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9780198701293

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With a clever and engaging style, the author marries interpretations of Norse sagas with historical references, creating a detailed analysis of Viking evolution and worldview with clarity, humor, and a sense of relevance... Thoroughly researched and well rooted in historical and literary context. * Library Journal * Barraclough produces an intoxicating fusion of travelogue, history and saga... What emerges is a surprisingly complex portrait of Viking culture... Beyond the Northlands is a magnificent contribution to the understanding of a fierce and poetic people. * Shelf Awareness, Starred Review * [Barraclough's] book stretches our imaginations in time as well as space, combines literature, archaeology and personal observation, and reminds us of many works more than half-forgotten even by scholars. Blessedly, for all the rigor of the endnotes, there is not a trace of academic obfuscation. Truth is stranger than fiction, yes, and more fun too. * Wall Street Journal * Moira reviews one of the funniest, and most fascinating books on the Norse Sagas that she's ever read ... Lively ... entertaining ... (I mean, you don't expect to find yourself honking inelegantly over the Vinland Sagas) * Moira Briggs, Vulpes Libris * draws upon the Norse sagas and historical sources to take a lively and entertaining approach to her subjecy which will appeal to the casual reader. * Leon Burakowski, Shropshire Star * what may chiefly distinguish [Eleanor] from other Viking scholars is her lively style. [...] Many well-chosen colour illustrations further bring her picture of adventurous Vikings, and their varied roles, vividly to life. * Harry Mead, Northern Echo * A BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker does that delightful trick of weaving lightly worn serious scholarship into a publisher- and educated general reader-pleasing journey narrative, as she serves up sagas and the world that inspired them in this well-illustrated book. Her voice is charming, wise and just the right side of whimsical as we meet the jaculus and his posse of teeny tiny dragonlets , Skraelings, Snorri, Snaefrid's smelly corpse and Soviet-era Kievan Rus. Includes a knighting with a walrus penis bone; a beguiling TV series doubtless awaits. * Times Higher Education * A delight ... a book that provides us with a highly entertaining and informative sense of the real Norse world-view. * Philip Parker, Literary Review * A book that is entertaining as well as erudite... There is no doubting Barraclough's meticulous and insightful scholarship. * Hana Videen, Times Literary Supplement * [An] excellent, erudite, yet light-hearted glimpse into Norse culture, exploration and the melding of story and history. Filled with interesting facts, pop culture references and quirky asides, this is an immensely appealing, accessible resource, whatever your level of knowledge. * Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat and the Rune series * Barraclough provides a confident, compelling narrative of their brutal, challenging world and a valuable companion to their sagas. * Diana Bentley, Minerva * A vibrant account that evokes the spirit of the Viking age in a thoroughly entertaining, yet historically sound, fashion. * Philip Parker, BBC World Histories *

Author Information

Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough is Assistant Professor in Medieval History and Literature at Durham University. In 2013, she was chosen as one of ten BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinkers, in a competition to find young academics with the potential to turn their research into programmes for broadcast. Eleanor's research often takes her to the chilly Nordic climes of Scandinavia, Iceland, and Greenland. Whilst researching this book, Eleanor had many far-flung adventures of her own: bumping along on the back of an Icelandic horse whilst exploring Norse ruins in Greenland, sailing ice fjords under the midnight sun with a caribou hunter, and searching for Norse rune-stones in Sweden. Her proudest moment came when travelling across Arctic Norway, where she was knighted with a walrus penis bone in Hammerfest and became a member of the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society.

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