She does this by providing us with information displayed clearly and in an easy to follow format of chapters, including geography, language, travel, trading, religion, art and poetry etc. The bulk of the book is concerned with painting for us a vivid picture of culture and society during the Viking Age. Was this achieved? To a certain extent, yes. Pictures and maps are provided to help us gain a better mental picture of how it was to live during this exciting period in history.With this book we are led to believe that Roesdahl's aim was to give the lay person a good solid introduction to the life and times of the Viking era. In the book, The Vikings, Roesdahl goes through each source in detail providing the reader with examples of finds from that particular source and the importance and impact of that find. Each source poses its own advantages and disadvantages.

With the current influx of new information and research, our perception of the period is under constant revision.ģ Our knowledge of the Viking Age in Scandinavia and abroad is based on a wide range of sources: written sources, (such as runic inscriptions on stones) poetry, archaeological finds, landscape and climate. The Viking Age is, in Roesdahl's own words, 'an important and fascinating period of Scandinavia's past'.1 Else Roesdahl, Professor of Medieval Archaeology at the University of Arhus, Denmark, in her own words sets out to charter what she deems to be 'the most important aspects of the Viking Age, where interpretations and problems are reasonably clear.'2 The book is a revised edition of an earlier 1992 edition, whereby it has been updated with information from new archaeological excavations.

The Vikings by Else Roesdahl