Read by Christopher R. Fee, Ph.D

Navigate Viking history, culture, and literature with one of America's best professors. "Scandinavian scavengers," warlike pirates, raiders, and invaders-the Vikings have lately surfaced from the depths of history to become pop culture's most adored ruffians. For medievalist Christopher R. Fee, Ph.D., the recent craze for all-things Viking is a mixed blessing. The spike in popular fascination often occasions the need to separate the wheat from the chaff: fact from fiction, history from myth, literature from legend. From the Baltic to Byzantium: The History of the Vikings endeavors to right the ship by offering you a scholarly and thorough-going overview of Viking history, geography, literature, religion, and culture. Named one of the 300 Best Professors in America by the Princeton Review, Prof. Fee leads this series with canny and personable teaching. As you meet the great Viking adventurers, you'll explore pivotal events such as the raid on the monastery at Lindisfarne in 739 and the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066, as well as lesser-known curiosities: The etymology of the term "Viking," The fact that Vikings known as Varangians made up the personal bodyguard of the Byzantine Emperor, and The origins of the state that we now think of as Russia. From runic inscriptions to heroic sagas, pagan belief to Danelaw, you'll ponder the Vikings' lasting significance as you immerse yourself in the seen and unseen record of their fascinating civilization

Mode of access: World Wide Web