Review of Matthias Toplak, Hanne Østhus, and Rudolf Simek (eds), Viking-Age Slavery. Vienna: Fassbaender, 2021. 226pp. ISBN 9783902575951.

Like any other medieval mariner, itinerant viking hosts would have regularly made their way ashore to regroup and reinforce their constituent craft and crews. Accordingly, historical and archaeological records from across Atlantic Europe attest to various waterside encampments having been established during overseas viking campaigns. The everyday…[Read more]

Throughout the medieval period, the ‘Inner Seas’ linking Scotland, the Hebrides, and the north of Ireland represented a confluence and crucible of identity. The region’s myriad islands served as stepping stones in a maritime network across which people, property, and perceptions travelled freely and purposefully. Encompassing three main theme…[Read more]

For over a century and a half, the assorted activities of viking hosts in and around the site of Dorestad have been subject to careful deliberation and debate, increasingly illuminating the early Scandinavian influence on this regional riverine landscape. Nevertheless, the material evidence for a ninth-century viking presence inside the settlement…[Read more]

Throughout the ninth and early tenth centuries, the maritime and riverine landscapes of northwestern Francia had been subject to recurrent acts of viking aggression. Resonating in the minds of many consecutive Netherlandish authors, these agents continued to feature in an extensive regional corpus of late medieval historiography. Whilst many…[Read more]