Introduction

This monograph finds its origins in a rather odd place. On a rather unexceptional evening, I was watching the hbo show, Vikings. The eponymously named show follows the mythic origins of Scandinavian raiders, who as they expand to find new land and new resources, come up against ‘civilised’ European society. For the most part, these Scandinavian men and women maintain their culture of warbands, raiding and looting. Yet, some do not – Rollo becomes a Francophile, adopting the culture and the warfighting of the Franks in return for land and titles. This is all to say that after a few seasons of progressively less and less violence, by the time we come across a scene where a warband of Vikings defile and destroy a small French homestead, we are reminded of the brutality of the times. Outraged that these raiders would do such a thing to some innocent peasants, I said to myself ‘surely that was a war crime even under Viking law.’