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26-08-2015, 01:39

Editor's Foreword

Of the many volumes in this series on ancient civilizations and historical eras, few deal with a topic that exudes as much adventure as this. The Vikings set forth and discovered unknown lands or conquered more settled territories in a huge area stretching from the North Atlantic and North America, in and around the British Isles, through France and into Spain and the Mediterranean, to the vast reaches of Russia. All this was done in an amazingly short period of time by incredibly small, if intrepid, bands of people. Yet, while this is definitely the stuff of adventure for us, for them it was almost just a job, another more promising way of living than was offered at home, with tantalizing but not always realized potential, as well as substantial risk. It is therefore appreciated that Historical Dictionary of the Vikings can convey the awesome achievements (and periodic disasters), sense of adventure, and more prosaic details of Viking life.

The adventure does not have to be writ largeā€”it emanates from the dictionary entries on numerous leaders, warriors, and kings, many of whom were warriors not long before, as well as the battles and sieges, discoveries and conquests. Other entries trace the Viking penetration of the many regions where they appeared as raiders, traders, and sometimes eventually rulers. The nitty-gritty appears in entries on their weapons, customs, art and burial practices, and sagas and mythology. Who the Vikings were, where they came from, and what they did is summed up in the introduction. How much they accomplished over a mere three centuries is traced in the chronology. This book is a good reference work, but anyone interested in the Vikings will certainly want to know more, so further resources are included in the bibliography.

This volume was written by Katherine Holman, formerly a lecturer in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Hull. In this capacity, she taught both the history of the countries from which the Vikings came (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) and the places they visited, as it were, in modules on the Vikings at home and abroad, and especially in the British Isles. Aside from this, she has undertaken several research projects dealing mainly with runic inscriptions. Dr. Holman has also published a number of articles, again largely on runes, but also on other aspects of the Vikings and Viking Age. Her specialization requires method and precision, something perhaps a bit remote from adventure, but fortunately providing a stronger foundation for any interpretation or conclusions.

Jon Woronoff Series Editor



 

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