LES VIKINGS

The Vikings? A people of savages, invaders, looters...The myth persists. A rough and ready lot, the ancient Scandinavians were nonetheless endowed with an authentic culture and showed surprising capacities for adaptation.

The book answers the most frequently asked questions. How wild and ferocious, really, were these Viking warriors? What about their rune magic? The role of Viking women? Their slave trade? Their human sacrifices? Did they really have horned helmets – as they do in comic books – and navigation instruments?

In order to portray the Vikings as accurately as possible, the book explores their universe, from their original Scandinavian home to the most distant lands of their incredible expansion, in Russia and America. This journey through space is also a journey through time, because between their saga's beginning in the late 8th century and its end in the mid-11th century, Viking society had changed significantly.

This book contextualizes the Vikings' war, trade and migration expeditions. And focuses on their often neglected political, economic, social and even cultural impact.

JEAN RENAUD, Professor Emeritus of Scandinavian languages, literature and civilization, is the former head of the department of Nordic studies at the University of Caen. He has published several Scandinavian language textbooks and a dozen books on the Vikings. His many translations from Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish have earned him the distinction of being one of the best translators of Nordic literature in France.

Among his latest works, we can note, for Editions Ouest-France, the Vikings trilogy: 1-Des premiers raids à la création du duché de Normandie (2016), 2-À la conquête du monde celtique (2017), 3-Les dieux des Vikings (2018) - and Les Vikings en France (2018); and for Anacharsis, a translation of ancient Icelandic (with afterword): La Saga de Ragnarr loðbrók and Le Chant de Kráka (2017).

Facts and Falsehoods series