The Viking Way

Magic, rutual and sorcery are prevalent themes in medieval Icelandic sagas, but do they reflect reality or are they a literary and poetic construct? Neil Price's thesis examines the literary and archaeological evidence for Old Norse sorcery and especially the important link between religion and war. He traces evidence for Viking mytholgy and cosmology, for the function, practice and practitioners of sorcery and war rituals. What he reveals is that violence played a crucial role in early medieval power systems in Scandinavia and in particular where there existed 'a gender-encoded control of organised violence'. The evidence is placed within the context, and in comparison with, Germanic and circumpolar societues, and the archaeological evidence is accompanied by many excellent illustrations.