Description
The Norse Earls of Orkney and the Viking World
The story of the Norse Earls of Orkney, whose lands once covered much of Scotland, and whose reach extended as far as Scandinavia, continental Europe and even the Mediterranean.
The Norse earls of Orkney owed their allegiance to the Kings of Norway and ruled their own semi- autonomous empire, with lands in mainland Scotland and the Western Isles. At their military height in the 11th century, they held a 400-mile swathe of territory, stretching from Shetland down to the Clyde Estuary.
From their base in Orkney these Norse earls and their followers led Viking raids around the British Isles and even further afield. For over four centuries their warriors and longships battled alongside Scandinavian kings and Norse rebels, and as Norse kingmakers these warlike earls sometimes paid the ultimate price for dabbling in international affairs. They were the key players in Viking Britain.
Lords of the Salt Road draws on contemporary sagas as historical sources and captures Don Hollway weaves together traditional Norse sagas and Anglo-Saxon chronicles to vividly depict the violence and spectacle of the Viking age, bringing to life the legendary Olaf Trygvasson.
Hammer of the Gods tells the extraordinary saga of Olaf Tryggvason – warlord, wanderer, king, and crusader – whose life rivals the most legendary figures of Viking lore. Born in exile and hunted from birth, Olaf survived slavery, betrayal, and shipwreck to become a fearsome warrior across the Viking world from the icy fjords of Norway to the courts of Kiev, the slave markets of the Baltics, and the battlefields of England and Ireland. His rise would shake the foundations of Norse society, forge new kingdoms, and ignite a holy war against the old gods themselves.
In an age of axe and flame, when the Viking world stood at the crossroads of pagan traditions and the spread of Christianity, Olaf emerged as the fiercest adherent to the new faith – a sword in one hand and a cross in the other. Drawing on a vast array of early medieval sources from Icelandic sagas and skaldic verse to Byzantine and Anglo-Saxon chronicles, Don Hollway brings the world of Olaf Tryggvason vividly to life cutting through the legend to reveal the man behind the myth.
For readers of Bernard Cornwell and lovers of Viking history, Hammer of the Gods is the epic history of a great Norse king whose story shaped the fate of a civilization.
Don Hollway is an author and historian. His first book, The Last Viking, is a gripping history of King Harald Hardrada which was acclaimed by bestselling author Stephen Harding, by Carl Gnam of Military Heritage magazine and by Michael Dirda in The Washington Post. He is also a classical rapier fencer.
Hardcover. 400 pages.
