I’ve posted the interview with John Kuehn on his book 100 Greatest Military Defeats on youtube here https://youtu.be/czGD1bqoA2M
Category: All Medieval War
The study of war from about mid 5th century AD to the 15th century.
Viking culture and warfare history book – “Valkyrie” – (Bloomsbury, 2020) – Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir interview
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Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir studies and teaches Viking era poetry and literature. She recently wrote a book on the idea of the Valkyrie in Viking culture. We spoke about this subject, Viking warfare, Viking sagas and the process of writing the book itself.
(Audio player at the end of the post.)
0:41 – Johanna talks about how she got into writing on Valkyrie.
1:45 – Johanna talks about how she broke the book down.
3:19 – Johanna talks about the date ranges, areas at issue, and the idea of the Valkyrie.
6:01 – Johanna talks about the Valkyrie.
7:45 – Johanna talks about the image of blood covered Valkyrie.
9:58 – Johanna talks about the meaning of Viking war poetry.
13:53 – Johanna talks about where the idea of the Valkyrie first started.
19:02 – Johanna talks about evidence or lack of women fighting.
26:04 – Johanna further addresses the idea of female warriors.
29:07 – Johanna talks about blacksmithing.
31:28 – Johanna talks about the ideas of Valkyries in different places and time periods.
37:37 – Johanna discusses interesting facts about Viking sails.
41:27 – Johanna talks about her written sources and the archaeological evidence.
44:09 – Johanna talks about which stories were passed down over the centuries.
48:38 – Johanna talks about how much the written material supports the archaeological evidence.
50:35 – Johanna talks about the process of writing the book.
51:28 – Johanna talks about the goddess Freya.
57:37 – Johanna talks about crows and battlefields.
58:57 – Johanna mentions crows, eagles, and wolves as images of battle.
1:00:00 – Johanna talks about evidence of women riding horses.
1:03:00 – We discuss the resources a Viking chief needed for success.
1:04:33 – Johanna talks about a touching moment in the sagas.
1:10:38 – Johanna talks about the Viking languages she knows and Viking poets.
1:14:22 – Johanna can be found at vikingwomen.org and on twitter @sagaknitter
Links of interest
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/valkyrie-9781788314770/
https://twitter.com/sagaknitter
For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
Guests: Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, valkyrie, , vikings, Iceland, Scandinavia, England, Battle of Stamford Bridge, York, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Greenland, Odin, Valhalla, Ragnarok, Raven, Game of Thrones, Saga, Gotland, Freya, Skaldic, dragon, rune stones, wolf, giantess, Eddic, Christianity, ships, sails, Snorri, Vinland, Newfoundland, Freya, Thor, Oseberg, grave, tomb, crows, undead, zombie, reenactments, Beforeigners, Sammi, maritime
Check out this book here https://amzn.to/2YL6JUu
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Georgios Theotokis interview about his Tenth century Byzantine military history book “Byzantine Military Tactics in Syria and Mesopotamia in the 10th century” (Edinburgh University Press, 2018)
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Georgios Theotokis interview about Byzantine military history in the 10th century
Check out this book here https://amzn.to/3kbS9gO
Interview Summary
Georgios Theotokis studies warfare in medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. He’s written extensively on this subject and we spoke about his latest book on the Byzantine and Arab militaries in the tenth century.
0:51 – Georgios talks about how he got into writing a book on the tenth century Byzantine military.
2:51 – Georgios talks about the military situation at the time period the book focuses on.
4:10 – Georgios talks about the book. It’s a comparison of military cultures of the period.
6:49 – Georgios talks about the Byzantium grand strategy. He also touches on tactics and equipment.
11:15 – Georgios touches on espionage in the period.
14:15 – Georgios talks about border security during the period.
20:16 – Georgios talks about how control is established in the towns of the border.
24:40 – Georgios talks about raids and skirmishes on the border.
28:31 – Georgios talks about how borders changed during this period.
34:32 – Georgios compares the equipment of the Arab and Byzantium militaries in the tenth century. He talks about heavy infantry among other types of units.
37:51 – Georgios talks about the evidence, documents and such, that support his research.
40:12 – Georgios talks about the evidence that informs researchers about the military equipment – armor or weapons.
45:12 – Georgios talks about why saints in Greek and Anatolian churches were painted wearing contemporary armor and weapons.
52:24 – Georgios talks about the discoveries that he would most like to see happen in relation to his work.
54:50 – Georgios mentions about the battles of Tarsus and Al-Hadat.
1:06:10 – Georgios has a page on academia.edu.
Links of interest
http://bogaziciuniversity.academia.edu/GeorgiosTheotokis
Contact information
For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar
Guests: Georgios Theotokis
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Edinburgh University Press, Medieval warfare,
Check out this book here https://amzn.to/3kbS9gO
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.