In this episode we have one of our most wide-ranging conversations yet, and if you follow us at all you’ll know that’s saying something because we are very prone to ranging wide!

We chat with Alex Harvey, an archaeologist from Yorkshire, England, who has written several books on medieval history. But we wanted to hear all about his Forgotten Vikings which was published in the U.K. in 2024 but is just now reaching audiences in the U.S. in 2025.

Alex’s book and research had us asking many questions — What is the meaning of “Viking” and how is that changing? When did the Viking Age actually begin and end? How did he become interested in Vikings in the first place?

Then we ventured into how the Romans may have influenced the Viking Age North, the intermix of myth and reality in storytelling then and now, the importance of modern pop culture for getting people interested in Viking history, authenticity in the movie The Northman and TV series Vikings and The Last Kingdom, and how Vikings look to us like a mix of Walter White and Tony Soprano.

We warned you that we ranged pretty wide.

But just who are the “Forgotten” Vikings? You’ll have to watch/listen to find out.

Thanks so much Alex! We look forward to doing it again soon when we can dig into more about archaeology.

After you’ve read Forgotten Vikings, don’t forget to check out his other book Riddles of the Isle and then be on the lookout for his forthcoming book Little Kingdoms: An A-Z of Early Medieval Britain.

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