The Sea-King and the Sorceress: Life and Death in the Viking Age

From the acclaimed author of Children of Ash and Elm, an intimate, continent-spanning human journey through the Viking world.

For centuries, Vikings have been stereotyped as brutish and violent pillagers. But now, based on the latest archaeological research, preeminent scholar Neil Price reveals the true diversity and individuality of the Viking Age. From an arctic hunter to a woman of Persian ancestry; from a Sámi nomad to a bear endowed with personhood; from Viking raiders to Rus’ river traders; from sorceresses to shape-shifters; from immigrants to diplomats; from followers of many gods, to the worshippers of one; from settlers to farmers—as we meet all these and many more, Price enlists the full range of modern archaeological knowledge to reconstruct Norse lives in personal detail, presenting a new and complex image of the Viking Age. Taking the reader from Greenland to Greece and across three centuries, Price demonstrates that Vikings—in all of their heterogeneity—were both surprisingly similar to us today, and also thrillingly strange.

Densely peopled, beautifully rendered, and impressively wide-reaching, The Sea-King and the Sorceress sheds a light on the realities of life in the Viking diaspora.