Description
Viking Warfare — Philip Line
A scholarly yet accessible study that combines chronicles, sagas, poetry, and recent archaeological evidence to explain how Viking forces and their northern European opponents organized, campaigned, and fought across medieval Europe.
Key Features
- Author: Philip Line
- Subject: Viking warfare; military organization; tactics; cultural context
- Format: Hardcover; richly sourced narrative
- Pages: 281 pages
- Approach: Uses primary documentary sources and archaeological evidence for updated interpretation
- Audience: Readers of Viking history, medieval military studies, and Scandinavian heritage
Product Details
Philip Line reconstructs Viking military practice from the late eighth to the early eleventh century by weaving together contemporary chronicles, saga literature, skaldic poetry, and recent archaeological discoveries. The book covers recruitment and leadership, logistics and shipborne mobility, battlefield tactics, siegecraft, and the interaction between Norse forces and their European opponents. Line balances academic rigor with readable prose, presenting contested debates clearly and offering interpretations grounded in source evidence so both specialists and general readers can follow the argument and assess the evidence.
Origins & Craftsmanship
Grounded in Scandinavian and wider northern European source material, the work pairs textual analysis of Norse sagas and continental chronicles with material culture—burial finds, weapon assemblages, and fortification studies—to illuminate the practical realities and cultural frameworks that shaped Viking-age warfare.
