{"product_id":"dead-in-the-mud-tobin-scott-9798176259827","title":"Dead in the Mud: A Historical Autopsy of the Viking Warrior","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eForget the horned helmets. Forget the glorious death.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn a Dorset roadworks pit lie fifty-one Scandinavian men, beheaded and dumped in a heap. No poet composed a verse for them.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Vikings you think you know were built by paid court poets, Christian scribes writing centuries later, and Victorian costume designers. The real ones stank of tar, tallow, and wet wool. They scratched lice from their beards, dragged poisoned bellies through raids, and fought while the ground turned to soup under their boots. Some of the most feared \"berserkers\" in the sagas end up cornered in a bathhouse. Whole armies lost battles they'd been too hot to armor up for. Countless men died the way most people in history die: of infection, bad luck, and one wrong step in the mud.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDEAD IN THE MUD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e is a historical autopsy. Using an original five-part investigative framework called \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Barrow Autopsy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, it peels back the skin of the legend, slices into the sources that sold it, weighs the bones, examines the gut, and finally names the true cause of death.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eInside, you'll discover: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhy the horned helmet is a nineteenth-century opera costume, not a Viking artifact\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHow paid court poets built the \"glorious death\" myth one arm-ring at a time\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhat the bones at Repton, Birka, and Gokstad actually say about how these men died\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWhy the infamous \"blood eagle\" ritual may be a thousand-year-old mistranslation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe real, unglamorous causes of death behind history's most feared raiders\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo fantasy. No flattery. Just the blood-soaked, foul-smelling, gloriously human truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIf you want Valhalla, look elsewhere. If you want the body, pull up a chair.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Tobin Scott\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798176259827\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/22\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 110\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.23d","brand":"Tobin Scott","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50780113076479,"sku":"9798176259827","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8eeb3899-b622-4b23-84e8-5351614c52f9.jpg?v=1792949351","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/dead-in-the-mud-tobin-scott-9798176259827","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}