Gone Viking with Bill Arnott

Explore: A Canadian Geographic podcast

Notorious for their seafaring ways and conquering territories far and wide, the Vikings burst onto the world scene around 800 AD. For hundreds of years, they raided, conquered, settled, and farmed in lands across Europe, Russia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and across the North Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and then to what they called “Vinland,” our present-day Newfoundland. They did all this in longboats, effectively 60-foot open row boats with sails and virtually no navigation tools.

Whatever their legacy of terror (our guest today has some thoughts on that), they were remarkable explorers who left an indelible legacy wherever they went.

Vancouver-based author Bill Arnott spent a decade tracing the voyages of the Vikings around the world for his award-winning Gone Viking series.

In the best tradition of travel writers like Bill Bryson, Gone Viking takes you to where history happened, full of legends, lore, interesting characters and plenty of humour.

The most recent of the Trilogy, Gone Viking III: The Holy Grail, was released in the fall of 2023.

Bill Arnott’s writing frequently appears in Canadian Geographic magazine, including recently an excerpt from his newest book, A Perfect Day for a Walk: The History, Cultures, and Communities of Vancouver, on Foot, which will be released this fall. He is also a Fellow of the RCGS sister organization, the Royal Geographical Society.