Children of Ash and Elm

A History of the Vikings

By: Neil Price

Narrated by: Samuel Roukin

The definitive history of the Vikings - from arts and culture to politics and cosmology - by a distinguished archaeologist with decades of expertise

The Viking Age - from 750 to 1050 saw an unprecedented expansion of the Scandinavian peoples into the wider world. As traders and raiders, explorers and colonists, they ranged from eastern North America to the Asian steppe. But for centuries, the Vikings have been seen through the eyes of others, distorted to suit the tastes of medieval clerics and Elizabethan playwrights, Victorian imperialists, Nazis, and more. None of these appropriations capture the real Vikings, or the richness and sophistication of their culture.

Based on the latest archaeological and textual evidence, Children of Ash and Elm tells the story of the Vikings on their own terms: their politics, their cosmology and religion, their material world. Known today for a stereotype of maritime violence, the Vikings exported new ideas, technologies, beliefs, and practices to the lands they discovered and the peoples they encountered, and in the process were themselves changed. From Eirík Bloodaxe, who fought his way to a kingdom, to Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir, the most traveled woman in the world, Children of Ash and Elm is the definitive history of the Vikings and their time.

©2020 Neil Price (P)2020 Recorded Books

This is the Viking history I've been wanting...

...for 20 years, told from a personal, lived-in perspective as much as a bird's eye view of structural patterns. Price does a good job of weaving together the fated contours in which people lived during the Viking period with the choices they made, against or along the grain. This is also the most honest portrayal I've read, unflinching in showing the social hierarchy, from sexism to slavery, while still celebrating the art and genius of the same people.

2/3 of a Thrilling Ride

If you're a Viking-worshipper, trust the bad reviews. If you want to read exciting history from the perspective of a passionate scholar with an idiosyncratic perspective, ignore them. The first two-thirds of this book couldn't be more absorbing. Does Price, who is one of the most influential archaeologists working today, come at the topic looking for some 'woke' elements? Sure he does, but the sheer amount of research he brings with him will wow you. In his telling at the beginning of the book, I don't quite recognize all the elements of the Viking Creation Story found in Vǫluspá (part of the Poetic Edda, which contains almost all we know of the Norse pantheon), but his ability to envision a story from the lines of enigmatic Old Norse poetry, which was already archaic by the time it was written down, is utterly compelling. Only towards the end does Price flag, racing through accounts of the late Viking diaspora without the same emotional investment he brings to the pre-Viking age and the all-important 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. In his introduction, he mentions a habit of procrastinating that raises his stress levels as his publication deadlines near; you'd need a copy of the book itself to find that confession. BTW, even the title "Children of Ash and Elm" is controversial; that turns out not to be a bad thing.

Fascinating Analysis of the Norse as They Truly Lived!

If you are looking for a bloodthirsty account of Viking-age Scandanavians that clings to the archaic, erroneous idea that history can be accurately told without an analysis of the peoples in that history- their ideas on identity, gender roles, social roles, economics, etc.- then find another title.

Children of Ash & Elm is not a book that propagandizes the ‘Vikings’ as a mythological conservative ideal: a homogenous, hypermilitant society that was strictly male-dominated, where women were strictly subservient and ideas of identity were always a convenient binary between dominant male and submissive female. Rather, it is a thorough analysis that allows the reader to understand the Vikings not as the mythical raiders of popular media, but as a real culture: one complete with its own varied ideas on identity, religion, cross-cultural exchange, and much more. Neil Price does an excellent job at painting a cohesive picture of what modern archaeological and historical records suggest were the real peoples of early medieval Scandinavia. Despite the comments of a handful of disgruntled reviewers, Price maintains a scholarly caution about politicizing the Vikings, but rather explaining the possibilities that can be drawn from what we know or have found (unless you consider the take that ‘slavery is a horrific institution in all its forms’ to be a ‘political opinion’, in which case, you have other issues...).

Price does not entirely reject popular conceptions about Vikings, but rather writes a thought-provoking analysis that draws from the full breadth of relevant historical/archaeological sources to finish half-truths and debunk the outright myths. Additionally, Price wraps an enormous density of fact within a poetic narrative that keeps the reader awake and interested.

Ultimately, this was an amazing read that I absolutely burnt through, and even writing this review I wish I could listen to it again for the first time. I highly recommend this title to anyone who is a history buff or who is interested in knowing early medieval North Germanic peoples as they truly were. Praise is also due to the narrator, who did a fantastic job telling Neil Price’s with all the emotion and interest that the book warranted.

Compelling

Vikings, a topic I knew little about, is now a vast, fascinating area of inquiry open to exploration. The narrator draws the listener into the quite complicated narrative with his obvious knowledge and enthusiasm.

Well Done

Lots of great information well laid out and well written. Some of it is new to me and some of it poses questions in a new way or with new information. Thoroughly enoyed it. The only thing I really did not like was the involvement of pure speculation in that the "Vikings" may have entertained multiple genders and cross dressing?! Nope, sorry. Drawing these kinds of conclusions from a non historical basis is irrelevant, but that's about it.

Remarkable history of the Viking Age

Up-to-date information on the Vikings, yet also incredibly well-written with compelling narratives of Norse life. I have listened to several books on the Vikings recently... THIS is the one to choose if you only wish for just one. Price mixes in jaw-droppingly compelling narratives that would rival the best historical fiction writers. But he is also an academic and knows his field like few others, and this book manages to deliver the current understanding of this era without being tedious or snobby. Such a wonderful read. If only every field of history had someone that could write a phenomenal book like this.

A dynamite listen

Almost a perfect book, but as with so many things these days, it cannot be just the history. The inclusion of pseudo-political commentary regarding gender is my only complaint.

Terrific and worth a second listen

Using the most credible historical accounts of Vikings in the first millennium CE including the Viking Sagas, myths, religious accounts, the great Arab scholars of the time and others, Price has woven a terrific narrative of these people during this time periods. He cites linguistic word derivations and most of all backs up his conclusions with archeological finds. This is a completely readable book for non-academics that summarizes the Viking histories in an interesting and understandable way.

There is nothing WOKE about this book as other readers have stated. It is well-researched and organized. Reviewing and writing about history with consideration for current moral and political values is what all history writers do. Writers are always influenced by the time in which they write and that must be taken into account when reading history. I found the author's perspective refreshing.

The historical references are amazing.

Loved the book start to finish. Thank you for your creation and time spent in the undertaking.

Robust History

What an epic book. Great interpretations of not just the stories and sagas and how those play into the history, but also looking at many other sciences and studies to understand how the Vikings were.