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The Vikings
- Narrated by: Kenneth W. Harl
- Length: 17 hrs and 59 mins
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The Vikings
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Publisher's Summary
As raiders and explorers, the Vikings played a decisive role in the formation of Latin Christendom, and particularly of western Europe.
Now, in a series of 36 vivid lectures by an honored teacher and classical scholar, you have the opportunity to understand this remarkable race as never before, studying the Vikings not only as warriors, but in all of the other roles in which they were equally extraordinary - merchants, artists, kings, raiders, seafarers, shipbuilders, and creators of a remarkable literature of myths and sagas. Professor Harl draws insights from an astonishing array of sources: The Russian Primary Chronicle (a Slavic text from medieval Kiev), 13th-century Icelandic poems and sagas, Byzantine accounts, Arab geographies, annals of Irish monks who faced Viking raids, Roman reports, and scores of other firsthand contemporary documents.
Among the topics you'll explore are the profound influence of the Norse gods and heroes on Viking culture and the Vikings' extraordinary accomplishments as explorers and settlers in Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland. And with the help of archaeological findings, you'll learn to analyze Viking ship burials, rune stones and runic inscriptions, Viking wood carving, jewelry, sculpture, and metalwork. By the end of the series, you'll have a new understanding of what it meant to be a Viking and a richer appreciation of this remarkable race - a people who truly defined the history of Europe, and whose brave, adventurous, and creative spirit still survives today.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about The Vikings
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Supracet
- 30-07-2016
Brilliant!
This story was absolutely brilliant from beginning to end. I was informed, entertained and captivated throughout.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Garry Fox
- 08-06-2021
took me a little
the first 2 lectures, I found hard to retain.. but by 3rd, 4th lectures, I improved, and from there on, found whole thing addictive. Brilliant!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 27-05-2020
Great course on the Vikings and their influence
Overall a very good course that covers the many facets of the Viking age in detail. Kenneth W. Harl does a good job presenting this topic and is enjoyable to listen to.
Regarding certain topics such as the Irish I did feel that the story was told more from an Irish perspective than a Viking perspective. I do get that the sources are mostly Irish but I would have liked it for the presenter to tell it more from a Viking perspective and maybe skipped some of the details of the various kings of Ireland for example.
I also wish the presenter would improve his Old Norse pronunciation.
I would definitely recommend this course to anyone interested in the Vikings or medieval Europe. 4 1/2 stars!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anton Svensson
- 16-11-2016
Informative, entertaining and interesting!
Very well performed with a good structure of all gathered material represented. A must read for all viking enthusiasts out there.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Omar
- 08-02-2019
Brilliant
Kenneth W Harl is clearly the best lecturer on audible. All of his courses are fantastic, fascinating and informative. You probably learn double or triple from one of his courses than any other.
The Vikings is no exception. One of the best books I've ever read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 15-06-2022
Outstanding lecture
An amazing and comprehensive history of the Vikings! As a person of Swedish heritage, I’ve learnt more through this lecture than I have in 45yrs of life. Absolutely superb in its detail and delivery…a masterpiece!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Karen
- 11-07-2014
A rollicking good tale
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This was a great book, it really took you into the Viking world, how they became the expert raiders they were and even more interesting how they came to have such a dramatic influence on the shape of the Middle ages.
What other book might you compare The Vikings to, and why?
I have listened to a number of the 'Great Courses' books, but this one is among my favourites.
What does Professor Kenneth W. Harl bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
Pof Kenneth, bring a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to the narration of this book, and I would never have been able to pronounce many of the names. In fact my main criticism of the narration is that he gets so excited about the events that he talks too fast and it is hard to keep up. The battle of 1066 went by so fast that I had to rewind and listen again to be able to catch it all he was so excited. But such enthusiasm gives the book even greater interest.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
The great Courses cannot be listened to in one sitting as you need to concentrate more than a normal novel so I can usually only listen for a couple of hours, but this book held my interest better than many others and I was sorry when it ended.
Any additional comments?
I would strongly recommend this book to any others who want to learn what the viking were really like.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Socchi K.
- 14-06-2021
Possibly the best series on Norse history.
This was amazingly detailed, insightful, enthusiastic and well backed up by research, but everything not in modern English was so mispronounced, with nothing pronounced the same way twice, it took extra concentration to keep up with it.
Still one of the greatest resources for anyone interested in Norse history.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- N. W. Backstrom
- 23-08-2021
Excellent overview.
I thought this was excellent covering pre to post Viking era and making it clear how and why the Scandinavians had such an impact.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 14-03-2023
Great lectures very informative
Always great lectures done my Kenneth w.Harl. You can always feel his passion for it. Never listened to anything of his I didjnt like
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