Review by natreviews - Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings

natreviews 's review for:

Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price

3.75

adventurous informative slow-paced

I had heard this book from Genevieve Gornichec (author of The Witch's Heart) that was a good source for learning about Vikings. Oh boy, was she not wrong.

This book is super informative. It's essentially a text book that follows pre-Viking Age to a bit post-Viking Age. Get ready to strap into a long reading.

While reading, I did have some moments that caught my eye. Even though we don't know things from the Viking Age, some things are assumed that really shouldn't be.

It's speculated that paper/books weren't a thing in Viking culture (or at least not highly valued). We don't have any archeological findings, so it must not have existed... right? This book presents that, although I would speculate that isn't actually true. It doesn't take a genius to know that paper decomposes quickly (when we're talking about over a millennium). Lots of books from that time period that still exist today were taking extreme care of usually in monasteries. So while it maybe true that books weren't highly valued (in the sense to protect them for way into the future), it doesn't mean that books or paper weren't around.
For as important the Poetic Edda is to the religion and culture, it's not mentioned a whole lot in the book. It has a chapter or two in the beginning, and a section in the epilogue, but other than that it isn't mentioned. I know a lot of people wouldn't have a problem with this, but I was expecting it to be mentioned more.

The following are more personal notes, things that aren't necessarily fact, but are opinions that the author conveys through the text that I have issues with:

So the big one; we shouldn't celebrate the Vikings or find them "cool" for a lack of a better term because they raped, pillaged, had slaves, etc. Now, I want to state outright that those things aren't morally or ethically acceptable. Raping, pillaging, and owning slaves is wrong (we can all agree on that). Cool? Cool. The issue I have with this is the Romans did the same thing (calling them out specifically since they are mentioned by name in the book), and the English, French, and Spanish would do the same hundreds of years later. I think we can find Vikings "cool" while acknowledging that ya, they did shitty stuff. It was socially acceptable at the time (although NEVER okay to do). I think it's hard to say we can't see the good/celebrate cultures that have this background (looking at you United States of America).
The next one is around the idea of Shield Maidens. There is an entire section describing how before we had DNA testing, if you were found with a shield or a sword you were a male. Now though (this book having been published in 2020), we know this isn't the case. They have found women who we can assume were warriors based on what they were buried with (what a Viking was buried with was really important). Now, the author suggests that even though sagas have stated in one area that Shield Maidens were not common, and in another saga from a different area that they were pretty common, that they were not common at all. It seems he sometimes picks and chooses what to believe when it comes to sagas (and I'm not talking about the mythology here, but stories past down and told which pertained to real people). It has a bit of a traditional gender role flair to it. Again, this more bugs me than has me angry or an issue, but I'm here for facts dude. (In fact, I'm planning on reading more books that specifically focus on women during the Viking Age).

Overall, the above mentioned reasons took my overall rating down by .25. I found it was more information than I was looking for, and I would suggest for the casual reader to pick and choose chapters you're interested in rather than sitting down and reading all of it. For history buffs though, this is a book you will want to read cover to cover.