An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

358: Viking Sorcery

August 09, 2023

Description

Warning! This one isn’t for the faint-hearted... A naked, torch-carrying man, who would walk backwards around a funeral pyre, with his fingers covering his anus. The armed woman who worked a loom...
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Books Referenced

The Poetic Edda

Author: Anonymous

Context:

Referenced at the beginning of the episode as the source for the Odin quote about hanging on the windy tree. Tom describes it as 'compiled in the 13th century, but probably drawing on a longer tradition.'

Children of Ash and Elm

Author: Neil Price

Context:

Tom mentions this as 'an excellent book' by Neil Price that 'was nominated by a leading historian who writes for the Sunday Times... as the history book of the year.' It's about the Vikings.

The Viking Way

Author: Neil Price

Context:

Tom describes this as 'the book that Neil wrote that really had an impact on me' and mentions it 'had kind of legendary status among anyone who was interested in the period, because it was almost impossible to get hold of.' He summarizes it as being 'about how unbelievably weird the Vikings were.'