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A review by bittersweet_symphony
The Age of the Vikings by Anders Winroth
4.0
Winroth sets out to reclaim the image of Norsemen from today's present obsession with a particular story of vikings as giant-sized pillagers and plunderers who wore horned helmets and raped just about anything that had two legs.
He argues that "Scandinavians spurred political and social change, which in the long run enabled them to enter the mainstream of European history, though at the cost of losing some of what made their culture distinctive." Of Norse descent himself, he remains sympathetic but relatively objective in his approach, though he continually engages in a contemporary political question: who gave birth to Europe, the French, the Germans, or another cultural group? His defense comes in response to the "monks and clerics" whom "well-nigh monopolized early medieval literacy, so preserved chronicles and other literary works" which "preserve their perspective, which understandably was utterly hostile to their attackers [Vikings]." He suggests that Charlemange (among other Medieval oppressors) was equally violent and involved in plundering on a larger scale than the vikings. I am not fully convinced of this but find myself mostly in agreement with him.
Likewise he seems to hold a mixed admiration for the Vikings as I do: "Just as we as a society continue to have a fraught and complex relationship to violence, we are both spellbound and repelled by the Vikings. While we may sympathize with and grieve for their helpless victims and feel put off by all the mindless slaying, we can scarcely help admiring the strength, courage, and virility of the Vikings." They helped to connect Europe with Asia and North America (arriving in the New World four centuries before Columbus).
I found Winroth to be an engaging writer, who often inserted himself into the text, giving it more life than other more detached scholars. The prose came from a real voice. It was fun to have him connect historical figures and cultural contexts with the few that are popular today: Ragnar Lodbrok (the protagonist from the TV series "The Vikings"), Thor, and Beowulf. He appeared to gather from a wide variety of archaeological, historical, and literary sources, but I found myself wanting more from him at the end of the book. It felt scarce. I felt he had hardly unearthed Viking graves, and treasure troves before arriving at his conclusion: "A new era truly arrived when the Vikings' unique moment in history had run its course and Scandinavians instead opted to join Europe, embracing Christianity and other ideologies, and adopting European artistic ideals, military tactics, and trading patterns. When Scandinavians became the subjects of kings and the servants of the universal Church, they were no longer Vikings. The Age of the Vikings had come to a close." Yes, the sources during that era are sparce, and force a historian to speculate a great deal, but I wanted more.
My greatest criticism--which I hurl at most historians--is his focus on military might and politics. Granted the oppressors and power-seekers are the ones who get to write history (most of the time), I would have welcomed further exploration into the ideas which shaped the everyday lives of more praiseworthy and less violent characters. Yes, it was a violent time where most were illiterate, but I would have loved to hear more about the Skalds, the richness of the Norse mythologies, and at least more about the non-political lives of the era's great "heroes." Vikings had romances didn't they? Furthermore, Winroth falls prey to conventional thinking that war makes wealth, the State brings peace, and that taxation (or tithing) are a system we should celebrate or keep in our social structures today. He lauds Viking trade and how it gave Europe a huge boon after the decline in commerce from the fall of Rome, but I would have loved to hear him further explore Iceland and its society which allegedly thrived on relatively libertarian principles. Me thinks his liberal, Nordic-Model-as-Utopia bias shows through here. I hope this book is more evidence that we are in the midst of a Viking revival.
It was an enlightening read and helped me to piece together how Europe evolved from small warring chieftains to centralized kingdoms vitalized by the Catholic church and its alleged divine role in the affairs of men. I am eager to examine more viking history, and European history in general.
He argues that "Scandinavians spurred political and social change, which in the long run enabled them to enter the mainstream of European history, though at the cost of losing some of what made their culture distinctive." Of Norse descent himself, he remains sympathetic but relatively objective in his approach, though he continually engages in a contemporary political question: who gave birth to Europe, the French, the Germans, or another cultural group? His defense comes in response to the "monks and clerics" whom "well-nigh monopolized early medieval literacy, so preserved chronicles and other literary works" which "preserve their perspective, which understandably was utterly hostile to their attackers [Vikings]." He suggests that Charlemange (among other Medieval oppressors) was equally violent and involved in plundering on a larger scale than the vikings. I am not fully convinced of this but find myself mostly in agreement with him.
Likewise he seems to hold a mixed admiration for the Vikings as I do: "Just as we as a society continue to have a fraught and complex relationship to violence, we are both spellbound and repelled by the Vikings. While we may sympathize with and grieve for their helpless victims and feel put off by all the mindless slaying, we can scarcely help admiring the strength, courage, and virility of the Vikings." They helped to connect Europe with Asia and North America (arriving in the New World four centuries before Columbus).
I found Winroth to be an engaging writer, who often inserted himself into the text, giving it more life than other more detached scholars. The prose came from a real voice. It was fun to have him connect historical figures and cultural contexts with the few that are popular today: Ragnar Lodbrok (the protagonist from the TV series "The Vikings"), Thor, and Beowulf. He appeared to gather from a wide variety of archaeological, historical, and literary sources, but I found myself wanting more from him at the end of the book. It felt scarce. I felt he had hardly unearthed Viking graves, and treasure troves before arriving at his conclusion: "A new era truly arrived when the Vikings' unique moment in history had run its course and Scandinavians instead opted to join Europe, embracing Christianity and other ideologies, and adopting European artistic ideals, military tactics, and trading patterns. When Scandinavians became the subjects of kings and the servants of the universal Church, they were no longer Vikings. The Age of the Vikings had come to a close." Yes, the sources during that era are sparce, and force a historian to speculate a great deal, but I wanted more.
My greatest criticism--which I hurl at most historians--is his focus on military might and politics. Granted the oppressors and power-seekers are the ones who get to write history (most of the time), I would have welcomed further exploration into the ideas which shaped the everyday lives of more praiseworthy and less violent characters. Yes, it was a violent time where most were illiterate, but I would have loved to hear more about the Skalds, the richness of the Norse mythologies, and at least more about the non-political lives of the era's great "heroes." Vikings had romances didn't they? Furthermore, Winroth falls prey to conventional thinking that war makes wealth, the State brings peace, and that taxation (or tithing) are a system we should celebrate or keep in our social structures today. He lauds Viking trade and how it gave Europe a huge boon after the decline in commerce from the fall of Rome, but I would have loved to hear him further explore Iceland and its society which allegedly thrived on relatively libertarian principles. Me thinks his liberal, Nordic-Model-as-Utopia bias shows through here. I hope this book is more evidence that we are in the midst of a Viking revival.
It was an enlightening read and helped me to piece together how Europe evolved from small warring chieftains to centralized kingdoms vitalized by the Catholic church and its alleged divine role in the affairs of men. I am eager to examine more viking history, and European history in general.