The Vikings

Neil Oliver

11/03/2014

Recording from Neil Oliver’s talk, ‘The Vikings’, for CVHF, Saturday, 29th June 2013.

The Vikings were wild-looking marauders, bent on rape and pillage and notorious for taking no prisoners – or so the myth would have it. Much of this is the fault of the Vikings themselves who never wrote a word of their history. But in this talk, Neil Oliver shows the Vikings as a people that came back from the brink of destruction to travel half way around the world and build an empire that lasted 200 years. From their Scandinavian roots, the Vikings set out on an epic voyage of trade and discovery that would take them from America to Baghdad. Theirs is a riveting story told by a brilliant presenter who has uncovered new facts and theories to bring these Norsemen alive once more.

Related Contents

🎧 CNUT THE GREAT: KING OF THE ENGLISH

12.11.18

This is a recording of Ryan Lavelle's talk at Chalke Valley History Festival on Thursday 28th June 2018. Cnut, or Canute, was King of England for nearly 20 years, dying in Dorset in 1035. A formidable figure, Cnut is one of the great ‘what ifs’ in English history. Ryan Lavelle, one of this country’s leading experts on Viking England, gives a fascinating account of a powerful nation builder whose Viking Empire could have permanently shifted 11th century England’s orbit to Scandinavia.

Read More
Exclusive interview with Neil Oliver

03.07.13

An exclusive interview with Scottish historian Neil Oliver at CVHF13, discussing his latest book on the Vikings, the appeal of Scottish history and his stance on Scottish independence.

Read More

Sign up to our Newsletter

Keep up to date on all the festival news, including the latest line up announcements.

YOUR EMAIL