Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age

The author describes the Viking Age as a “glittering thing” (10) full of shining tales that have continued to shape pop culture impressions of a transformative period in history. The original stories of legendary heroes are recorded in Old Norse poems like Hávamál, in which Odin says those who achieve glory never die. Meanwhile, ordinary individuals go unremembered. “Embers of the hands” is a kenning—a metaphorical way of describing something (See: Index of Terms)—for gold, something precious that glitters in the hands of those who possess it, and Barraclough takes this as the purpose of the book: To rekindle the personal fragments of lives long lost and explore what was precious as well as where remains of the culture still smolder.

Where?

Viking activity spanned from the Arctic to the Byzantine Empire and Abbasid Caliphate, and from the edge of North America to the steppes of Eurasia. The people originated in a region Pliny the Elder described in 77 CE as “Scatinavia,” a Proto-Germanic word loosely translated as “dangerous land on the water” (16); by the 6th century, Gothic historian Jordanes described a culturally distinct region he called “Scandza.” 

Over centuries, “Scandinavia” became widely used, but references to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark only appear in the historical record later. The first reliable account naming Norway and its geography appears in the 9th century by the trader Othere, who described landmasses, sailing distances, and interconnected cultural spheres.

The Viking Age

Northern Europe was developing rapidly due to trade. Agriculturally poor, Scandinavia was rich in resources including furs and amber, which could be traded for jewelry and weapons. Trading centers appeared in Norway and Denmark in the 8th century, creating evolving power structures as chieftains jostled for control of resources and trade routes. At the same time, contact with Anglo-Saxons and Carolingians provided models of hierarchical social structures. The steady build-up of power in the 8th century made Scandinavia “ripe for competition and conflict” (20).

Piracy followed the growth of wealth and sea trade. The first written account of seaborne attacks by Vikings comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which describes the attack on Lindisfarne as a cataclysmic event with lightning and dragons. Raids on wealthy and undefended monasteries quickly multiplied. By the middle of the 9th century, raiders were harrying Carolingian and Byzantine territory. Danish and Norwegian migrants moved south and west, establishing seasonal camps as far as Newfoundland by 1000. Swedish traders moved east; these Rus Vikings created powerful states around Novgorod and Kyiv. Some went to Constantinople, where a few became members of the Varangian Guard.

Royal power consolidated Denmark under King Harald Bluetooth around 958 or 959, who extended a defensive wall known as the Danevirke and “ordered the construction of the first and longest bridge known from the entire Viking Age” (25). He was the first Norse leader to officially convert his nation to Christianity. The 11th century began a decades-long battle for leadership and power between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons that culminated in the “official” end of the Viking Age: In 1002, Æthelred ordered the massacre of Danish settlers; in 1013, King Svein Forkbeard of Denmark invaded England and deposed Æthelred. Svein’s son Cnut ruled before Æthelred’s son, Edward the Confessor, became king in 1042. 

Edward’s death ended Anglo-Saxon rule in England. “Three contenders for the throne—King Harold of England, King Harald of Norway and Duke William of Normandy—fought a pair of bloody and decisive battles that ended with William’s total victory” in 1066 (25). Elsewhere, traces of Viking Age society linger until the 1500s, when the last farmsteads of Greenland were abandoned.

Society

Vikings settled in Northumbria and Iceland, where the settlement was called landnám, or “land-taking” (26). As many regions were unsuitable for arable farming, they relied on pastoral farms. Animals they kept varied by region and climate, and farther north settlers relied on hunting.

The basic unit of society was the farmstead, where families lived on whatever they could produce or trade for. Silver was valued as a precious metal; the largest concentration of silver hoards in the Viking world was discovered on Gotland, an island trading post in the Baltic Sea.

Most people lived in rural settlements. Family units were part of a wider network of alliances and kinship networks. These networks were essential in a time when enforcement of laws, norms, and rights depended on the community itself. Strict hierarchies and patriarchal gender roles existed, but individual experiences varied widely. Due to the importance of community for survival, exile was an extreme punishment that might result in death.

Religion

Barraclough asserts three observations necessary for discussing Viking Age beliefs. First, most descriptions come from Christian or Islamic writers who judged them from their own monotheistic worldview, both inside and outside the Norse world. Second, known stories show that though gods are usually associated with specific characteristics, there was variation in their stories and these evolved over time. Third, rituals were a key part of worship, with sacrifices or offerings long-established in the culture. Place names show specific regions embraced certain gods, and religion was practiced mostly outdoors as part of daily life.

