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Dragon Lords
- Author
- Eleanor Parker
- Narrator
- Kristin Atherton
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 25 September 2025
- Run Time
- 6 hours 17 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Why did the Vikings sail to England? Were they indiscriminate raiders, motivated solely by bloodlust and plunder? One narrative, the stereotypical one, might have it so. But locked away in the buried history of the British Isles are other, far richer and more nuanced, stories; and these hidden tales paint a picture very different from the ferocious pillagers of popular repute.
In this book, Eleanor Parker unlocks secrets that point to more complex motivations within the marauding army that in the late-9th century voyaged to the shores of eastern England in its sleek, dragon-prowed longships. Exploring legends from forgotten medieval texts, and across the varied Anglo-Saxon regions, she depicts Vikings who came not just to raid but also to settle personal feuds, intervene in English politics and find a place to call home. Native tales reveal the links to famous Vikings like Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons, Cnut, and Havelok the Dane. Each myth shows how the legacy of the newcomers can still be traced in landscape, place-names and local history. Meticulously researched and elegantly argued, Dragon Lords uncovers the remarkable degree to which England is Viking to its core.
Critics Review
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Meticulously researched, impressively informative, thoughtfully insightful, and an inherently fascinating read from cover to cover, "Dragon Lords: The History and Legends of Viking England" is an extraordinary work of scholarship that is exceptionally accessible for both academia and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.
Midwest Book Review
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Summing Up: Recommended.
CHOICE
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An absorbing and authoritative account of the survival of Scandinavian legends and history in post-Conquest England. This beautifully written book succeeds in casting Viking invaders and settlers in an unexpected new light.
Carolyne Larrington, University of Oxford, UK
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Dragon Lords tells the fascinating and hitherto unknown story of how the Viking invasions of England were turned into myth and legend by those whom the Scandinavians raided and later ruled.
Heather O'Donoghue, University of Oxford, UK
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Part literary study, part historical investigation and part folkloric inquiry, it makes a riveting and rewarding read.
Levi Roach, University of Exeter, UK
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Eleanor Parker
- Narrator
- Kristin Atherton
- Duration
- 6 hours 17 minutes
- Release Date
- 25 September 2025
- ISBN
- 9781350598867
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- European history, European history: the Vikings, European history: medieval period, middle ages, Medieval warfare (predating gunpowder warfare), Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents Dragon Lords: The History and Legends of Viking England by Eleanor Parker read by Kristin AthertonWhy did the Vikings sail to England? Were they indiscriminate raiders, motivated solely by bloodlust and plunder? One narrative, the stereotypical one, might have it so. But locked away in the buried history of the British Isles are other, far richer and more nuanced, stories; and these hidden tales paint a picture very different from the ferocious pillagers of popular repute.In this book, Eleanor Parker unlocks secrets that point to more complex motivations within the marauding army that in the late-9th century voyaged to the shores of eastern England in its sleek, dragon-prowed longships. Exploring legends from forgotten medieval texts, and across the varied Anglo-Saxon regions, she depicts Vikings who came not just to raid but also to settle personal feuds, intervene in English politics and find a place to call home. Native tales reveal the links to famous Vikings like Ragnar Lothbrok and his sons, Cnut, and Havelok the Dane. Each myth shows how the legacy of the newcomers can still be traced in landscape, place-names and local history. Meticulously researched and elegantly argued, Dragon Lords uncovers the remarkable degree to which England is Viking to its core.
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