Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age

Simultaneously, trade networks multiplied farther south, and Swedes established posts in modern-day Ukraine and Russia, traveling by river to the “glittering splendor of the Byzantine Empire and the sophisticated Abbasid Caliphate” (15). The Byzantine Empire, spanning parts of modern-day Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, North Africa, and Syria, lasted until 1453, flourishing due to its political stability and location. In the 6th century, the emperor Justinian built the Church of Holy Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia—Barraclough cites images of longships scratched into the cathedral’s walls indicating Norse presence in the region. The empire’s wealth and security made it an attractive trading partner, and Norse warriors were among the earliest members of the emperor’s elite Byzantine Varangian Guard.

The Abbasid Caliphate was an Islamic empire that bordered the Byzantine, holding power in parts of modern-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and North Africa from roughly 750-1258 CE. There, it established a large library in Baghdad, and “revolutionized the science and practice of medicine, as physicians began to question the medical traditions inherited from both East and West” (“Medicine.” PBS). Meanwhile, the Umayyad Caliphate, which it had overthrown, continued to hold territory in the Iberian peninsula until the 11th century. Scholarly accounts and travel narratives by Islamic individuals from both empires provide insights into Norse and Anglo-Saxon alike; as educated and literate individuals who were neither Christian nor pagan, their accounts provide a unique view of the Viking world.



Embers of the Hands spans nearly 1500 years of history, often referencing places and events from the larger geopolitical context. Barraclough cites interaction with Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, the Carolingian Empire, Byzantine Empire, and Abbasid Caliphate.

In the early centuries CE, the Eastern Roman Empire stretched from the Mediterranean to the British Isles. Raiding Germanic tribes contributed to its fall around 500 CE; they rose to power and began the Anglo-Saxon period. From about 650-800, the strongest Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, and Wessex. Though Anglo-Saxons began with pagan beliefs likely similar to their Norse neighbors, “the arrival of Saint Augustine in 597 converted most of the country to Christianity” (“History: The Anglo Saxons.” BBC). In the Christian tradition, churches and monasteries are sacred sanctuaries, so early Viking raids there were shocking. Power struggles between Anglo-Saxon and Norse leaders, and between Christian and pagan culture, shape the author’s themes in several chapters.

Christianity dominated Europe, and the Carolingian Empire was deeply Christian from early on. In the 9th century, it united parts of modern Italy and France, filling a power vacuum left by the Roman collapse. Francia was its seat of power; however, power grabs by noble families made it chronically unstable, allowing Viking raiders to make successful inroads. In West Francia, the precursor to modern France, the Viking Rollo seized land at the mouth of the Seine; the Frankish King Robert formally gave him the land as the first Duke of Normandy. Among the descendants of these first Viking Normans would be William the Conqueror, crowned King of England in 1066.