About the Book: Eleanor Barraclough brings the Viking Age to life through the everyday objects of ordinary people—from love notes and board games to combs and rune sticks—offering a deeply intimate and immersive look at Norse society beyond the legends. Traversing the centuries from Scandinavia to Greenland, Eurasia, and the Islamic world, she shifts our gaze from kings and raiders to the merchants, children, slaves, and storytellers who shaped the culture. Richly detailed and evocative, Embers of the Handsunearths the “glowing remnants” of past lives and reveals how artisans, seers, and families grasped meaning in a tumultuous world.