Until a very short time ago, I couldn't tell you the difference between a Celt, an Anglo-Saxon, a Viking, or a Scandinavian. I've done some preliminary research into the history of what we refer to as "The Vikings" and I've been amazed at the depth of information we have on a vast and complex group of people that spanned the better part of two millennia and is very involved in the history of Europe.
Wikipedia has been great at giving be an overview of Vikings and their history, but I'd really love some good contemporary literature to dig into. Any recommendations?
Also, anything specifically pertaining to the Varangian Guard would be great. For some reason, I've really taken an interest in them!
When I was taking Viking Raiders to Crusaders at Trinity College I came across some books that were helpful. I hope this puts you in the right direction, and that these books are what you are looking for.
I think this will count as more as enough places to start. Let me know if you want more. I have more as well. Most of these sources especially the ones I used on my paper (bibliography section) are excellent books with tons of content.
I guess with the Vikings it is also best to clarify that I find the term to be a catch all. An overview is a really broad subject band in my opinion.
Happy reading.
Peter Hunter Blair: An Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England
Gwyn Jones: A History of The Vikings
Andrew Wawn: The Vikings and the Victorians: Inventing the Old North in Nineteenth-Century Britain
National Geographic - Vesilind, Priit J: In Search of Vikings. National Geographic; May2000, Vol. 197 Issue 5, p2, 26p, 21 Color Photographs, 1 Map
P.H. Sawyer: Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100
D.O. Corrain: Ireland before the Normans
Bibilography of a paper I wrote:
Byock, Jesse. The Saga of the Volsungs: Richard Wagner and the Saga of the Volsungs. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.
Clements, Jonathan. A brief history of The Vikings: The last pagans or the first modern Europeans?. London: Constable & Robinson ltd, 2005.
Haywood, John. Encyclopaedia of the Viking Age. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000.
Klæsøe, Iben Skibsted . Viking Trade and Settlement in continental Western Europe. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2010.
Richards, Julian. The Vikings: A very short introduction, (New York: Oxford University Press Inc, 2005).
Quaife, Milo. "The Myth of the Kensington Rune Stone: The Norse Discovery of Minnesota." The New England Quarterly. 7. no. 4 (1934).
Wahlgren, Erik. The Kensington stone: a mystery solved. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1958.
Wawn, Andrew. The Vikings and the Victorians: Inventing the Old North in Nineteenth-Century Britain. London: D.S. Brewer, 2000
You also might consider The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson. It's fiction and a perennial best seller in Sweden. It's set in the late 10th century and Red Orm, the main character, travels all over Europe meeting the local rulers and eventually converting to Christianity.
Plus, it is a hell of a fun read.
Heimskringla is a good place to start.