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Review: P. H. Sawyer. Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100.

Methuen, London etc.,1982. Pp. 182. 16 plates

Peter H. Sawyer published his book Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-
1100 in 1982 as the intended sequel of his earlier work Age of Vikings (London, 1962). He writes
in the ‘Preface’: ‘It was, however, my ambition to write a general survey and this seems a good
time to attempt such a work of synthesis.’1 In his endeavour to do so he chose a strictly evidence-
based approach to his subject. He reviews the research material and findings accumulated in the
twenty years between the publications of his books with exquisite, meticulous scientific rigour.
His method is similar in examining primary sources, which often leads to observations of
inconclusiveness.

Kings and Vikings is concerned with an age and territory of great turbulence. Despite its
subtitle, the main topic of the book is the interactions between the Vikings and the outside world
after they began their explorations and expansion in the early 8th century. Sawyer uses the term
‘Scandinavia’ as a mere geographic label that covers the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jutland and the
Danish archipelago. He demonstrates that while the people populating this area in the Viking
Age are commonly referred to as ‘Scandinavians’, this classification originates from outside sources
and did not serve as an element of internal identity. The inhabitants of the various kingdoms on
the territories of modern-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden did not think of themselves as
Scandinavians. They were members of extended families, or subject to a chieftain or later to a
king, but lacked the unifying identity of a national community. However, they shared a
geographical origin and a cultural background to some extent, and that served as a basis for the
people they came in contact with to apply the common label ‘Scandinavian’.

The first three chapters of the book (‘The Age of the Vikings: an introductory outline’,
‘The Twelfth Century’, and ‘Contemporary Sources’, respectively) establishes the chronological
and geographical boundaries of its topic, and reviews the available sources from the Viking Age
and the immediately following period. Sawyer approaches these from a critical standpoint,
considering them less than reliable. The main origin of his concern is the bias of the authors of
written resources and their tendency to insert fantastical or legendary elements into historical

1
P. H. Sawyer, Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100 (London: Methuen, 1982), p. vi.
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writings. This especially applies to the works of twelfth-century authors, namely Saxo
Grammaticus and Sven Aggesen, whose accounts ‘as sources for the history of times earlier than
their own […] are completely unreliable and untrustworthy”.2 Sawyer applies the same analytical
method towards material evidence, discovering difficulty and uncertainty in the dating and analysis
of archaeological findings such as coin hoards, remains of settlements or runic inscriptions.
Although the importance of objective investigation is unquestionable, it often leaves the reader
frustrated to find every single source ultimately unreliable.

The fourth chapter, ‘Scandinavian Society’ describes the social structure of the regions of
Viking Age Scandinavia, thoroughly analysing the local legal variations and customs. This includes
depiction of the social layers comprising these societies, their relations to each other, and an
assortment of their rights and duties. In a sense this chapter serves as an introduction to the
following ones, putting them into a demographic context. The next five chapters cover the main
subject of the book that is the various forms of interaction between Scandinavia and the
neighbouring territories. It begins with an overview of the period of the first four centuries AD
(‘in Scandinavian archaeology […] commonly called the Roman Iron Age’)3 and the connections
between Scandinavia and the Roman Empire. These manifested mostly through trade and there
is no mention of military activity. The collapse of the Roman Empire resulted in the decline of
these commercial relations, but some markets, especially in Gaul, recovered quickly so the flow
of goods never ceased completely. Here Sawyer draws a direct line connecting the Scandinavian
trade efforts with the advancement of naval technology. Some of these developments are depicted
as continuation of a Baltic tradition, for example the ‘method of fixing the mast in Viking
warships’,4 while others are attributed to western influence, namely the technique used in cargo
boats for the same purpose.

