The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia

I got this book as part of researching magic and religion in Viking Age Scandinavia. Not only did it deliver, but it also brought forward relevant cultural information, including the relationship between Nordic (Scandinavian/northern Germanic) cultures and the indigenous Sami people who still live in the arctic regions in northern Scandinavia. The ability to cross compare the two and see how much interaction they have had over several hundreds of years brought a clarifying element to my research. This text is now a go-to for me whenever anyone talks about Scandinavian religion, magic, Odin, and Freyja.

The illustrations and photos are many in number, generously sized, of very high quality, with a goodly number in color, including many very rare photos. Neil Price's genius consists in his peerless ability to hold data together in his attention, understand its significance, and bring it into a seamless whole. He has updated the references to "late 2018," and added some "35,000 words to the original work, plus a new chapter assessing the current research. His descriptions of the archaeological data are exquisitely detailed, illustrated and photographed. It is a 'must have' handbook on seidr, and that is the book's focus. Everything else revolves around what can be known or surmised about seidr, the Northern magical technique. His assessments of other researcher's works are knowledgeable, thoughtful and fair. Like everyone else, I've waited for this book to be finished and published for 7 years. Price apologizes in the intro and says he hopes people think the book was worth the wait. Absolutely, yes, Neil Price, it was worth the wait.

I only just received it, so I've only had a chance to glance through it. I had realized somehow that it was so big, and hardcover! Its like a textbook. Flipping through i see some very good photographs of artifacts, and quite an extensive table of contents (i wish the printing in the table of contents wasn't so small, but the rest of the book looks fine). It looks like a very well researched with great info. I look forward to delving into it.

I found the book very informative and impressive in the breadth and depth of the research and work that went into the finished product. Undoubtedly the book’s greatest strength is the interdisciplinary approach that Price took in that it combined textual analysis with archeological evidence. If for nothing else, Price should be commended for the dedication and effort that he has given to the subject matter, but his original arguments are also convincing and deserve to be referenced by further research in this area. Bravo.

Very useful from both religious and academic perspectives. Provides insights and perspectives that are grounded in experiences and research which you would struggle to find elsewhere.

Good information. Writing really does not work. Not an engaging read.

I have been waiting to get this book for soooooo long. Neil price is a amazing author an historian. This is the only book out of my very wide collection on heathen topic that list ALL 200 names of odin. That to me just throws it at the top of my favorite list.

Fantastic book. Wonderful author. Very informative. Always enjoy listening to this author.

This was bought as a birthday gift for my son and he was highly delighted to receive it to add to his Viking Books collection and he found it a very interesting read

Thats a real great book, so full of information and solid studies. Interesting also the long chapter about Sami-shamanism and its possible influence on Norse magic. Price argues, that shamanism was an integral part of all circumpolar people and it makes no sense to exclude Scandinavia from these wide spread religious habits. For me as a German it was not easy to read the whole 400 pages, because its all very dense and in scientific language, but it was worth it. I can fully recommend this book as well as other lectures of Neil Price for example on Youtube. Exciting and inspiring science!

Ottimo per quanto riguarda i dati storici e archeologici, le foto, le ricostruzioni, i frequenti rimandi ad altri autori, stile scorrevole, ma dovrò riprenderlo in un successivo momento perché ho perso la pazienza :) La descrizione di ogni singola tomba riporta l'elenco minuzioso degli oggetti ritrovati al suo interno, purtroppo la descrizione del corredo funebre, che risulterebbe interessantissima, e servirebbe a caratterizzare ulteriormente la persona, viene irrimediabilmente e costantemente rimandato a "below", "in the next chapter" e così via. La curiosità non viene soddisfatta e gli oggetti, in sé speciali, vengono descritti "più avanti", tutti assieme, non ci si ricorda più di quale sepoltura si parlasse, bisogna tornare indietro per fare mente locale. Si tratta certamente di una scelta ponderata dell'Autore, elenco tombe, poi elenco manufatti, forse per sottolineare le somiglianze, ma secondo me, una descrizione completa di ogni luogo, con le foto a documentare i relativi reperti, sarebbe stata preferibile, sentirsi dire ogni santa volta "ne parleremo più avanti", "ve lo racconterò altrove", me lo ha fatto abbandonare. Lo riprenderò in un altro momento.

Neil Price nous offre un nouveau regard sur la culture Scandinave pré médiévale . Une thèse importante au yeux de l'Archéologie et de ce que pouvait être la pensée des anciens scandinaves.

Currently still reading and it has been an interesting read and a well put together book.