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10 Books about Vikings and Saxons for your Christmas Lists (2023)

It’s almost Christmas, the only time of year it’s socially acceptable to hibernate under a pile of blankets with a stack of books and mountains of mince pies. And there’s been some amazing books about Vikings and Saxons this year. So, in what has become a yearly tradition, here’s 10 books about Vikings to put on your Christmas list for 2023. So wrap yourself in a blanket, pour yourself a festive tipple, and enjoy!

“The Bone Chests” by Cat Jarman

The Bone Chests: Unlocking the Secrets of the Anglo-Saxons by Cat Jarman. Jarman’s book River Kings was our first recommendation back in 2021, and this is just as well written and intriguing. Instead of the mystery of Viking Leaders, here Cat explores ancient chests that survived the violence of the civil war to reveal their forgotten tales. It’s another phenomenal read that weaves the latest science and technology into a narrative about the people buried within the chests, and the keepers who sought to protect them over the centuries.

“Fury of the Vikings” by Dominic Sandbrook

Adventures in Time: Fury of The Vikings by Dominic Sandbrook. Here’s one for the Kids! A fantastic series of historical thrillers that tell the stories of the Viking Age: the gods and monsters, Viking raiders and adventurers, kings and warlords, and much more. It’s the kind of volume that I wish I had as a kid. A book about Vikings that captures the conflicting spirit of the age, of violence and dread, courage and romance. There’s not many non-fiction books that do this so well, or so well packaged for younger readers.

“Battle for the Island Kingdom” by Don Hollway

Battle for the Island Kingdom: England’s Destiny 1000–1066 by Don Hollway. Making it onto the list for two years in a row following The Last Viking in 2022. Switching from a focus on Harald Hardrada, Hollway instead turns his attention to the complex political landscape of England in the 11th Century, the invasions, machinations and betrayals that paved the way for the armies of Hardrada and William of Normandy to land in 1066. It’s just good stuff!

“A Viking Market Kingdom in Ireland and Britain” by Tom Horne

A Viking Market Kingdom in Ireland and Britain: Trade Networks and the Importation of a Southern Scandinavian Silver Bullion Economy by Tom Horne. A part of Routledge’s Archaeologies of the Viking World series, this a fantastic book for even amateur historians like us. Horne manages to explain the various theories of how Vikings moved their goods around their disparate and lengthy trade networks, and shows the importance of the York and Dublin trade hubs in the wider world, and why the Southern-Danish elite went to so much trouble for it. Also check out the author’s appearances on the Vikingology podcast!

“The Deorhord” by Hana Videen

The Deorhord: An Old English Bestiary by Hana Videen. Another author on last year’s list that have released a book just in time for Christmas! Wordhord was a superb look at the lost, forgotten and ever changing words of the English language. It helped the reader understand the lens from which early English speakers viewed and categorised the world – this does book does much the same but with a focus on the creatures, both real and imagined, that made up the old English world.

“Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Ruling the World” by Louie Stowell

Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Ruling the World by Louie Stowell. The most import book about Viking gods ever written. At least according to my (nearly) 6-year old who absolutely loves this book. It asks the important questions like “what would happen if Odin made Loki pose as a mortal child and sent him to school?” Loki himself tells the story, with the help of his mostly aggravated diary. Tales of trying to be popular, beating Thor at football, and being the star in the play. But watch out for cursed jewellery.

“Vikings of the Steppe” by Csete Katona

Vikings of the Steppe: Scandinavians, Rus’, and the Turkic World (c. 750–1050) by Csete Katona. A late contender for my “best book for Viking nerds” award in 2023! Vikings of the Steppe serves as a tremendous introduction to the history of the Vikings that journeyed east. As with other titles in this series, the book brings together the latest scholarship on the subject,. But more than that, the book aims to bridge the gaps in our current understanding of how the Vikings influenced the cultures they met, and how those encounters in turn changed them.

