Who were the Vikings, really? 

Why do we associate Vikings with Minnesota? There’s the football team, obviously, and they are making news by hiring a new general manager. But how much do Minnesotans know about those other Vikings, the ancient Nordic seafarers? 

It turns out they did not wear horns on their helmets. And, recent archeological and genetic research is upending other popular myths about these raiders from the North. 

The new book “River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads” traces their far-flung voyages all the way to eighth-century Baghdad and India. 

On Friday, host Angela Davis talked with a historian and an archeologist about why Vikings capture the popular imagination and what we’re learning about who they were. 

Guests: 

• Cat Jarman is a bio-archaeologist based in the U.K. who specializes in the Viking age and Viking women. She’s the author of “River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads,” a bestseller in the U.K. which will be published in the U.S. in Februrary. 

• Glenn Kranking is an associate professor of history and Scandinavian studies at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

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