This list represents a small selection of books related to the Vikings held at UIUC. Please hover over the information icon for book descriptions. You can find additional titles by visiting the library catalog!
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The Vikings by
A comprehensive and thrilling history of the Vikings for fans of the History Channel series From Harald Bluetooth to Cnut the Great, the feared seamen and plunderers of the Viking Age ruled Norway, Sweden, and Denmark but roamed as far as Byzantium, Greenland, and America. Raiders and traders, settlers and craftsmen, the medieval Scandinavians who have become familiar to history as Vikings never lose their capacity to fascinate, from their ingeniously designed longboats to their stormy pantheon of Viking gods and goddesses, ruled by Odin in Valhalla. Robert Ferguson is a sure guide across what he calls "the treacherous marches which divide legend from fact in Viking Age history." His long familiarity with the literary culture of Scandinavia with its skaldic poetry is combined with the latest archaeological discoveries to reveal a sweeping picture of the Norsemen, one of history's most amazing civilizations. Impeccably researched and filled with compelling accounts and analyses of legendary Viking warriors and Norse mythology, The Vikings is an indispensable guide to medieval Scandinavia and is a wonderful companion to the History Channel series.
The Vikings by
The Arena Chapel is a small plain brick building in Padua whose interior is entirely covered with frescoes by Giotto, painted shortly after 1300 and still miraculously intact. Thirty-six large panels tell the stories of Joachim and Anna (the Virgin's parents), the Virgin Mary, and the life of Jesus from birth to resurrection; and on the entrance wall opposite the altar is a Last Judgment. These frescoes have always been seen as the starting point of Renaissance art, and are among its most famous masterpieces. In 1961-64 the paintings and their setting were cleaned and restored, but they are still threatened by dust from the surrounding streets, damp, movement of the building's structure, and chemical pollutants. As part of a continuing conservation campaign, between 1988 and 1991 they were thoroughly examined and recorded in minute detail. The results of this recording are now made available for the first time in their entirety. All the paintings are shown complete and in a series of details, many of them actual size, in which expressions and brush strokes speak out vividly across seven hundred years. The reproductions are printed in color to the highest standard. Accompanying texts provide the art-historical background, explain the narratives, and describe the frescoes' survival through the centuries. Giotto: The Arena Chapel Frescoes captures as never before the artist's supreme achievement in all its epoch-making power - his magisterial representation of weight and volume, his genius for storytelling, his compassion and his irresistible sense of drama. This is the definitive record of one of Western art's greatest treasures.
The Vikings by
Feared pirates, intrepid navigators, skilled craftsmen- these are the bold Vikings who erupted into history at the end of the eighth century and forged the destiny of nations. "The Vikings reveals the lives of ordinary people living in these extraordinary times-- the beautiful jewelry they crafted, and charming toys for their children; the early pagan sacrifices, including human sacrifice; the mysterious runes, the written language of the Vikings; and of course the remarkable ships in which they invaded so many lands. Interwoven throughout the book are tales of famous Norse adventurers and excerpts from the Icelandic sagas, stories of gods and myths that are still enchanting today. The photographs depict the beauty of jewelry and artifacts created in gold, silver, bronze, and stone; a fascinating reconstruction of a Viking Age house; the "horn of plenty" in which the most precious valuables of the dead are buried with the body; an ice-skate made from a leather shoe and a sharpened bone; and Icelandic farmhouses with roofs of turf, resembling the nearby hills. With the talent of a storyteller, the author weaves the true tale of the Viking race in a style that is accessible to students, intriguing to adult readers, and provides an ideal introduction to this Nordic culture.
Exploring the World of the Vikings by
This authoritative new survey of Viking history and culture tells the complete story of the Vikings from their origins in Scandinavia during the first millennium AD, through the incredible period of raiding, trading and settling known as the Viking Age, to their last surviving settlements in 15th century Greenland.
The Viking Age by
Drawing on a wide range of original primary sources, and tracing the astonishing development of the Viking age from the first foreign raids to the rise and fall of Viking empires, this comprehensive reader is essential to an understanding of Viking history. The diversity of the Viking world is mirrored by the range and variety of the primary documents chosen for inclusion. Chroniclers record European horror in the face of the Viking onslaught. An Arab diplomat gives a gripping account of an encounter with Norsemen in Russia. Great warriors and kings of the period are heralded in Skaldic poetry. With unusual power, saga literature narrates the lives of Norse women and men at home and abroad. The reader includes new translations of all of the Norse material. Brief introductions contextualize the translations and all unfamiliar terms are explained in the body of the text, making this an extremely readable and user-friendly introduction to the Viking age.
