Viking Attacks on Paris: The «Bella parisiacae urbis» of Abbo of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations)

There aren't an aweful lot of primary sources on the Vikings from the actual Viking Age (793 to 1066 AD) so I was pleasantly surprised that this source has been translated into English. The Vikings attacked and beseiged Paris in 885/86 and Abbo was an eyewitness to the events. Abbo writes his account like a Vigilian Epic but as it was written soon after the events it is basically accurate. Abbo has been criticised for inflating the number of Viking attacker but that is a normal problem for ancient and medieval historians.Abbo mixes theology and history. He considers why the Vikings attacked Paris as well as what happened. He often concludes it is due to the sins of the Franks.The parallel Latin text accounts for the rather inflated price. The rhetorical epic style makes it difficult to read at times. Other than that I found it an interesting text.

There's only one problem with this edition of the Bella Parisiacae, and it's that it's criminally overpriced.I understand that it's an unique text and that the efforts to translate it and interpret it accurately should be praised, but the book should cost half of its price point.With that out of the way, I can tell you that this edition was very helpful to me in writing a detailed report on the Viking Siege of Paris. I was grateful for the notes and the preface, which contained valuable information, and allowed me to verify many of the points in the text.The text itself is unjustly persecuted by historians, who cite Abbo's inaccuracies, particularly on the sizes of the forces involved. There is an abundance of cultural information in the text that rewards the more careful reader, who realizes there is more to history than numbers and statistics. It's a rare view into the past on a truly extraordinary historical event. I plan on revisiting the text many times in the future.

Interesting translation, but expensive

A good translation of a hard to find source.

A fine translation for one of the few depictions of a Medieval siege that we actually have.