Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age

Danelaw was the term for the region of England under Norse control—roughly modern-day London to Birmingham—from 878 until the early 11th century. King Alfred of Wessex gave the land to Norse leaders, who in turn parceled it out to followers. Barraclough frequently references artifacts and place-names found within the boundaries of the Danelaw to explore the diffusion of Norse culture and examine evidence of tensions between Norse settlers and Anglo-Saxons.

Hnefatafl was the most popular board game in the Viking Age, literally translated “fist table” (236). The game was played on a grid with pieces like chess; the most important was the king piece, who started in the center of the board and had to make it out to the edge. The rules of the game are explained in saga riddles, and pieces appear frequently in burials and archaeological sites. Barraclough says a king piece placed in a dead man’s mouth was an intentional act of storytelling, emphasizing the significance of the game and the widespread understanding of its symbols in the Norse world.

A kenning was a metaphorical way of describing something, often including “word riddles full of unexpected imagery and mythological references” (230) that would have been familiar to listeners at the time.