The power and endurance of the Nordic spirit is encompassed within the pages of this superb new book. Understated as an outline history and heritage of northern Europe from AD 400 to 1100, the eight historians and archaeologists present a series of revealing insights into the history, culture, society, religion and myth of the Goths, Franks, Saxons, Celts, Slavs and Vikings, accompanied by an array of illustrative material. The subjects covered include the gods and heroes, the Germanic tribes, the Celts and how they contributed to history, the rise of the Vikings, the sagas they left behind, and finally the way in which the painters, writers and composers of the nineteenth century turned history and mythology of the North into some of the greatest masterpieces of the Romantic age'.