Viking warfare

General History

War and military history podcast episodes

Vikings quiz - week two. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

HEX Academy Vikings - week one video

Viking raiders, with Professor Ryan Lavelle. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Picture of Throrolf slaying Earl Hring

The battle of Brunanburh: the forgotten fight that changed British history

Return of the Viking raiders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Great Army attacks the East Anglian town of Thetford in this illuminated manuscript from 'The Life of Edmund'. Viking pikemen scale the ramparts on ladders

The secrets of the Viking Great Army

Viking warrior women & the ethics of excavating the dead. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Cnut holding a sceptre. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Cnut: the great Dane. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Varangian Guard as depicted in the illuminated 12th-century manuscript known as the Madrid Skylitzes. These Viking warriors became the Byzantine emperors' personal bodyguard

What was the Varangian Guard? A brief history of the Viking warriors of the Byzantine empire

The front facade of the prehistoric chambered tomb of Wayland's Smithy

BlogMedieval(ish) matters #6: Viking military mind games, Anglo-Saxon mind maps, and embroidery before the Bayeux Tapestry

This is the famous Rhynie Man carved stone, thought to be Pictish in date. (Photo by © Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service: www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology)

BlogMedieval(ish) matters #4: back to Braveheart, Viking river boats, Picts, and the Crusades

The Vikings: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Haesten (Jeppe Beck Laursen) in the 'The Last Kingdom'.

The Last Kingdom S4 E9 review: a tense penultimate episode sees the Saxon heart “ripped out”

Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred in season 4 of 'The Last Kingdom'. (Photo by Joe Alblas/Carnival)

The Last Kingdom S4 E10 review: resettled pieces on the board allow drama to “catch up” with history

Millie Brady as Aethelflaed in 'The Last Kingdom'.

The Last Kingdom S4 E8 review: a fiery opening paves the way for a new ruler of Mercia

The Last Kingdom season 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E7 review: a royal funeral, the abuse of power, and a little artistic licence

Oscar Skagerberg as Bjorgulf in 'The Last Kingdom' season 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E5 review: “This has to rank among the more gruesome episodes of the season, if not the series”

Ewan Mitchell as Osferth, Mark Rowley as Finan and Aenas Fedaravicius as Sihtric. (Photo by Adrienn Szabo courtesy of Netflix)

The Last Kingdom S4 E6 review: a mysterious medieval ‘Sickness’ leaves its mark

The Last Kingdom series 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E3 review: moments of introspection remind us of history’s “shared humanity”

Magnus Bruun as Cnut in 'The Last Kingdom' season 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E4 review: “Royal rage could be a terrible thing in the early Middle Ages”

'The Last Kingdom' season 4 episode 1

The Last Kingdom S4 E1 review: will Alfred’s legacy come tumbling down?

'The Last Kingdom' season 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E2 review: winds of change and dramatic father-son relations

A Viking sword with silver and gold hilt, from Dyback, Skane. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

How England rode the Viking storm. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Stained glass image of King Cnut

Your guide to King Cnut: the fierce Danish warrior who ruled England

What began as small raids on British coastal towns soon developed into all-out war, as a Great Viking Army arrived with a very different aim: to conquer (Photo credit: ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Vikings in Britain: how did raiders and marauders become lords and kings?

Coins depicting Viking longships

A brief history of the Vikings

The truth about Viking berserkers

Ragnar Lothbrok. (Illustration by Georgie Gozem for BBC History Magazine)

Ragnar Lothbrok: the legend of the immortal Viking and his sons

Viking ships arriving in Britain, c1130. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty

From the raid on Lindisfarne to Harald Hardrada's defeat: 8 Viking dates you need to know

The legendary Varangian (Viking mercenary) Rurik and his brothers arrive in Staraya Ladoga. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Global Vikings: how the impact of the raiders and traders went far beyond Britain