A critical survey of the vocabulary of Viking ships and their crews, of fleets and sailing and battles at sea, based on the runic and skaldic evidence from c.950-1100, and studied within the context of Viking activity in the period. The Vikings were the master mariners and ship-builders of the middle ages: their success depended on these skills. Spectacular archaeological finds of whole or partial ships, from burial mounds or dredged from harbours, continue to give new and exciting evidence of their practical craftsmanship and urge to seek new shores. The nautical vocabulary of the Viking Age, however, has been surprisingly neglected - the last comprehensive study was published in 1912 and was heavily dependent on post-Viking Age sources. Far better contemporary sources from the later Viking Age are available to document the activities of men and their uses of ships from c.950-1100, and Judith Jesch undertakes in this book the first systematic and comparative study of such evidence. The core is a critical survey of the vocabulary of ships and their crews, of fleets and sailing and battles at sea, based on runic inscriptions and skaldic evidence from c.950-1100. This nautical vocabulary is studied within the larger context of "viking" activity in this period: what that activity was and where it took place, its social and military aspects, and its impact ondevelopments in the nature of kingship in Scandinavia. JUDITH JESCH is Reader in Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham, and author of Women in the Viking Age.

About the Author
JUDITH JESCH is Reader in Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham.

Reviews
A timely and impressive work, which will be indispensable to all students of Viking Age history and literature. -- Eric Christiansen * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *
An excellent survey, thoroughgoing, erudite, most carefully produced, and very much up-to-date. * SPECULUM *
Thorough and lucid... an important contribution to Viking studies... As a book to read from cover to cover it is illuminating and enjoyable; as a reference work for repeated use it will prove invaluable. * SAGA-BOOK *



Book Information
ISBN 9780851158266
Author Judith Jesch
Format Hardback
Page Count 344
Imprint The Boydell Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 1g