Viking

So, you want to be a Viking warrior? Fame, glory and wealth await those who brave storms and enemy spears to plunder far and wide in foreign lands. Who wouldn’t like a piece of the action? To come home laden with silver, earning a reputation that will live on long after lesser men have been forgotten? Discover everything you will need to become a successful Viking warrior: how to join a war band; what to look for in a good leader; how to behave at a feast; what weapons and armour to choose; how to fight in a shield wall; where to go raiding; how to plunder a monastery and ransom a monk and how to navigate at sea. The humorous text peppered with quotes from sagas and chronicles will take you on an engrossing journey from joining a raiding party to how to die gloriously. Written by a leading authority on the period and combining the latest archaeological discoveries with modern-day reconstructions, tales from the Norse sagas and 16 pages of colour illustrations, this book paints a vivid picture of what it was like to be a Viking warrior.

John Haywood is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain. A highly experienced cartographic editor and author, his many publications include The Great Migrations, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations and The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings.