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| Men-at-Arms 396: Medieval Scandinavian Armies (1) 1100-1300 | 
 enlarge | Author: David Lindholm
Creator: Angus Mcbride
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $9.15
You Save: $6.80 (43%)
New (8) Used (4) from $9.15
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 553116
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 48
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 7.1 x 0.2
ISBN: 1841765058
Dewey Decimal Number: 948
EAN: 9781841765051
ASIN: 1841765058
Publication Date: August 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New book with slight shelf wear and remainder
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Product Description
While Scandinavia's 'Viking Age' is one of the most studied aspects of early medieval history, much less has been published about the centuries that followed. Yet the armies of Sweden, Norway and Denmark offer fascinating differences from the rest of medieval Western Europe, both in their organisation and their war gear - due partly to their remoteness, climate and terrain, but partly to their long freedom from the feudal system of other kingdoms. This book explains the special nature of Scandinavian armies, shaped by the relative weakness of kings and aristocrats, and the contrasts between the separate nations of the North.
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| Customer Reviews:
 The soldiers in the plates bieng stocky is correct November 25, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The facial features I don't know, but of course the soldiers are stocky these people lived a very active life. When you have a soldier or warrior life and you have to carry all that armor on your own two legs and have wild a sword with a shield or an axe or a poleaxe... for an entire battle and marche on foot and fight again through an entire campaign, trust me i work out I Know a lot about this, trust me you become very tought and physicaly developed, you become vey stocky. These people did not sit around watching TV. They had to fight in a way that required a lot of physical strength and when they were not fighting they were working building fortifications or practicing thier fighting skills. that is why i love angus mcbride's work because he does not draw skinny out of shape soldiers that would not be able to lift a pike!
 Post-Viking Warriors April 7, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
A fine book about a subject that has not received enough attention. Both text and plates deal with Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish armies, as well as those of the Kingdom of the Isles, the Saami, and the Norse settlers in Greenland and Iceland. A wonderful book with Angus McBride's usual excellence.
 Could have been better February 10, 2005
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
As a scandinavian and a fan of Osprey I find this book particlarly interesting, though I must say that it lacks in quality. It has some flaws, starting already on page 1 with the Skog Church-tapestry. According to the text, it's 12th century - wrong - it's 13th century (and it's far from sure whether it really portrays pagan Gods). My overall impression is that the text is both informative and quite well-researched, but I got frustrated with the horrible ignorance about my own sami ancestors (I'm part sami). This book claims that the medieval sami were "tribal" - wrong. Please - just because a people are hunters and gatherers it doesn't mean that they have to be tribal. The sami were not (and aren't) tribal, the traditional society is based upon small groups of extended families (siida or "village"). The book claims that there were clashes between the norse and the sami - there were in fact no military conflicts because of the simple fact that the sami never fought - they hardly knew how to defend themselves.
Well despite this the text is generally okay. Now to the plates - which are worse. I agree with mr Fodstad - McBride's characters are weirdlooking - they're too stocky and have funny facial features like caricatures (McBride used to be much better). The clothes are often fantasy rather than fact. Why all the fur? The battle of Hova was fought on june 14th. Why then is the peasant soldier on plate G dressed in a thick Conan-style furcoat (and a furred hat)? Well We have summers here in Scandinavia too, you know... And don't get me started on the so called Sami "tribal warrior"...
No, this book leaves much to ask for, sadly the second book was not much better
 A book of limited value September 1, 2004
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
As the nordic (since Finland and Iceland are included in the book, the title is misleading) medieval military scene after the viking age is a subject on which few authors have cared to comment, one could have hoped for a more thought-through book from Nicolle and Lindholm. Sadly, this is not the case.
Factual errors abound and the authors happily ignores a great deal of both written and pictorial evidence to support their theories, particulary about the backwardness of Sweden and Norway in military terms. As the "guide to further reading" is populated almost solely by outdated literature, one suspects little effort has been made to provide an up-to-date picture.
One of the authors also manages to bring out an old hobby horse-theme; the interesting idea that Viking age one-edged swords were inspired by eastern fashion is presented - despite the fact that one-edged swords have been around in the north since the early iron ages. While many medieval developments may have arisen from eastern contacts, this idea seems like mere speculation. This is merely one of several glaring errors in this below-standards book.
One can also wonder why the book has the timespan 1100 to 1300 attached to it. By ending the book around 1300 the author cuts an artificial barrier into a period of great activity in scandinavia, both political and military - the period of the mid-nordic realm of the swedish duke Erik, in which the three scandinavian kingdoms clash both on the battlefield, dynastically and politically.
On the illustrations, McBride shows himself as a capable but rather creative illustrator - the strange stockiness of his figures, plus the abundance of fur coats with the fur turned out, make them seem a bit more like movie barbarians than medieval northerners. The clothing on civilians, and quite a few of the warriors, in all plates of the book seem to be inspired more by the popular image of viking age clothing than the plethora of scandinavian evidence available - the altar frontal collections of the Historical Museum in Bergen alone could have provided him with much inspiration. Unfortunately, McBride chose to resort to imagination instead.
One can only hope that other english-speaking scholars try to do a more thorough job when, or rather if, a similar and hopefully more valuable volume on the military aspect of medieval nordic culture appears.
A great insight into the followers of the Vikings! March 6, 2004
1 out of 6 found this review helpful
I just finished this book, and I loved it! I have always been interested in the Viking period, and I was curious about their successors.
The writer does a great job in giving us an overview of the military history of the Northern nations, of the shift from the Viking influences to the feudal culture of Europe, but at the same time developing their unique own military culture.
Angus MacBride's illustrations are a beautiful guide to this evolution. As a fan of the Icelandic sagas, I especially enjoyed his illustration of the Northern Atlantic settlements folks.
As with most of the Osprey Books, we are given a glimpse of history, and I am usually thirsting for more, but they are great start with excellant writing and illustrations. This is a great introduction.
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