MICEL FOLCLAND BIBLIOGRAPHY VI

Working on a new version of the bibliography and sharing it here. These books are recommended—or warned against—by members of the group and other medievalists. Please write with any additions you suggest!

GENERAL

Al-Amin, Nashid. True Myth: Black Vikings of The Middle Ages
Controversial book that many Aryanists will froth over, but he makes quite a few good points that academic have tended to ignore and to overlook.

Alexander, Caroline. Lost Gold of the Dark Ages: War, Treasure, and the Mystery of the Saxons
A table featuring many excellent photographs of items from the Staffordshire Hoard, along with historical background.

Allison, David B. Living History.
Small and informative book on living history at living-history sites and museums.

Almgren, Bertil (editor). The Viking
Large-format and heavily illustrated coffee-table book that tells a lot about Viking culture and how certain things—for example, the loom and the turtle broaches—were accomplished. Expensive and outdated in some areas, but well worth it if you have an interest in things Norse and are willing to check on statements.

Anderson, Gunnar (editor), Vikings: Beyond the Legend
Color photos from te 2014–2015 Viking Exhibit when it appeared in Australia.

Anderson, Jay. Time Machines: The World of Living History
The seminal work about living history in all its aspects. The chapter on the SCA is “Princes Valiant.”

Aries, Philippe and Georges Duby (eds.). A History of Private Life Vol. II
Good book for an understanding of medieval times and people. Good pictures

Aston, Michael. Interpreting the English Village: Landscape and Community at Shapwick, Somerset
A detailed look at a single community through the ages.

Baker, Alan. The Viking
A modern and imaginative interpretation of Viking culture that harkens back to the worst Victorian romanticism. No notes, no real bibliography (just a list of other secondary and tertiary sources). AVOID!

Baldwin, John W. The Scholastic Culture of the Middle Ages, 1000-1300
Deals with the end of Regia’s period. On Stephen Silver’s Medieval Universities Bibliography.

Bjarnason, Egil. How Iceland Changed the World.
A popular history of Iceland, unfortunately with no references.

Boswell, John. The Kindness of Strangers: The Abandonment of Children in Western Europe from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance
This book is not nearly as grim as the title suggests. The author argues that abandonment usually did not mean death, that children who could not be supported in one family usually found their way into families who wanted and needed them. Extraordinarily well written.

Boswell, John. Same Sex Unions in Premodern Europe
Well-documented, gay-friendly (Boswell was gay and died of AIDS) recounting of hushed-up tolerance of earlier Christianity.

Brehaut, Ernest (Trans.). An Encyclopedist of the Dark Ages
On Stephen Silver’s Medieval Universities Bibliography.

Brink. Stefan. The Viking World (Routledge Worlds)
A fine collection that looks at artifats from and everyday life in Viking-Age Scandinavia.

Brown, Nancy Marie. Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths
Innovative book that examines the non-period Snorri Sturlusson, who wrote and probably invented tales of Norse mythology.

Byock, Jesse. Viking Age Iceland
An intensely vibrant and interesting view of Icelandic culture during the Free State

Cahill, Thomas. How the Irish Saved Civilization—The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe
A look at the Irish preservation of books during the early Middle Ages.

Campbell, Gordon. Norse America: The Story of a Founding Myth.
A frustrating look at Norse settlement of the New World. Not recommended at all.

Crawford, Sally. Childhood in Anglo-Saxon England
A recommended book on how children were treated and acted in Anglo-Saxon England.

Grollemood, Larissa, and Bryan Keene. The Fantasy of the Middle Ages.
A publication of the J. Paul Getty Museum dealing with medieval fantasy in popular culture. More concerned with knights and damsels rather than Norse aspects. It does deal with medievalesque LARPs and Rennaissance Fairs.

Crawford, Sally. Daily Life in Anglo-Saxon England
An outstanding book dealing mainly with the physical culture, drawing on the latest research. Great, even if it gives the Regia site as regis.com! One of Greenwood’s excellent “Daily Life Through History” series.

Deary, Terry. Gruesome Guides: York (Horrible Histories).
The Horrible Histories series are written for younger readers but are always informative and fun. This one is a history of the central city of the Danelaw.

Deary, Terry. The Smashing Saxons (Horrible Histories)
The Horrible Histories series are written for younger readers but are always informative and fun. This one covers Anglo-Saxon culture.

Deary, Terry. The Vicious Vikings (Horrible Histories)
The Horrible Histories series are written for younger readers but are always informative and fun. This one deals with Norse culture.

Du Chaillu, Paul. The Viking Age (2 volumes)
Early but profusely illustrated overview of Norse culture that is pertinent still today.

Dyer, Christopher, Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain 850-1520
A good book on everyday life, but it unfortunately covers such a wide period of time that it is often cursory. Nevertheless, a good place to start.

Erdoes, Richard, A.D. 1000: Living on the Brink of Apocalypse
At first glance, yet another book about the turn of the First Millennium, but actually written some twelve years before and brought back into print for the Y2K scare. The subtitle pretty much describes the theme of the book.