The technological improvements enabled the transition from rowing to sailing as the
primary propelling mechanism for ships. Roesdahl notes: ‘In Scandinavia, sailing ships rapidly
attained a level of sophistication that was outstanding for their time.’5 This provided a serious

2
Sawyer, p. 17.
3
Sawyer, p. 65.
4
Sawyer, p. 76.
5
Else Roesdahl, The Vikings, 2nd edn (London: Penguin Group, 1998), p. 83.
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advantage in what soon turned to be a secondary occupation for many traders: piratical activities.
Sawyer describes how the attacks and raids became more frequent around the year 800 AD and
the countermeasures applied by the affected countries. These mainly involved fortification of
population and trade centres, but in some cases, it also meant proactive steps such as reinforcing
the fleet. This inevitably turned the interest of raiders towards more exposed areas, which in turn
led to the depopulation of said areas, especially by religious communities who were the primary
targets of the attacks. The distribution of raids shows tight correlation with the political situation
and stability of the territories involved. A country ruled by a strong monarch possessed the
instruments required to prevent or avert the intrusions, while another in the state of civil war
proved a compelling target. The attackers often became conquerors: as described in ‘Conquests
and Settlements in the West’, Viking raiders established bases for their operations in or near the
harassed regions, and later conquered territories large enough to be called kingdoms. Sawyer finds
the history of these occupied areas ‘very obscure’6 due to the lack of sources. He examines the
place names of Scandinavian origin in the involved areas and concludes that while there are plenty
of these, their appearance is problematic to date. Sawyer quotes Gillian Fellows-Jensen:
‘Scandinavianisation of English place-names […] can be shown to have been quite common in the
twelfth century and to have continued to take place as late even as the sixteenth century.’7
Furthermore we receive a detailed analysis of the administrative structure of the territories under
Scandinavian occupation in the British Isles based on the Domesday Book and the process of their
fragmentation during the tenth century.

The final independent theme of Kings and Vikings is the interaction of the pagan religion
and cults of Scandinavia and the emerging Christianity during the Viking Age. This started long
before the official conversion of any Scandinavian kingdom. A syncretistic process is observable in
the literary sources as the original polytheistic religion transferred ideas and elements from the
advancing monotheistic one. Christianity often gained ground in Scandinavia by ‘welding together
[…] different aspects of the heathen faith into one united whole’.8 However, the conversion to

6
Sawyer, p. 100.
7
Gillian Fellows-Jensen, ‘Conquests and the Place Names of England, with Special Reference to the Viking
Settlements’, Norna-Rapporter, 17 (1980), 192–209 (p. 201).
8
Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (London: Penguin Books, 1990), p. 222.
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Christianity was most often a political decision on the part of rulers and kings who wished to
strengthen their own position with the help of their new faith.

Kings and Vikings is, as another review have already pointed out, ‘a decidedly personal,
challenging general survey’9 in which Sawyer definitely achieved his goal of creating a work of
synthesis. He analyses his themes in great detail, reflecting on all possible interpretations of the
evidence available. This effort results in a work that is an outstanding collection of facts, data, and
is an extensive overview of previous scholarly efforts on the topic. However, this is exactly the
feature that makes reading it a challenge, as the factual density of its content easily overwhelms
the reader and makes the synthetic character more difficult to grasp. The chosen writing style is
notoriously monotone and the text resembles more to an encyclopaedic attempt than to a
synthetic scholarly contribution. This is counterproductive in the sense that it requires an
enormous effort from the reader to find the innovative bits of scholarship among the
overwhelming data. In conclusion, Kings and Vikings is an invaluable source for research in virtually
every topic concerning Scandinavia and its surroundings in the Viking Age, but perhaps not the
best choice for introductory reading on this field.

9
John Lindow, Review of Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100 by P. H. Sawyer, Scandinavian
Studies, 57 (1985), 110–11.
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Bibliography

Davidson, Hilda Roderick Ellis, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (London: Penguin Books,
1990)

Fellows-Jensen, Gillian, ‘Conquests and the Place Names of England, with Special Reference to
the Viking Settlements’, Norna-Rapporter, 17 (1980), 192–209

Lindow, John, ‘Review of Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100 by P. H.
Sawyer’, Scandinavian Studies, 57 (1985), 110–11

Roesdahl, Else, The Vikings, 2nd edn (London: Penguin Group, 1998)

Sawyer, P. H., Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100 (London: Methuen,
1982)