Cross & Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms from the Vikings to the Reformation

Bagge (Kings, Politics, and the Right Order of the World in German Historiography), one of the world’s pre-eminent medieval historians, offers an introductory survey of early Scandinavian history that will be a welcome addition in the classroom. He traces this often misunderstood culture from the Vikings up to the Reformation. While those horn-helmeted ur-pirates make a few appearances, Bagge doesn’t spend too much time on overblown Viking tales: this is a book about the transition from tribe, war band, and clan, to kingdom, military, and state—about the slow but steady reawakening of Western civilization from the Dark Ages, only this time considered from a rare and somewhat misty perspective. As Bagge states in the introduction, it’s primarily a “kind of European history in miniature,” focusing on how the Scandinavian states gradually, if occasionally sluggishly, evolved along with the rest of the continent in culture, politics, and religion. Insightful, in-depth, and authoritative—though a bit of a slog at times—Bagge’s scholarly work will be of great use to those with interest in this oft-forgotten civilization. (May)