The Vikings, who were they? And: was a Viking always a Viking? Vikings and Norsemen – there is a significant difference between the two – made history, not only with what we, in hindsight, have come to call the Viking Age, but also as seen through the various, typically decorated objects. But what makes an object attributable to the “typical Viking” or, better still, Scandinavian culture? And what is all too often attributed to the Vikings but is not actually Viking?

This book explains this, using numerous objects from their time and objects from the peoples surrounding the Vikings and Normans during the Viking Age.