The Greatest Viking: The Life of Olav Haraldsson
Desmond Seward
Jan 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Liam Gerrard
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7 hr 14 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
A ruthless Viking warrior who named his most prized battle weapon after the Norse goddess of death, Olav Haraldsson and his mercenaries wrought terror and destruction from the Baltic to Galicia in the early eleventh century. Thousands were put to the sword, enslaved, or ransomed. In England, Canterbury was sacked, its archbishop murdered, and London Bridge pulled down. The loot amassed from years of plunder helped Olav win the throne of Norway, and a century after his death he was proclaimed "Eternal King" and has been a national hero there ever since. Despite his bloodthirsty beginnings, Olav converted to Christianity and, in a personal vendetta against the old Norse gods, made Norway Christian too, thereby changing irrevocably the Viking world he was born into. Told with reference to Norse sagas, early chronicles, and the work of modern scholars, Desmond Seward paints an intensely vivid and colorful portrait of the life and times of arguably the greatest Viking of them all.
About the author
Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at Cambridge University. He is the author of Richard III, The Last White Rose, and The Warrior King and the Invasion of France, among other books. He lives in England.
Liam Gerrard is an award-winning voice artist with over ten years of experience working in every field of the voice industry, as well as a highly acclaimed stage and screen actor. A 2017 Audie Award nominee, he has narrated over thirty audiobooks in a wide range of genres and styles.
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