Interview with Valur Gunnarsson

About this episode

Alan Laycock-Fuchs interviews historian Valur Gunnarsson about his book on alternative Viking histories and the mystery of a lost Norse colony.

In today's bonus episode I interview historian and author Valur Gunnarsson about his first English book entitled "What If Vikings Had Conquered The World," which covers a great deal of Nordic history all the way from the Viking Age right through to modern Icelandic history.  I have read his book with great pleasure and so speaking from experience, when you read it yourself you may be forgiven if you are convinced by the alternative histories presented by Valur to the point that you believe they actually happened! This is because Valur writes with such precise detail and uses a methodology that he describes as "responsible alternative history writing," which uses precedents set in similar cases and real history to predict the outcome of alternative timelines. The scenarios he presents are very realistic but at the same time you find yourself engaged with his topics through his use of humour and his detailed analysis of the actual events that did take place, giving an overall enriched context and understanding of the history he details and how certain trajectories of various events may have been altered by even the slightest sliding-door moments.  We also speak about his…

People in this episode

Host: Alan Laycock-Fuchs

Guest: Valur Gunnarsson

Topics covered

• Nordic history
• Viking Age
• alternative history
• Icelandic history
• historical analysis
• lost Norse colony

Keywords

• Vikings
• Nordic history
• alternative history
• Iceland
• Greenland
• historical analysis
• Valur Gunnarsson

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: What If Vikings Had Conquered The World, latest book

Places: Iceland, Greenland

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