Painting of Vikings in ships

Viking

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.

Illustration of the raid on the monastery at Lindisfarne

Slaves in the Viking Age: how prevalent were enslaved people in Viking societies?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Inside the Viking mind. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Oseberg ship from around AD 820 is one of the most well- preserved Viking ships ever excavated (Photo by Noe Falk Nielsen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Viking ships: 5 lesser-known facts

Unexpected Irish tales. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Professor Jan Bill on the HistoryExtra podcast.

At sea with the Vikings. 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

Viking genes unravelled. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ghosts of Viking London. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration depicting the deposition of the body of Edward the Confessor in the tomb at Westminster in 1066. (

Was the early medieval period a "golden age" for the elderly?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Old Norse sages describe Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir as 'the loveliest of women and nobel in every trait'. But this far-travelled Icelandic woman was eulogised largely not for her beauty and charm but as a strong-willed survivor who married three times and bore a son, Snorri, in Vinland (North America) during on of her intrepid voyages (Illustration by Lynn Hatzius)

The amazing life of a great female Viking explorer

Edward the Confessor, depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

Edward the Confessor: 9 fascinating facts

A rare jewelled late Medieval cluster brooch,

Unburied treasures. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Chew Valley Hoard

Unburied treasures: the 10 greatest discoveries made by the British public. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Emma and her sons, miniature in 'Encomium Emmae reginae', mid 11th century, British Library (Photo by Getty Images)

Are women at the heart of the action in the Norman Conquest?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How much do you know about the Vikings? Test your knowledge with our quiz. This mid-19th century painting shows Viking ships on the River Thames. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

QuizHow much do you know about the Vikings?

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 a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Pictish stone carving featuring a salmon

BlogMedieval(ish) matters #3: the salmon of knowledge, rolling Roman mosaics, eels, and Crusades. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

Image of a medieval skull showing arrow injury

BlogMedieval(ish) matters #2: arrows in the eye, The Last Kingdom, Viking dogs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Painting of Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great and Edington: how the King of Wessex became great. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 10th-century silver coin minted in a Danish settlement

The global millennium: how the year AD 1000 was more globalised than we might think. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Victoria on an ivory throne

Top 11 monarchs in British history

Old Norse: Page from the manuscript Codex Regius, which was written in Iceland and contains the poems of elder Edda. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

BlogMedieval matters #1: The Last Kingdom, Robin Hood and how to learn Old Norse in lockdown. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Detail of the carved portal of Hylestad stave church, 12th century. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

5 forgotten Viking battles that shaped Britain's destiny. 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