I give any work of fiction a lot of credit when it familiarizes me with a time, place, or worldview.
I could be mistaken, but I do not think there was a single first person account in this book. I think that really helped us, as Orm in the first person would force us to understand his thoughts, which would probably be foreign to most modern sensibilities. I think it was wise to only allow us to observe Orm's actions and words, to try to understand the character only through observation.
And what a character! It took me a few tries to really internalize that they regard stealing and raping their neighbors as something to be planned upon, considered, like a hunting expedition with slightly higher stakes. I'm still not sure what exactly they thought about life? Half of me would think that they would hold it in high regard, considering how tenuous it seemed to be here? But these men seemed to throw it away for the flimsiest of reasons.
But there is also a brutal simplicity to their thinking. There did not seem to be much in the way of industry. There were no "safe" ways to make a reasonable return on investments. Even if you labored industriously, you would only further tempt your neighbors to come help you distribute your wealth. Was there anything approaching a stable culture in this region? Was it just constantly razing whenever someone succeeded in amazing any real wealth, in building anything larger than a small holding that they could defend? I imagine that for many men in this world, there is nothing bigger than themselves to even invest in. It would create a sort of worldview that is extremely self serving. Where there is little point in cooperation for anything longer than an outing.
On one hand, it is kinda enchanting, such and Id driven world. Where wealth naturally just amasses to power as... As what else even makes sense? But at the same time you can almost feel how weak this culture actually is. It is individually noble (by their definition), but it will be replaced by other cultures where men are small shadows of these men, but who work together rather than constantly hamstringing each other.