Ten films in which Magnus Magnusson explores the Viking World.
"Never was it thought such an inroad from the sea could be made." (Alcuin of York, 793)
The ship was the true symbol and spirit of the Vikings: nothing has yet surpassed the elegance and beauty of its lines, deceptively disguising its power and versatility. The Viking mastery of all the seafaring arts gave them the instrument not only of terror but of trade and colonisation.
In 793 unexpected assaults by sea-borne warriors from the remote fastnesses of Norway introduced the peaceful monastic communities of the north of England to the awesome terror of lightning attacks from the sea. Magnus Magnusson describes this 'bolt from the blue' and shows how even the mastery of Norway itself depended upon sea power - the age of the Vikings had begun. With Colin Blakely, Daniel Massey, John Bennett
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