[Craig Peters]

Lately I have been collecting books about medieval history specific to various regions throughout Europe. However, I'm having a difficult time locating books about general Scandanavian history. Not surprisingly, there's a plethora of information out there on the Viking era, and one can fairly easily obtain books that cover up to the 11th century, but I have found very little in my (admittedly limited) search for books covering the next few centuries. Any book suggestions will be welcome, though ideally I'd like a book covering general Scandanavian history from the 11th through 14th centuries.

[Ville Vinje]

Check out this site.

http://www.historiska.se/histvarld/forum/

These guys can most likely answer most of your questions. Most of the swedish reenactment elite use this forum. It is in swedish but they have a section called "English forum" where you can ask your questions.

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

Craig,
I'm not sure about general history books, but what about some military history books about Scandinavia?

Have you tried the two Osprey volumes that cover Scandinavia? There are two Men-at-Arms volumes, Medieval Scandinavian Armies (1) 1100-1300 and Medieval Scandinavian Armies (2) 1300-1500, both by David Lindholm and David Nicolle, with colour plates by Angus McBride. They seem to have some decent information, and a few good photos. I especially liked the photos of a Visby coat-of-plates with protection for only the front of the body (different from the standard Visby coat-of-plates depicted in almost every arms and armour book), some interesting Scandinavian swords, three different Visby gauntlets, and two views of an interesting Danish effigy of the 14th century (all in Medieval Scandinavian Armies (2) 1300-1500.

If you already have these two Osprey books, you might want to try David Nicolle's Medieval Warfare Source Book Volume 1: Warfare in Western Christendom. This covers all regions of western Europe, and each chapter has sections regarding Scandinavia. Nicolle's Arms and Armour of the Crusading Era 1050-1350 Western Europe and the Crusader States has a chapter about Scandinavia. The text is short, but informative about the general military history trends. This book also contains a plethora of line drawings by the author, based on period art and existing examples of arms and armour.

Even if these books aren't quite what you're looking for, they might give you an idea where to look. I know both Osprey books contain a "Further Reading" list. The lists do contain some general histories as well as military histories, but some of the books may be old, out-of-print, and hard to find (or in languages other than English).

I hoped this helped a bit, even if it wasn't exactly what you were looking for! The Osprey books could be good "primers" that might steer you in the right direction.

Stay safe!

[Daniel Staberg]

Nicolles books on 'Scandinavian' armies are filled with flaws and errors that make them poor as historical sources. Unfortunately Osprey and Nicolle ignored most of David Lindholm's attempts to correct existing errors and add new & correct information lacking in the books. I recomend staying away from them unless one knows enough of the subject to separated the actual facts from the many misconceptions and errnous information.
The same goes for Nicolles sections in the other mentioned books which are good examples of what happens when you write history with out being able to read the proper sources due to the language barrier.

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

[Max von Bargen]

I'd like to second Richard's request. I'm operating with somewhat limited sources, and one of Nicolle's books is my only source for some information, so it'd be helpful to know exactly where he falls short.

Max

[Elling Polden]

Since I'm a native, I dont have much info on english literature on the subject. they SHOULD be around, however...

I'll have a look at the Scandinavian Armies book, and see what I know to be wrong...

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

Thanks, Elling!
Any correct information you can come up with would be greatly appreciated!
Never stop learning!

Stay safe!

[Craig Peters]

Any other suggestions for book sources? I am interested in military history, but I am looking primarily for general history to fill out my book collection.

[Risto Rautiainen]

Though it's not 14th century, one of the best period accounts about the northern people is made by Olaus Magnus in the 16th century. You should find his works translated to english. Sorry I can't help you with any other english titles as I usually read them in finnish.