Barraclough concludes that many of the practices and tales in Norse belief were rooted in the anxieties of medieval society, including the threat of a bad harvest or the dangers of childbirth or sea travel. Placating the gods provided a source of comfort, and recorded stories of Norse oral traditions describe the gods’ adventures with only occasional moral messages, rather than a doctrinal judgment of good versus evil. Conversion to Christianity was a long process of starts and stops; often, pagan beliefs coexisted with Christian ones as folktales or superstition.

How Do We Know What We Know?

Written sources and manuscripts from outside the Norse world include travel narratives, poetry, and peace treaties. Written evidence from the Norse perspective begins to appear in 12th-century laws and sagas, after tales had been recounted orally by generations.

Language illustrates cultural diffusion between the Norse world and Europe, where elements of Old Norse replaced Old English, and place names indicate Norse ownership or settlement of English lands. In Scandinavia, place names hint at religious connections, such as Frösö (Frey’s Island) and Odense (Odin’s Sanctuary). Runes offer clues about place, culture, and events.

Physical artifacts are a rich source of information that reveal new secrets as technology improves. Radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis can provide insight into migration patterns and genetic connections, or link organic materials to specific points in the past. For example, small wood samples from L’Anse Aux Meadows, carbon dated and examined in context of a historic solar storm, show definitively that Norse settlers were in North America in 1021. Ice cores in Greenland and volcanic layers in Iceland provide another way to date artifacts. By combining references in the written record with archaeological evidence and expertise, researchers arrive at a better understanding.

Beginning 1: Runes on the Brain

A piece of human skull found in Ribe, Denmark, which dates from 725-750, has a small hole drilled through the center, and is inscribed with runes that may translate as “Ulf and Odin and High-Tyr. Help is brought against the (male) dwarf and the (female) dwarf Bour” (48). The author argues the invocation of the gods Odin and High-Tyr suggests the skull fragment was intended as a protective charm against sickness or pain caused by the supernatural. The reference to dwarves connects the artifact culturally to Anglo-Saxon amulets on the same theme, illustrating a cultural exchange that existed before records of Viking raids.

Ribe was a crossroads between the North Sea, Baltic Sea, and European Continent. Archaeology shows permanent buildings appeared in Ribe around 710 as a result of robust travel between north and south. Over 200 silver coins found here with a design also found in Risia and England show a strong trade connection, suggesting Ribe was controlled by someone powerful enough to issue their own coins. Similar hubs appeared later, including Birka in Sweden and Kaupang in Norway.

Beginning 2: Death in the Baltic

A mass burial in the Estonian village of Salme changed the way historians see the geography and chronology of the Viking Age. 34 men bearing indicators of violent death were buried in a seagoing ship around 750. One of them had the “king” piece from the board game hnefatafl in his mouth, which Barraclough calls a “deliberate act of storytelling” to indicate that he was the leader (53). The fact that he was surrounded by the finest grave goods and had fused vertebrae in his neck—suggesting he would not have been a strong fighter, but possessed other attributes like wealth and power—support this conclusion.

The author says the men were likely part of a diplomatic mission to establish alliances or trade. They carried valuable luxury items that may have been intended as gifts. Isotope levels in tooth enamel show they were from eastern Sweden, while the first raiding parties heading to Britain embarked from western Norway. DNA evidence also shows that four of the men were brothers and another was a close relative. Barraclough ponders the lives of the people waiting for these family members, who would never return home.

That the survivors had time to give them an elaborate burial suggests whoever attacked them defended their territory and moved on. Sagas about Estonian raiders attacking Norse ships may connect this site to the story of King Yngvar, who died defending his realm in the eastern Baltic. Though Snorri Sturluson dates Ygnvar’s semi-legendary dynasty and defeat to a century before the Salme graves, the author points out that his dates may not be accurate.

Beginning 3: Scratched in Stone

The “hostage stone” is a hand-sized piece of slate found at Inchmarnock, once home to a medieval monastery. On the stone, someone scratched a scene that seems to depict a Viking raid and the capture of a prisoner: A tall warrior leads a smaller figure by what appears to be a rope around his neck and wrists. The broken edges of the stone show other warrior figures, and the lower right corner depicts a ship. On the other side, crosses and letters date the slate to the late 8th or early 9th century, when Viking raids were at their height. Researchers don’t know whether the stone depicts an actual event or a tale retold.

The captured figure in the image appears to carry a reliquary, a decorated portable shrine used to hold the relics of saints. Looted reliquaries from Britain have been found in three sites associated with Viking Age women, suggesting they were gifts from those who stole them. Barraclough posits that the burials offer a possible explanation for the start of the raids: As Norse society stratified, men had to fight for the status that would allow them to win a bride and establish a household, and raiding provided opportunities for such wealth. More than 50 scraps of decorated metal likely from monasteries appear in Viking Age graves, and written records describe abbots and other individuals kidnapped by “heathens,” suggesting the scene on the hostage stone was common.