In this episode we explore the politics of Western Norway at the Dawn of The Viking Age.

Our aim is to discover the nature conflict, cooperation and competition between the chiefdoms and petty kingdoms of the area which would later become Norway. To do this we look at the nature of power as expressed by Western Norwegians themselves, in the form of Skaldic poetry.

Along the way we look at battles, ravens and lavish gifts. We will explore a Viking Age battle field as well as a chieftain's longhouse.

By the end of it, we will have a good idea why aristocratic Norwegians decided to go a Viking around 800 CE.

In this episode we explore the history of landscape and peoples of Western Norway at the Dawn of the Viking Age. We will follow the coast of Norway on a  journey with a Norwegian Chieftain, and discuss slaves, tenant farmers and petty Kings.

Along the way we will determine whether or not overpopulation and lack of arable land were the determining factors behind the initial Viking Raids in the early 800s CE.