The Vikings in History - Tapa blanda

In this text the author aims to offer a radical reassessment of the role of the Vikings in history. He argues that the hitherto exclusive focus, in this period, of European history on the Carolingian Empire is misplaced. The dynamic and vital forces in Europe, he claims, are not to be found in a decaying civilization but rather in the young warrior seamen who sailed out of the fjords of the Northern European peninsulas. Drawing on archaeological, literary and historical evidence, the author describes the Viking expeditions overseas, and their transformation in a little over 200 years from raiders to assimilated settlers, whose culture played an influential role in European civilization.