Best Books About Viking History: 10 That Go Beyond the Myths

The word "Viking" originally described an activity, not a people. To go viking was to go raiding. The Norse people who did this were farmers, traders, and craftspeople the rest of the year. Modern popular culture has turned them into mythological warriors, but the historical record reveals something more interesting and more complicated. These ten books strip away the mythology. ## 1. The Age of the Vikings by Anders Winroth Winroth is a Yale professor of medieval history, and this is the best single-volume introduction to Viking history. He covers the raids, the trade routes, the settlements in Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, and the conversion to Christianity. His central argument is that the Vikings were agents of economic globalization as much as they were warriors. The writing is clear and the scholarship is current. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691169330?tag=31813-20) ## 2. The Vikings: A History by Robert Ferguson Ferguson's narrative history is the most readable full account of the Viking Age from its beginning in the late 8th century to the Norman Conquest in 1066. He draws on both the Icelandic sagas and modern archaeological evidence. Particularly good on the religious transformation from Norse paganism to Christianity and what that shift meant for Viking identity and society. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143117625?tag=31813-20) ## 3. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price Price is an archaeologist who has spent decades excavating Viking sites. His 2020 book is the most up-to-date and comprehensive account of Viking culture, including their burial practices, beliefs about the afterlife, gender roles, and relationship with slavery. More academic than Winroth or Ferguson but essential for understanding what archaeology has revealed that the written sources missed. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0465096985?tag=31813-20) ## 4. The Vinland Sagas The two Icelandic sagas that describe the Norse exploration of North America are short and can be read in an afternoon. The Penguin Classics edition includes both the Graenlendinga Saga and the Eirik the Red Saga with commentary. The archaeological confirmation at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland validated the sagas in the 1960s. Reading them alongside the archaeological evidence is one of the most satisfying experiences in historical research. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140441549?tag=31813-20) ## 5. The Sea Wolves: A History of the Vikings by Lars Brownworth Brownworth's accessible narrative covers the major Viking figures: Leif Erikson, Rollo of Normandy, Harald Hardrada. He writes with the clarity of a good storyteller and does not sacrifice accuracy for pace. The best entry point for readers coming to Viking history for the first time who want a engaging narrative before diving into more scholarly works. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1781852561?tag=31813-20) ## 6. Egil's Saga The Icelandic family sagas are the primary literary sources for Viking Age life, and Egil's Saga is one of the best. It follows the poet-warrior Egil Skallagrimsson across three generations and two continents. The Penguin Classics translation by Bernard Scudder is the best English version. Reading a saga is the closest thing to hearing a Viking-Age Icelander tell you about his world. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140447709?tag=31813-20) ## 7. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings edited by Peter Sawyer This edited volume assembles specialist essays on different aspects of Viking civilization: ships, trade, settlement patterns, religion, art, and literature. The illustrations are excellent and each chapter is written by a scholar who focuses on that specific topic. The best reference work for readers who want depth on a particular aspect of Viking history. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0192854348?tag=31813-20) ## 8. Blood Eagle by Craig Robertson A crime novel set in contemporary Glasgow with Viking-inspired murders, not a history book, but it captures the cultural fascination with Norse mythology and its darker aspects better than most nonfiction. Included here because understanding why we are drawn to the Vikings is as interesting as understanding the historical Vikings themselves. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1471128121?tag=31813-20) ## 9. The Viking Diaspora by Judith Jesch Jesch examines what happened to the Vikings after the Viking Age, tracing Norse communities in Britain, Ireland, Normandy, and Russia. The argument is that "Viking" identity persisted in diaspora communities long after the raids ended, and that understanding these communities changes our picture of medieval Europe. More specialized than the other books here but opens a new angle on a well-covered subject. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1138799629?tag=31813-20) ## 10. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman Gaiman retells the Norse myths from Yggdrasil to Ragnarok in prose that matches the tone of the original sources. Not a history book but the best modern introduction to the religious and mythological world the historical Vikings inhabited. Understanding Odin, Thor, and Loki is essential context for understanding what the Vikings believed about fate, death, and the cosmos. [Check price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393356182?tag=31813-20) --- The Viking Age lasted roughly 300 years and transformed medieval Europe. These ten books trace that transformation from the first raids on Lindisfarne in 793 to the end of the Norse world in the 11th century, and beyond.