During the time I have worked on this book, I have incurred many debts of gratitude, which I am happy to acknowledge. In the first place, I want to thank my editor Brigitta van Rheinberg, who suggested I write this book and who has supported me with sensitive readings and many valuable suggestions. My agent Lisa Adams of Garamond Agency was, as always, of great help. I want particularly to thank my splendid copyeditor, Madeleine Adams, whose diligent and sensitive work greatly improved the book in many ways. The production editor, Mark Bellis, saw the book through the Press with admirable skill.
I am grateful to many friends and colleagues who have discussed Viking history with me. I want in particular to mention Roberta Frank, whose scholarship I admire and whose friendship I cherish. She has read and commented on parts of the manuscript, and she generously allowed me to publish her paragraph consisting almost entirely of Old Norse loanwords in English. Ray Clemens has been a great friend since we were in graduate school together, and he has continued to put me in his debt through his incisive reading of the manuscript. Janet Nelson, Peter Heather, and Sverre Bagge read the manuscript for the Press and taught me much through their learned and generous comments. I wish especially to thank the much admired Peter Sawyer for gracefully raising no objection to my book adopting the same title as his groundbreaking 1962 work.
My assistant Gina Hurley performed a heroic task in assembling the images and the permissions to publish them. I also want to thank the institutions and persons who permitted me to publish [254]their images, and especially Håkan Svensson, Nicolai Garhøj Larsson, and Raymond Hejdström. Michal Ditzian copyedited several chapters with her impeccable sensitivity to argument, style, and grammar. Alexa Selph compiled the index with, as always, utmost professionalism and skill.
My employer, Yale University, supported the work financially by giving me a sabbatical during which I drafted a large part of the book. The Frederick W. Hilles Fund defrayed some of the costs of finishing the manuscript.
As always, I remain grateful to the libraries and other institutions that assisted me by making books, journals, and electronic resources available. I want to thank, especially, Yale University Library, one of the greatest centers in the world for humanistic research, and Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, Reykjavik, which with its reference library, rich stores of manuscripts, and expert staff is the ideal place to work on the Scandinavian Middle Ages.
My wife, Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir, helped me in many ways, read the entire manuscript, and generously shared her expertise. My children, Hjalmar and Elsa, continue to inspire. My parents, Eva Winroth and Hans Erik Johansson, always supported my perhaps eccentric choice of career and I am proud to dedicate this book to them.
