Description
Book SynopsisIn the eleventh century, the rulers of the lands surrounding the North Sea are all hungry for power. To get power they need soldiers, to get soldiers they need silver, and to get silver there is no better way than war and plunder. This vicious cycle draws all the lands of the north into a brutal struggle for supremacy and survival that will shatter kingdoms and forge an empire. The Wolf Age takes the reader on a thrilling journey through the bloody shared history of England and Scandinavia, and on across early medieval Europe, from the wild Norwegian fjords to the wealthy cities of Muslim Andalusia. Warfare, plotting, backstabbing and bribery abound as Tore Skeie weaves sagas and skaldic poetry with breathless dramatization to bring the world of the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons to vivid life.
Trade Review“The turbulent [Second Viking Age] that straddles the first millennium is brought to life in a history worthy of a modern television epic.”
--Financial Times
“Skeie’s account of ruthless conflict, political intrigue, and diplomatic machinations reads like a real-life Game of Thrones—without the dragons. Medieval history buffs will be riveted”
--Publishers Weekly
Table of ContentsChapter overview
Overview of persons
1241
A regime facing ruin
The warrior’s good life
Fire and smoke
Midgard
hvíti kristr
To Norway
Broad ancestral lands
Two kingdoms
The Great
Silver coins for the king’s head
Chronology
Afterword
