Vikings and Goths: A History of Ancient and Medieval SwedenThe Vikings descended upon Europe at the close of the 8th century, invading the continent's western seas and river systems, trading, raiding and spreading terror. In the north, they settled Iceland and Greenland and reached North America. In the east, Swedish Varangians established a river road to the Orient. With the collapse of the Viking commercial empire, Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries struggled to survive, their hardships exacerbated by internal strife, foreign domination and the Black Death. This book details the development of Scandinavia--Sweden in particular--from the end of the Ice Age, through a series of prehistoric cultures, the Bronze and Iron ages, to the Viking period and late Middle Ages. Recent research suggests a Swedish origin of the Goths, who helped dismember the Roman Empire, and evidence of Swedish participation in the western Viking expeditions. Special attention is given to Eastern Europe, where Sweden dominated commerce through the conquest of trade towns and the river systems of Russia. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 3 | |
| 5 | |
| 11 | |
3 Sweden of the Neolithic Age | 23 |
4 Bronze Age Sweden | 31 |
5 The Iron Age Comes to Sweden | 41 |
6 Roman Iron Age in Sweden | 49 |
21 Norman Kingdom of Italy and Sicily | 151 |
22 Swedish Participation in the Western Expeditions | 155 |
23 Swedish Unification | 161 |
24 The Swedish People of the Viking Age | 173 |
25 Swedens Early Viking Expeditions to the East | 190 |
26 The Geography and People of Eastern Europe | 194 |
27 Swedes of the Rus Khaganate | 200 |
28 Sweden the Great | 205 |
7 Visigoths Defeat the Roman Empire | 56 |
8 The Ostrogoths Build an Empire | 64 |
9 Evidence of a Swedish Origin for the Goths | 72 |
10 Sweden in the German Iron Age Migration Period
AD 400575 | 78 |
11 Sweden of the Vendel Period AD 575790 | 90 |
12 Norwegian Vikings Assault the British Isles | 102 |
13 Danish Vikings Invade England | 106 |
14 Viking Raids and Conquests in Continental Europe | 111 |
15 Viking Ships and Navigation | 117 |
16 The Viking Search for New Lands | 122 |
17 Danish Unification During the Viking Age | 130 |
18 The Norwegian Struggle for Independence | 134 |
19 The Empire of Knut the Great | 138 |
20 William the Conqueror Invades England | 145 |
29 Words Written in Stone | 221 |
30 The Last Great Expedition to the East | 227 |
31 End of the Viking Age | 232 |
32 Medieval Sweden AD 10701350 | 235 |
33 Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages | 253 |
34 Novgorod the Great Lithuania and the Rise of Moscow | 266 |
35 Sweden and the Black Death | 271 |
36 St Birgitta of Sweden | 277 |
37 Margareta and the Kalmar Union | 280 |
Epilogue | 283 |
Chapter Notes | 285 |
| 297 | |
| 301 | |