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plate 1. Magnificent multicolored glass vessels equipped the halls of the richest chieftains. This well-preserved example comes from a grave in Birka, Sweden. Photo: Gunnel Jansson, courtesy of Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm.
plate 2. Arabic dirhams (silver coins) and gaming pieces made of glass, including a “king,” were found in a rich grave in Birka, Sweden. Photo: Sören Hallgren, courtesy of Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm.
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plate 3. The ruins of Erik the Red’s farm Brattahlid, Greenland, are still clearly visible as the icebergs slide by on the fjord. Photo: Werner Forman/CORBIS. Reproduced with permission.
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plate 4. Ships played a prominent role in the life and imagination of the Vikings. The Scandinavian countryside is dotted with thousands of ship settings, where large rocks have been placed to form the outline of a ship. They are typically associated with graves and may represent the vessels that brought the deceased to the Afterworld. This example is from Djupvik on the island Gotland, Sweden. Photo: Bengt A. Lundberg, courtesy of Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm.
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plate 5. Hundreds of picture stones survive from the Viking Age on Gotland in Sweden. One of the most magnificent shows several battle scenes, at least one of which includes a woman. The large ship at the bottom dominates the composition. Stora Hammars 1, Lärbro, Gotland. Photo: Bengt A. Lundberg, courtesy of Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm.
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plate 6. The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, Denmark, used medieval shipbuilding techniques in creating a reconstruction of one of the grandest Viking longships ever found by archeologists. “The Sea Stallion of Glendalough” has proven eminently seaworthy and has sailed from Denmark to Dublin and back; volunteers have the opportunity to man the oars every summer. Photo: Vikingeskibsmuseet, Roskilde. Reproduced with permission.
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plate 7. Viking chieftains who sought to strengthen their relationships with their warriors handed out generous gifts, such as splendid swords with decoration in gold and silver. This sword with its discreet but graceful pattern produced with silver inlay comes from a grave in Sollerön, Sweden. Photo: Gabriel Hildebrand, courtesy of Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm.
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plate 8. This exquisite pearl string with twenty carnelian beads, twenty-two pieces of rock crystal, and a blue glass pearl was found in a grave at Hedeby. Whereas rock crystal might be found in several locations in Europe, the carnelian probably came from either the Caucasus region or India. Photo courtesy of Wikinger Museum Haithabu, Schleswig.
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plate 9. When Estrid Sigfastsdotter became a widow in the eleventh century, she erected this runestone in memory of her husband Östen, close to their farm at Såsta, Sweden. In the text, she announces that Östen died on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Photo: Bengt A. Lundberg, courtesy of Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm.
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plate 10. This exquisitely carved animal head from the ninth-century Oseberg burial probably decorated a chair or some other piece of furniture. It would not have been out of place on the high seat of a powerful chieftain. © Kulturhistorisk museum, Universitetet i Oslo.
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plate 11. This eleventh-century runestone in Altuna, Sweden, depicts the god Thor, hammer in hand, having captured the Midgard Serpent on his fishing line and pulling so hard that his foot has pushed through the bottom of the boat. Photo: Bengt A. Lundberg, courtesy of Riksantikvarieämbetet, Stockholm.
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plate 12. This statuette depicts the god of fertility Frey. According to the eleventh-century Christian writer Adam of Bremen, Scandinavian pagans fashioned Frey’s image “with an immense phallus.” Photo: Gabriel Hildebrand, courtesy of Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm.
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plate 13. Flateyjarbók is one of the greatest surviving medieval manuscripts collecting the stories of ancient Scandinavia, including many sagas about rulers in Norway and elsewhere, which often quote skaldic poetry praising kings and chieftains. Four stanzas are included on this page. In medieval manuscripts, poetry is typically not copied line by line, as in modern books, but in the same way as prose. Photo courtesy of © Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, Reykjavik. From GKS 1005, fo. 131v.
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plate 14. This beautiful pitcher made on a fast-spinning potter’s wheel was manufactured inside the Frankish Empire but found in a grave in Birka, Sweden. The pattern was made by attaching thin tin foil. Photo: Gunnel Jansson, courtesy of Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm.
