This is considered the first major historical study of the Vikings by a Scandinavian scholar published in English. I found it fascinating to get the perspective and mindset of the Vikings and their encounters with the Anglo-Saxons in England for control of a North Sea empire in early medieval Europe through a study of Norse sagas and poetry. The book is very detailed about the wars, alliances, trading, plundering and pillaging raids, backstabbing, kingdoms, power grabbing, etc. The book was a very revealing history of the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the North Sea region during that time period.
I have been watching several television shows in recent years that have featured the Vikings and their relationship with England including The Vikings, The Vikings: Valhalla and The Last Kingdom. They were all very entertaining.
I've always had a fascination with The Vikings probably going back to seeing that 1958 movie The Vikings starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis and also the film The Long Ships from 1964 starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier. When I was passing through the Straits of Gibraltar for the first time in 1972 on a Navy ship I thought about those Viking ships passing through the Pillars of Hercules.
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