“Bede and the Theory of Everything” by Michelle P. Brown

Bede and the Theory of Everything by Michelle P. Brown. The story of the early English people is tied irrevocably to Bede and his writing. And while he was also being one of the most important scholars of the early middle ages in Europe, he never left his native Northumbria. Michelle Brown explores new finds regarding his scholarly work, while diving deeply into his life and work. It’s definitely one for the enthusiast, but it’s great value, covering his early life in Monkwearmouth to his legacy as the Venerable Bede in great detail.

“The Weaver and the Witch Queen” by Genevieve Gornichec

The Weaver and the Witch Queen by Genevieve Gornichec. Genevieve Gornichec once again makes our list with Norse-inspired fiction with this incredible adventure. The author pits oaths of loyalty against the need for power and useful alliances. Gornichec manages to pull the same trick she did the The Witch’s Heart in that she manages to distill the historical (or mythological) norse mentality into her work without making the actions of the characters totally alien. Yet, there will be times when your jaw will be on the floor from those actions. Brilliant.

“Beowulf” by Tom Shippey and Leonard Neidorf

Beowulf: Translation and Commentary by Tom Shippey and Leonard Neidorf. This book is a timely reminder that a) Beowulf is great and b) Anglo-Saxons aren’t the dour, boring, incompetent blowhards depicted in modern television series, but warrior-poets and absolute lads. This latest translation and commentary is fantastic with the translation itself being accessible, while keeping the tone and language infused with early medieval history.

Make sure to check out last years recommendations too!

CategoriesMedicineReligion

Anglo-Saxon Medicine: speech therapy and hair care

Most of what we know about Anglo-Saxon medicine comes from the medical texts written late into the Viking period. We can see how they translated, mistranslated, and adapted earlier Latin and Greek texts each time showing more and more of their process. There is also, of course, a veritable army of dead bodies that we can tell all kinds of things from. But sometimes it is nice to have a look at those early days and see what was going on through anecdotes and stories of saintly behaviour.

Enter Bede and his Ecclesiastical History of The English People. While he did not write a manual on keeping the sick alive, he did write some interesting things on how others did. More specifically he wrote about that group of people that could read and often practiced medicine, miracles and something in between.

The case I am thinking of today was concerning Bishop John of Beverly, who we meet in book five chapter two (conveniently called John of Beverley’s cures). Here John summons a dumb youth who has a scabby head to come to him to be cured. Given a few hundred years of language evolution I am talking about a youth with no speech rather than a not very clever one. While the youth’s intellect was never commented upon, I suspect he was actually quite clever given what happened to him.

John proceeds to put the sign of the cross on his tongue and gets him to start making letters and short words such as ‘yea.’ John is a patient if unrelenting sort of man and spends every waking minute of the next day teaching the boy to speak. By the end of the unremitting encounter the youth is no longer dumb and can communicate through words. John then sends him off to the physician to cure his scalp.

When Bede recounts this he is full of religious wonder, but when we break it down, Bishop John is doing some really interesting and purely medicinal things. I think from the description we have stumbled into the land of genuine Anglo-Saxon medicine, not otherworldly miracles.

John starts off icebreaking, giving confidence and probably giving a physical investigation into the limitations of the tongue. Doctors wear white and look very business-like today, it is part useful, part mental. John was doing the same thing, he had God on his side, while conveniently assessing the youth’s tongue. He knew of the youth, almost certainly knew he could understand, if not speak, so gave him a physical inspection.

He then goes through a day of speech therapy starting with the basics and working up. It sounds like there was lesson, practice, progress, next, rinse and repeat. After making progress he sends him to a physician to have his scalp healed and so he moves onto the next treatment. The unnamed physician is successful, and the youth goes off all healed and no doubt waiting to be struck down by some other form of horrible disease of the time.

If John had simply made the sign of the cross and the youth broke into song, a Saxon musical if you like, I would have been more than a little sceptical. But what I like about this is that there is work which is identifiable, the results are not instantaneous and when he can do no more, he sends the youth to a different specialist. This looks like medicine; this looks like therapy.

Was he totally mute before? Maybe, maybe not. Was there anything else going on? Quite possibly. But in the confines of the text this looks a good example of good healthcare when we know that health and well-being were in short supply.  


Check out our other articles on Anglo-Saxon Medicine!