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American Vikings : how the Norse sailed into the lands and imaginations of America / Martyn Whittock.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Pegasus Books, 2023Copyright date: ©2023Edition: First Pegasus Books cloth editionDescription: x, 261 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 1639365354
  • 9781639365357
Subject(s):
Contents:
Who and what were "Vikings"? -- Inside the heads of Vikings -- The Viking world -- Vinland...the edge of the world -- Viking North Americans -- Sharing the stage with Vikings? -- Competing ethnic origin myths of "discovery," in the early USA -- Vikings in the Midwest? -- New England Vikings? -- A Norse home from home? -- A darker side of the story -- Vikings reading comic books -- The Vikings go to the movies...and watch TV -- American Vikings meet QAnon -- Merchandising Vikings -- Afterword: Where next for the American Vikings?
Summary: "Vikings are an enduring subject of fascination. The combination of adventure, mythology, violence, and exploration continues to grip our attention. As a result, for more than a millennium the Vikings have traveled far and wide, not least across the turbulent seas of our minds and imaginations. The geographical reach of the Norse was extraordinary. For centuries medieval sagas, first recorded in Iceland, claimed that Vikings reached North America around the year 1000. This book explores that claim, separating fact from fiction and myth from mischief, to assess the enduring legacy of this claim in America. The search for "American Vikings" connects a vast range of different areas; from the latest archaeological evidence for their actual settlement in North America to the myth-making of nineteenth-century Scandinavian pioneers in the Midwest; and from ancient adventurers to the political ideologies in the twenty-first century. It is a journey from the high seas of a millennium ago to the swirling waters and dark undercurrents of the online world of today. No doubt, the warlike Vikings would have understood how their image could be "weaponized." In the same way, they would probably have grasped how their dramatic, violent, passionate, and discordant mythologies could appeal to our era and cultural setting. They might, though, have been more surprised at how their image has been commercialized and commodified. A vivid new history by a master of the form, American Vikings explores how the Norse first sailed into the lands, and then into the imaginations, of America" -- Publisher's description.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 973.13 W627 Available 33111011216286
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A vivid and illuminating new history--separate fact from fiction, myth from legend--exploring the early Vikings settlements in North America.

Vikings are an enduring subject of fascination. The combination of adventure, mythology, violence, and exploration continues to grip our attention. As a result, for more than a millennium the Vikings have traveled far and wide, not least across the turbulent seas of our minds and imaginations.

The geographical reach of the Norse was extraordinary. For centuries medieval sagas, first recorded in Iceland, claimed that Vikings reached North America around the year 1000. This book explores that claim, separating fact from fiction and myth from mischief, to assess the enduring legacy of this claim in America. The search for "American Vikings" connects a vast range of different areas; from the latest archaeological evidence for their actual settlement in North America to the myth-making of nineteenth-century Scandinavian pioneers in the Midwest; and from ancient adventurers to the political ideologies in the twenty-first century. It is a journey from the high seas of a millennium ago to the swirling waters and dark undercurrents of the online world of today.

No doubt, the warlike Vikings would have understood how their image could be "weaponized." In the same way, they would probably have grasped how their dramatic, violent, passionate, and discordant mythologies could appeal to our era and cultural setting. They might, though, have been more surprised at how their image has been commercialized and commodified. A vivid new history by a master of the form, American Vikings explores how the Norse first sailed into the lands, and then into the imaginations, of America.

Includes bibliographic references (pages 223-247) and index.

"Vikings are an enduring subject of fascination. The combination of adventure, mythology, violence, and exploration continues to grip our attention. As a result, for more than a millennium the Vikings have traveled far and wide, not least across the turbulent seas of our minds and imaginations. The geographical reach of the Norse was extraordinary. For centuries medieval sagas, first recorded in Iceland, claimed that Vikings reached North America around the year 1000. This book explores that claim, separating fact from fiction and myth from mischief, to assess the enduring legacy of this claim in America. The search for "American Vikings" connects a vast range of different areas; from the latest archaeological evidence for their actual settlement in North America to the myth-making of nineteenth-century Scandinavian pioneers in the Midwest; and from ancient adventurers to the political ideologies in the twenty-first century. It is a journey from the high seas of a millennium ago to the swirling waters and dark undercurrents of the online world of today. No doubt, the warlike Vikings would have understood how their image could be "weaponized." In the same way, they would probably have grasped how their dramatic, violent, passionate, and discordant mythologies could appeal to our era and cultural setting. They might, though, have been more surprised at how their image has been commercialized and commodified. A vivid new history by a master of the form, American Vikings explores how the Norse first sailed into the lands, and then into the imaginations, of America" -- Publisher's description.

Who and what were "Vikings"? -- Inside the heads of Vikings -- The Viking world -- Vinland...the edge of the world -- Viking North Americans -- Sharing the stage with Vikings? -- Competing ethnic origin myths of "discovery," in the early USA -- Vikings in the Midwest? -- New England Vikings? -- A Norse home from home? -- A darker side of the story -- Vikings reading comic books -- The Vikings go to the movies...and watch TV -- American Vikings meet QAnon -- Merchandising Vikings -- Afterword: Where next for the American Vikings?

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