatic story.

Far from being just 'wild, barbaric, axe-wielding pirates', the Vikings created complex social institutions, oversaw the coming of Christianity to Scandinavia and made a major impact on European history through trade, travel and far-flung consolidation. This encyclopedic study brings together the latest research on Viking art, burial customs, class divisions, jewellery, kingship, poetry and family life. The result is a rich and compelling picture of an extraordinary civilisation.

Amazing interactive features and a wealth of information transport you to the days when the Vikings ruled the seas!The first adventure in the exciting new Lost Worlds series!For more than two hundred years, during the Vikings’ heyday, all Europe shivered in fear at their terrifying approach. This lavishly illustrated and interactive book explains why. It illuminates every aspect of Viking history and culture, from their legends and lore to their journeys of exploration and their discovery of America five hundred years before Columbus. Most exciting of all, the volume contains dozens of special features to heighten the experience, with sound chips (including someone speaking in Anglo-Saxon against a background of thunderstorms), gatefolds featuring a Viking map, a cut-through illustration of a longship, a depiction of the Bayeux tapestry showing the Normans attacking England, five embossed Runestone concertina “booklets” that actually allow you to feel the inscriptions on the page, and accounts of Viking legends re-imagined by some of Europe’s premier fantasy artists. As readers enjoy poring through the book, they’ll find out exactly who the Vikings were, why they left their homeland, how they waged war, and what weapons they used. The attractive design incorporates authentic Norse design motifs throughout.