Viking Age Iceland

Viking Age Iceland
ISBN-10
0140291156
ISBN-13
9780140291155
Category
History
Pages
447
Language
English
Published
2001
Publisher
Penguin UK
Author
Jesse L. Byock

Description

Medieval Iceland was unique amongst Western Europe, with no foreign policy, no defence forces, no king, no lords, no peasants and few battles. It should have been a utopia yet its literature is dominated by brutality and killing. The reasons for this, argues Jesse Byock, lie in the underlying structures and cultural codes of the islands' social order. 'Viking Age Iceland' is an engaging, multi-disciplinary work bringing together findings in anthropology and ethnography interwoven with historical fact and masterful insights into the popular Icelandic sagas, this is a brilliant reconstruction of the inner workings of a unique and intriguing society.

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