title: From Viking to Crusader: Scandinavia and Europe 800-1200
author: Else Roesdahl
description: A complete picture of world history requires examination of the Arctic between Newfoundland and Russia, including the Vikings. Other books on Viking society are available, but few are as comprehensive as this international effort. Published to coincide with a a major exhibition traveling to Paris, Berlin, and Copenhagen, this book offers enough material to close the sizable bibliographic gap that currently exists. The only real weakness is the uneven quality of the writing, which, as a result of the large number of contributors, can perhaps be forgiven. What libraries get for their money is a well-rounded view of Nordic culture, a complete catalog of artifacts in the exhibit, color illustrations, maps, and fascinating information not found elsewhere. An accessible work that would enhance most collections.<BR><I>- Susan M. Olcott, Columbus Metropolitan Lib., Ohio</I><BR>Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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  ## THREE
  
  From-- _The New School Encyclopedia_ , copyright A.C. 920, Deep Harbor, New
  Home.  
    
  **The Orc Wars, A.D. 2831-2832 (A.C. 779-780) --**  
    
  Tribal chiefs and feudal lords had fought innumerable small wars since before
  records began to be kept again (about A.D. 2350). But in post-plague Europe
  there was no large-scale war until 2831. In that year the Orc Wars began.  
    
  It seemed predestined that there would be such wars, given the post-plague
  return to primitivism, with society organized variously under tribalism,
  feudalism, and despotism. What actually brought it about was the development
  of a new imperialism in the Middle East. Its outcome, however, was the result
  of a folk migration out of Scandinavia, in response to severe climatic
  cooling, the opening stage of the new, so-called Athabasca-Skanderna
  glaciation . . .  
    
   . . . On one side, two powerful military forces were allied, o