Dr Arnved Nedkvitne is Professor of Medieval history at University of Oslo.

"The author successfully uses primary sources such as Norse sagas and church homilies to reconstruct and explore not only the changing church, but also the lay community's changing understanding of the church. ... Nedkvitne attempts to illustrate an incredibly complex and often overlooked aspect of medieval religious understanding. This important work, clearly written for experts in the field of religious history with a firm understanding of the source material and time period, successfully advances research and understanding of lay belief in Norse society. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, faculty, specialists." - A A Leykam, CHOICE, June 2010 Volume 47 No. 10.

"Three meaty chapters on ritual, ethics, and supernatural intervention in Norway and Iceland form the trunk of the book. There is abundant useful material here: a tabulation of biblical, Latin, and local saints' feast days, a clear and concise typology af last rites, an illuminating comparison between medieval and modern Norwegians' annual vacations (90 and 136 days, respectively), and more. Nedkvitne controls Norway's sparse sources as expertly as the better-known Icelandic ones. And unlike Anglophone Nordicists, whose sensibilities generally run literary, he traces his lineage to social history, fuelling some radical departures from accepted wisdom (e.g., pp. 221-22). This is the stuff constructive controversy is made of . . . The book is handsomely produced, with stunning color photographs of many sites and artefacts." -- Oren Falk, Speculum, 85/3 - 2010