Summary of Cat Jarman's River Kings

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The traditional narrative is that the Viking Age began when a band of Vikings attacked the wealthy monastery at Lindisfarne in Northumbria on 8 June 793. The attack was described in a letter to Ethelred, king of Northumbria, by Alcuin of York, a scholar living in what is now Germany. #2 The Viking camp at Repton was found to be the most sacred burial place of the Mercian royal family. The graves with Scandinavian artifacts were placed in prominent positions around the church, perhaps with the aim of legitimizing the rule of those leaders who had conquered all that land. #3 The excavated skeleton of G511, known as the Repton warrior, was discovered in Oxford in 2012. He had been buried with a sword of a Scandinavian type and a Thor’s hammer pendant around his neck. It was clear from his artifacts that he was a Viking. #4 Isotope analysis is a method used to trace a person’s geographical origins and background. It is done by identifying the origins of grave goods if present, but this method has some flaws. For example, burying the dead with artifacts was not always common practice, and even when it was, the objects did not always belong to the deceased.