Definitive new global study of the Viking World, tracing the political, military, social, cultural and religious history Viking Empires, first published in 2005, is a definitive history of the Viking World and the first study of the global implications of its expansion, integration, and reorientation. From the first contact in the 790s the book traces the political, military, social, cultural and religious history of the Viking Age from Iceland to Lithuania. List of figures viii List of maps xii Acknowledgements xiii 1 Viking raiders, Scandinavian kingdoms and the wider world 1(6) 2 The beginnings 7(47) 3 First contact: England and the continent 54(27) 4 Ireland and Scotland 81(37) 5 A water world 118(52) 6 Conquest and integration, c. 950-1260 170(14) 7 The Second Viking Age in England, c. 970-1066 184(33) 8 The Irish Sea 217(24) 9 Scotland and the Vikings 241(24) 10 Orkney and Shetland 265(34) 11 Crossing the North Atlantic 299(29) 12 Sailing the North Atlantic 328(24) 13 Scandinavia and European integration: reform and rebirth 352(41) 14 Conclusions 393(8) Bibliography 401(25) Index 426