Neil Price awarded this year’s Disa Prize for Viking book
In his book Ask och Emblas barn, Neil Price aims to give the reader a new picture of the Viking Age. Photo: Neil Price/Diadalos förlag/David Naylor
Archaeologist and author Neil Price is awarded this year’s Disa Prize for his book Ask och Emblas barn (Children of Ash and Elm). At the award ceremony on Uppsala Culture Night, he will take the audience back to the Viking Age.
The Disa Prize was established by Uppsala University and Studentbokhandeln in Uppsala to promote popular science writing. This year’s prizewinner Neil Price is Professor of Archaeology at Uppsala University and an internationally renowned researcher specialising in the Viking Age. He is being honoured for Ask och Emblas barn – a book in which he has tried to give as comprehensive a picture as possible of the Viking Age. First published in English in 2020 as Children of Ash and Elm, the book appeared in Swedish translation in 2024.
“I feel very honoured and very happy that the book has received such a fine award. I would also like to thank the translator Henrik Gundenäs who did a fantastic job. If the book reaches a wider audience now that it’s won a prize, so much the better,” says Price.
The jury explains its decision as follows:
“Engaged, versatile and deeply knowledgeable, in Ask och Emblas barn Neil Price tells the story of the people who created what we call the Viking Age. With a broad brush, he paints the picture of a foreign but fascinating culture. His stories bring the Vikings to life for as never before, and for perhaps the first time we understand how different they really were.”
The citation fits well with what Price wants his book to convey.
“I hope the reader will get a rather different picture of the Viking Age and will be able to look at it with new eyes. It’s a period that comes weighed down with stereotypes and misconceptions, when in fact the reality was multifaceted and extremely diverse − as I tried to describe in the book.”
The prize is worth SEK 50,000 and will be presented by Vice-Chancellor Anders Hagfeldt at Uppsala Culture Night. In connection with the award, Price will give a lecture entitled Revisiting the Viking Age.
Time: 13 September, 13:00–14:00
Venue: Periodical Reading Room, Carolina Rediviva, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 1, Uppsala.
Find out more about the award ceremony
The Disa Prize
The Disa Prize was founded by Uppsala University and Studentbokhandeln in Uppsala to further popular science writing and was awarded for the first time in 2001. The prize sum is SEK 50,000.
The prize is named after the fictional woman Disa from Nordic mythology, whose wisdom made her queen.
According to the prize statutes, the Disa Prize winner should preferably have an Uppsala connection. The winner is selected by a jury with a representative from each disciplinary domain of the University and a student representative.
The prize is awarded annually on Uppsala Culture Night. The winner gives an open lecture the same evening.