CHILDREN OF TAX AND TEA IS SET FOR RELEASE ON OCTOBER 9, 2026 AND AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER AT THE RETAILERS SHOWN BELOW (AND EVERYWHERE ELSE HARDBACKS ARE SOLD, TOO).
***Signed copies will also be available at Maxima Book Center (Lexington, MA), Harvard Bookstore (Cambridge, MA), Trident Booksellers (Boston, MA), and Etsy!***
Also be sure to check out our signing event at Maxima Book Center on Sunday, October 18!
“And being as Raven-Floki took a page from Larry Bird’s playbook, he started trash-talking Iceland all up and down the fucking court as soon as he got back home to Norway’s western fucking fjords.”
—excerpted from the chapter, The Settlement of an Inhospitable Volcanic Rock
Children of Tax and Tea is a full-color, heavily illustrated, humorous hardback book that captures the charmingly profane spirit of foul-mouthed Bostonians who enjoy discussing viking history at public drinking establishments. Basically, imagine a cast of inebriated Mark Wahlberg style movie characters illicitly recorded while unloading all sorts of informative and factual knowledge about the Viking Age on captive audiences. The pearls of Norse wisdom contained in such illuminating barroom discourses form the basis of the book.
“He was addicted to fighting the way people in New York are addicted to being assholes.”
—excerpted from the chapter, Harald Bluetooth: Big Tech Bro
The book itself stems from McSweeney’s longest-running column, “Norse History for Bostonians,” created by Rowdy Geirsson in 2010 and illustrated by Matt Smith since 2017, and expands significantly on the extensive online repository with all new text and illustrations. It also provides a smooth-flowing, easy-to-read narrative in standard English while maintaining the original tone of the online column. So that means if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about Harald Fairhair’s egregious taxation without representation policies or the intense Norse-Irish rivalry with old York, you can finally do so without needing to decipher the incomprehensible accent of a drunkard in Southie.
“Personally, I would not want to wear any clothes made by a valkyrie. No—like seriously, I don’t care whether I’m out in public or at home where no one can even see me. I’m not putting on clothes made by a fucking valkyrie. I just don’t like the idea of wearing a t-shirt or jeans or underwear or whatever made out of someone else’s intestines.”
—excerpted from the chapter, Weapon-Wielding Women
Children of Tax and Tea consists of 40 chapters with deeply honest and insightful titles about Norse history such as “False Advertising in the Era of Viking Age Exploration,” “Shit Talk at the Law Rock,” and “How to Get Paid to Stop Attacking Paris.” It also includes a special Foreword by the knowledgeable law-speakers of the Saga Thing podcast, Andy Pfrenger and John Sexton. The book was launched on Kickstarter in 2025, achieving “Project We Love” status in August of that year.
Praise from early readers who know a thing or two about Norse history and a smattering of sample pages is provided below, including the entirety of the chapter titled, Dublin was Built on Stout.
“A joyful, irreverent retelling of the stories and histories of the Viking Age as seen through the spectacles of a New Englander. Despite the light-hearted tone, the underlying text is a thorough and well-researched look at the viking era. An extra bonus for those familiar with Boston and environs are all the references to Boston area institutions, cultural and otherwise, in the text – footnotes are provided for those less familiar. An entertaining and informative read.” —William R. Short, manager of Hurstwic and co-author of Men of Terror: A Comprehensive Analysis of Viking Combat and Violence in Viking Society: Brutal Warriors or Just Farmers?
The book is divided into six thematic sections, each of which opens with two full-color introductory spreads as shown here with examples from the Have Longship, Will Travel section.
“Children of Tax and Tea is precisely what you’d expect from Rowdy Geirsson, the hilarious, Norse-obsessed New Englander who brought us The Impudent Edda. It’s a foul-mouthed mash-up of Netflix’s Norsemen, Mark Wahlberg, Drunk Shakespeare, and Zach Galifianakis’ Between Two Ferns. Readers may not always be able to tell where historical accuracy gives way to humor, but they won’t care because they’re too busy chuckling. Color illustrations and snarky yet informative footnotes further spice up the irreverent, Boston-accented narrative.” —Henry Herz, editor of Death Maidens: Tales of Off-Duty Valkyries and co-editor of The Big Bad Book of Kaiju
“Rowdy Geirsson’s approach is comedic and creative, one ultimately rooted in deep reading and respect for his Old Icelandic source material. There’s nothing out there quite like what Rowdy is doing. He is a true original.” —Joseph S. Hopkins, founder of experimental publishing house, Hyldyr, and manager of ancient Germanic studies resource, Mimisbrunnr.info
The full chapter preview of the chapter titled, Dublin was Built on Stout, is below.
“This Rowdy Geirsson guy knows his shit when it comes to Norse myths and sagas…this is Norse storytelling, all half hilarious and half badass, illustrated. Written in the language of Bostonia, but not just for Bostonians. Unlike listening to someone speak in actual Bostonian, these stories are pretty easy to follow. And if you don’t immediately know what the Zakim is, that’s okay—there are footnotes for the more esoteric references. The illustrations are fantastic. Matt Smith’s style meshes perfectly with the stories, and the Barbarian Lord author/illustrator sets the tone for every chapter.” —Gregory Amato, author of the Spear of the Gods Saga
A miscellaneous sampling of other pages from the book follows. Skål!
“Geirsson rattles the rafters like a skald of old in Children of Tax and Tea, a long-awaited re-imagining of the Norse accomplishments every bit as rousing and ragged as the sagas themselves. With his signature wit—as sharp as Odin’s spear—readers will experience these stories like never before. Recommended for lovers of all things viking and those with a penchant for Bostonian humor, Children of Tax and Tea is the irreverent edition of more scholarly work that will fill your long winter nights with both mirth and magic.“ —Joshua Gillingham, author of the Ten-Tree Saga and designer of the board game, Althingi: One Will Rise
