The Viking Age. Volume 2 (of 2) / The early history, manners, and customs of the ancestors of the English-speaking nations

A comprehensive survey of early Norse society examines domestic institutions, legal customs, and social rites alongside material culture and martial practices. Drawing on archaeological finds, sagas, and eddic material, it treats marriage, divorce, childrearing, inheritance, foster-brotherhood, and funeral observances; describes weapons, war customs, shipbuilding, fleet organization, navigation and sea-battle tactics; and surveys trade, debts, halls, feasting, dress, jewelry, occupations, sports, verse, and moral precepts. Accounts of champions, berserks, and notable voyages lead into narrative summaries of colonization of the North Atlantic islands. Appendices offer chronicle excerpts, saga facsimiles, and coin catalogues, all accompanied by numerous illustrations.