The Vikings with Professor Ryan Lavelle

Ryan Lavelle examines the experience of warfare, in all its many and varied forms, in Britain during the Viking age

Charlotte Hodgman talks to historian Ryan Lavelle about the enduring legacy of Alfred the Great and visits eight places related to the Viking raiders of the ninth century

Cameron Balbirnie looks beyond the common image of the savage, pagan plunderers from Scandinavia to discover who the Viking invaders really were

Gareth Williams unlocks the secrets of the Norsemen's superlative seamanship

The popular perception of Vikings is that of aggressive, pillaging, bloodthirsty male warriors. But, as historian Judith Jesch explains, the Viking Age was not just a masculine affair...

Until AD 865, Viking raiders' modus operandi in the British Isles was simple – they came, they saw, they plundered, and then they sped away back over the sea. But that year something changed. Small bands of looters evolved into a massive armed force and, worse still for their terrified victims, they had every intention of staying put. Julian D Richards and Dawn Hadley describe what happened when the 'Viking Great Army' arrived on English shores

In 2017, a research paper made waves by claiming that the remains of a supposed professional warrior found in a 10th-century grave in Birka, Sweden, could be female. The remains, originally unearthed in the 1880s, had been long presumed to be those of a male warrior, due to their burial with weapons and other status symbols. Judith Jesch, an expert in Vikings and Norse studies, offers comment on the recent reassessment of the remains…

Erupting out of Scandinavia in the eighth century AD, the Vikings dominated northern Europe, but their influence stretched as far as Russia, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. Writing for BBC History Revealed, Pat Kinsella explores the reach of the Vikings…

Ryan Lavelle, historical consultant to The Last Kingdom and professor of early medieval history at the University of Winchester, argues that King Alfred's relationship with the Danes was defined by compromise as well as the power of the sword...

When the Vikings came raiding from across the sea, they took captives with them as well as plunder. What happened to those enslaved people? Professor Neil Price explains to HistoryExtra content director David Musgrove how far Viking Age society was based on slavery

In 1016, after more than two centuries of Viking raids and expulsions, a Norseman was crowned king of all England. Eleanor Parker explains how Cnut succeeded where his forebears failed, securing his place on the throne and in history

Beyond the stereotype of the rampaging, blood-spattered raiders lay a sophisticated culture with highly developed ideas on identity, the supernatural and what it meant to be alive. Neil Price explores the Vikings’ view of the world from five perspectives

Dr Cat Jarman explores the far-reaching trading networks of the Vikings, from the Baltic sea to Asia

Dr Ben Raffield explains how in the ninth and tenth centuries, Scandinavian laws and customs prevailed across a swathe of what’s now northern and eastern England

Viking influence spread from the Byzantine empire in the east to across the Atlantic Ocean, not just as raiders but as traders, explorers and kings. Jonny Wilkes talks to Professor Judith Jesch about how the Vikings left their mark on everything from politics and culture to exploration and language

In 1013, Sweyn Forkbeard employed superior military strength and tactical ability to supplant the descendants of Alfred the Great. Sarah Foot traces his journey from foreign adventurer to first Viking king of England...

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