Thoroughly updated & 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 & 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 & made a major impact on European history through trade travel & far-flung consolidation This encyclopedic study brings together the latest research on Viking art burial customs class divisions jewellery kingship poetry & family life The result is a rich & compelling picture of an extraordinary civilisation