Vikings and Goths: A History of Ancient and Medieval Sweden

by Gary Dean Peterson

Overview

The Vikings descended upon Europe at the close of the 8th century, invading the continent's western seas and river systems, trading, raiding and spreading terror. In the north, they settled Iceland and Greenland and reached North America. In the east, Swedish Varangians established a river road to the Orient. With the collapse of the Viking commercial empire, Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries struggled to survive, their hardships exacerbated by internal strife, foreign domination and the Black Death.

This book details the development of Scandinavia--Sweden in particular--from the end of the Ice Age, through a series of prehistoric cultures, the Bronze and Iron ages, to the Viking period and late Middle Ages. Recent research suggests a Swedish origin of the Goths, who helped dismember the Roman Empire, and evidence of Swedish participation in the western Viking expeditions. Special attention is given to Eastern Europe, where Sweden dominated commerce through the conquest of trade towns and the river systems of Russia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476624341
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	06/21/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	324
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Gary Dean Peterson is an independent scholar and writer whose published works include magazine articles and two books. He is a retired engineer living in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Gary Dean Peterson is an independent scholar and writer whose published works include magazine articles and two books. He is a retired engineer living in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
1. A Land Reborn
2. The First Settlers and Sweden’s Mesolithic Age
3. Sweden of the Neolithic Age
4. Bronze Age Sweden
5. The Iron Age Comes to Sweden
6. Roman Iron Age in Sweden
7. Visigoths Defeat the Roman Empire
8. The Ostrogoths Build an Empire
9. Evidence of a Swedish Origin for the Goths
10. Sweden in the German Iron Age Migration Period (AD 400–575)
11. Sweden of the Vendel Period (AD 575–790)
12. Norwegian Vikings Assault the British Isles
13. Danish Vikings Invade England
14. Viking Raids and Conquests in Continental Europe
15. Viking Ships and Navigation
16. The Viking Search for New Lands
17. Danish Unification During the Viking Age
18. The Norwegian Struggle for Independence
19. The Empire of Knut the Great
20. William the Conqueror Invades England
21. Norman Kingdom of Italy and Sicily
22. Swedish Participation in the Western Expeditions
23. Swedish Unification
24. The Swedish People of the Viking Age
25. Sweden’s Early Viking Expeditions to the East
26. The Geography and People of Eastern Europe
27. Swedes of the Rus Khaganate
28. Sweden the Great
29. Words Written in Stone
30. The Last Great Expedition to the East
31. End of the Viking Age
32. Medieval Sweden (AD 1070–1350)
33. Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages
34. Novgorod the Great, Lithuania and the Rise of Moscow
35. Sweden and the Black Death
36. St. Birgitta of Sweden
37. Margareta and the Kalmar Union
Epilogue
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

One of the greatest strengths of the work is how well it provides a more nuanced and complex history of both the Goths and the Vikings… Peterson has provided a thoroughly researched look at Sweden’s development, from primitive peoples after the Ice Age to a people with an emerging national identity about to become players in post-medieval European politics”—Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching

From the Publisher