You can find films (either streaming or DVDs) by using the search filters on the left side of the screen in the Library Catalog (after your search) or by using the "Material Type" drop-down menu in the Advanced Search function. The Library also provides additional guidance on finding videos:
Some examples of either physical or streaming videos on the topic are linked below.
Vikings (Season 1) by This list contains a sampling of books, articles, and online resources related to contemporary use and appropriation of Viking culture. Please hover over the information icon for book descriptions.
The Devil's Historians by
"The Middle Ages are all around us, not just in history class, but in the world's most popular video games, in reenactments, at renaissance faires, and on HBO's Game of Thrones. But not all uses of the past are for innocent entertainment: Ku Klux Klan members still call themselves "knights" and "wizards"; neo-Nazis wear Viking symbols next to their swastikas; and white supremacist terrorists try to brand themselves as heroic "crusaders." This is not incidental. In fact, myths about the medieval world have been used for centuries to justify some of the most toxic ideologies and the worst human rights abuses in history. In this book, Amy S. Kaufman and Paul B. Sturtevant examine the long, dark history of "The Devil's Historians"--people who manipulate and use myths about the medieval past to promote discrimination, oppression, and murder. Tracing the fetish for "medieval times" behind toxic ideologies like nationalism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, misogyny, and white supremacy from European imperialists right up to the present-day "alt-right," Kaufman and Sturtevant show us that the Middle Ages have been twisted for political purposes ever since they came to a close. The Devil's Historians also casts aside the myths of an oppressive, patriarchal medieval monoculture and reveals a medieval world you may not have learned in school: one that is diverse, thriving, courageous, and compelling, and far more complex than those who want to bring us back to the Middle Ages would have you believe."-- Provided by publisher.
American Heathens by
American Heathens is the first in-depth ethnographic study about the largely misunderstood practice of American Heathenry (Germanic Paganism). Jennifer Snook--who has been Pagan since her early teens and a Heathen since eighteen--traces the development and trajectory of Heathenry as a new religious movement in America, one in which all identities are political and all politics matter. Snook explores the complexities of pagan reconstruction and racial, ethnic and gender identity in today's divisive political climate. She considers the impact of social media on Heathen collectivities, and offers a glimpse of the world of Heathen meanings, rituals, and philosophy. In American Heathens, Snook presents the stories and perspectives of modern practitioners in engaging detail. She treats Heathens as members of a religious movement, rather than simply a subculture reenacting myths and stories of enchantment. Her book shrewdly addresses how people construct ethnicity in a reconstructionist (historically-minded) faith system with no central authority.
Scandinavians in Chicago by
Scandinavian immigrants encountered a strange paradox in 1890s Chicago. Though undoubtedly foreign, these newcomers were seen as Nordics--the "race" proclaimed by the scientific racism of the era as the very embodiment of white superiority. As such, Scandinavians from the beginning enjoyed racial privilege and the success it brought without the prejudice, nativism, and stereotyping endured by other immigrant groups. Erika K. Jackson examines how native-born Chicagoans used ideological and gendered concepts of Nordic whiteness and Scandinavian ethnicity to construct social hegemony. Placing the Scandinavian-American experience within the context of historical whiteness, Jackson delves into the processes that created the Nordic ideal. She also details how the city's Scandinavian immigrants repeated and mirrored the racial and ethnic perceptions disseminated by American media. An insightful look at the immigrant experience in reverse, Scandinavians in Chicago bridges a gap in our understanding of how whites constructed racial identity in America.
Medievalism and Metal Music Studies by
Metal music has long nurtured an obsession with visions of the Middle Ages, with countless album covers and lyric sheets populated by Vikings, knights, wizards, and castles. Medievalism and Metal Music Studies: Throwing down the Gauntlet addresses this fascination with all things medieval, exploring how metal musicians and fans find inspiration both in authentically medieval materials and neomedievalist depictions of the period in literature, cinema, and other media. Within metal music, the medieval takes on multiple, and even contradictory meanings, becoming at once a cipher of difference and grotesque alterity while simultaneously being imagined as a simpler, more authentic time, as opposed to the complexities and stresses of modernity. In this fashion, the medieval period becomes both a source for artistic creativity and a vector for countercultural social and political critique. The contributors in this book hail from a wide range of fields including medieval history, music performance, musicology, media studies, and literature, and computer linguistics, bringing a variety of critical perspectives to bear on the topic. Engaging in analyses of cover art, liner notes, lyrics, and musical style, the contributors investigate issues of research methodologies, crucial concerns over identity and nationalism, and the recontextualisation of historical materials, all aimed at critically examining how and why medievalism has permeated heavy metal music and culture. Hearken to our tales!
