Andrew Wawn

Not so much a history of vikings, as a history of how they were perceived from the 18th century to the mid-20th. Dense with information about early geographers in Iceland, theatre productions of the sagas (performed in fashionable powdered wigs) to the vagaries of translators and the rise and fall in popularity of this story over that.. this is glorious stuff, albeit aimed at a slightly niche market.

There are some very funny parts; I remember showing a Swedish colleague the passage by an early victorian traveller in the Baltic, explaining how the accent of Swedes developed the way it did because they didn't want to open their lips too far and let frigid winds into their mouths - she wasn't impressed.… (mais)