Viking Empires
by Angelo Forte, Richard Oram, Frederik Pedersen
Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 447

Reviewed by Dr. Susan K. Hedahl

            It was inevitable: sooner or later I'd have to review something about my ancestors (which are not quite the same on most days as my contemporary relatives).  This book is a well-illustrated, in-depth look at the adventures, kingdoms and contributions of the Vikings, traced mostly along the grid of military pursuits. 

            The authors explore and define their materials based on a wide spectrum of resources, including the works of Roman historians and what one chapter describes as Viking writings: " the historical, legal and moral texts...the sagas...and the skaldic poems." ( 119).

            As with most histories of various peoples in the last two thousand years, Christianity was a bargaining chip in land seizures and forfeitures.  Likewise marriage alliances played a role in who was safe or who had better watch the incoming tide.  One marriage backfired --given the bride's strong personality-- and she returned to her parental home.  So it is no surprise to the reader, when we note that she was called "Aud -the-Deep-Minded."

            The writers have provided crucial background about the connections between Roman rule of their provinces and their relationships with the Vikings.   "The Roman interest in Scandinavia was due to one cataclysmic event in Roman history:  the destruction of three of the twenty-nine legions of the Roman army--the 17th, 18th and 19th--under the leadership of Publius Quinctilius Varus in the Battle of Teutoberg Forest in AD 9." ( 17). The Roman historian, Tacitus, provides A vivid description of the slaughter. 

            Church relationships with the Vikings were evident, including those based in the influential diocese of Hamburg-Bremen. A synodical meeting in 948 hosted Scandinavian bishops from Denmark and Sweden.   Church officials in one faction employed the Vikings as theological thugs to bring to heel Church rulers who were guilt of "nicolaitism (the appointment of family to offices in the Church) and simony (the purchase of ecclesiastical offices)...." (353).  The Church faction that militated against these two evils, employed the enforcing Vikings to check "the transfer of spiritual power for money and the sordidness of sexually active priests handling the sacraments of the Church." (354).

            In "A Water World, " Chapter 5, there are extensive descriptions of the art of Viking boat building and of efforts to decipher what pictorial renditions of these boats mean.  Boat making was very sophisticated in terms of the sails, rigging, helm and keel construction. The chapter includes a truly charming piece of ancient graffiti called the "Bryggen stick" [Bergen, Norway), which features nothing more that the decorative prows of numerous ships in the harbor. 

This book is rich in history, legend, illustration, humor and anecdote.  I thought about my two grandfathers who left Norway in the first few years of the twentieth century bound for America on ship, when I read this eloquent thought about the sea from one of the ancient Viking poets: 

                                                The sea goddess
                                                has ruffled me,
                                                stripped me bare,
                                                of my loved ones,
                                                the ocean severed
                                                my family bonds,
                                                the tight knot
                                                that ties me down.  (169)