Medieval Scandinavia

This chapter focuses on acts of speaking, writing, and hearing verbalized accounts of Icelandic place, and their role in establishing a distinct Icelandic identity in Íslendingabók and Landnámabók. The chapter opens by considering how the landscape of Iceland is verbally mapped, and argues that this is a textual priority for the Icelanders. While many of the places featured in Íslendingabók and Landnámabók were historically real, verbalized topographies, which can collapse time, animate foundational events and actors, accomplish something more. Like pilgrimage and travel accounts, verbal topographies enable moving, affective experiences and provide admission to an aspirational Icelandic national space fusing real and imagined elements. This chapter demonstrates that through the combination of writing, oral performance of placelore episodes (on site and otherwise), and the resultant experience of living within a re-imagined, storied landscape of Iceland, important lessons about Icelandic identity are transmitted.

This article shows the relationship between Saxo Grammaticus' "Gesta Danorum" (History of the Danes) (Saxo was a Danish historian and mythographer who composed a Latin work on the legendary past of Denmark as well as Scandinavian mythology) and J.R.R. Tolkien, mainly when he was a student of ancient language and literature.

For medieval Icelanders, horses were among the most important animals. It should come as no surprise, as they were used for transport, in pagan rites (hippomancy, funerals, sacred horses), eating, and also for sports. These sports were the horse-fights (hestavígs) and horse-racing (skeið). Reading the sagas, one can find a lot of references to horse-fighting. This sport was considered of such importance among medieval Icelanders that laws have been written down regarding this entertainment, yet there is no exact description of how such events were organized. Only by putting all the references together can one endeavor to explain what these horse-fights may have actually been like. In my paper I would like to present the basis for these horse-fights. Their terminology has been frequently misinterpreted, and no critical investigation yet exists into the staging and organization of such events, which would shed light on the meaning and role of this sport to medieval Icelanders. It will be shown that horse-fighting functioned not only as brutal entertainment in itself, but also played a social role in the broader context of inter-district assemblies.

в отечественной науке роль варягов в образовании древнерусского государства оценивается весьма высоко, в частности у исследователей уже практически не вызывает сомнений скандинавское происхождение самой княжеской династии Рюриковичей. Однако на сегодняшний день в так называемом варяжском вопросе наблюдается известное противоречие: при огромном массиве археологических данных, недвусмысленно свидетельствующих об активном присутствии варягов на Руси в X–XI вв., мы располагаем весьма ограниченным количеством лингвистических следов и примет этнокультурного взаимодействия русских и скандинавов в эту эпоху. Данная книга представляет собой опыт историко-филологического разыскания в области культурных контактов Скандинавии и Руси на излете эпохи викингов. Образ идеального правителя, практика обмена дарами, представления о статусе и наследственных правах незаконнорожденного, рассказ о предках как средство характеристики потомков, перекличка личных имен, прозвищ и торжественных панегириков — такова лишь часть тех напряженных точек этого взаимодействия, к которым мы попытались подступиться в нашем исследовании.
The Varangian contribution to the formation of the ancient Russian state is highly
evaluated in the national scholarly tradition, more specifi cally, there are practically
no doubts about the Scandinavian origin of the Rurik dynasty. However, there is
a certain contradiction in the so-called Varangian problem: given a huge body of
archaeological data unambiguously confi rming the active Varangian presence in Rus
in the 10th–11th centuries, we can only have at our disposal a very limited amount
of the linguistic traces of ethnic and cultural connections between Russians and
Scandinavians at that time.
This book presents an attempt at the historical and philological study in the
fi eld of the cultural contacts between Scandinavia and Rus before the very end of the
Viking age. The image of the ideal ruler, the practice of gift exchange, the concepts of
the status and inheritance rights of illegitimate children, a narrative about ancestors
as a way of characterizing descendants, and similarities between personal names,
nicknames and solemn eulogies — these are, to name just a few, the intense points of
this interaction which became the focus of our study.

This is not just a book about a battle; it is a book about the biggest battle before Hastings 1066.
This is a battle most people have probably never heard of, but it is a battle where five Scottish and Viking kings and seven earls died, somewhere in the kingdom of Northumbria in late 937. As well as royalty, the bones of tens of thousands of ordinary men from Northern England, Scotland and the Viking territories lie buried in a place which, according to the chroniclers, is no longer known.
This book is about that battle and the search to find the long-lost site. Thousands of pages have been written about the Battle of Brunnenburh, but this book is unique. It is written by descendants of a legendary Viking Egill Skallagrimsson. Thousands of pages have been written about Brunnenburh but all of them are written from the perspective of the victor, King Athelstan of Wessex and Mercia. This book is the closest anyone is likely to get to a Northern Viking account.
Even if you have no real interest in the site of the Battle of Brunnenburh this is worth the effort you will put into it this book to understand it. Take a deep dive into the world and beliefs and times of the competing factions in 10 th century England and beyond, and the battle that first unified the United Kingdom.

The present volume responds to the rising boom of interest in folklore and folklore research in the study of Old Norse mythology. The twenty-two authors of this volume reveal the dynamism of this lively dialogue, which is characterized by a diversity of perspectives linking to different fields and national scholarships.

The chapters open with a general overview of how the concepts of “folklore” and “mythology” have been understood and related across the history of Old Norse studies, which is followed by a group of chapters that discuss and present different approaches and types of source materials, with methodological and theoretical concerns. The interest in folklore is bound up with interests in practice and lived religion, which are brought into focus in a series of chapters relating to magic and ritual. Attention then turns to images that link to mythology and different mythic agents in studies that explore a variety of usage in meaning-making in different forms of cultural expression. The next group of studies spotlights motifs, with perspectives on synchronic usage across genres and different media, cross-cultural exchange, and long-term continuities. The volume culminates in discussions of complex stories, variously in oral traditions behind medieval sources and relationships between accounts found in medieval sources and those recorded from more recent traditions.

Individually, the chapters variously offer reflexive and historical research criticism, new research frameworks, illustrative studies, and exploratory investigations. Collectively, they illustrate the rapidly evolving multidisciplinary discussion at the intersections of folklore and Old Norse mythology, where the transformative impacts were recently described as a paradigm shift. They open new paths for scholarly discussion with the potential to inspire future research.

The political structure of Scandinavian society underwent radical change between AD 500 and 1350. Through analyses of c. 170,000 sites of single graves and cemeteries, 1,700 hillforts, and 130 royal sites and manors, this article investigates the emergence of larger law areas and their relation to the peoples and kingdoms in Scandza (i.e. Norway and Sweden). In this period the number of kingdoms was reduced from around thirteen to two. We find 29 peoples in the 6th century mentioned in contemporary written sources (Getica and Widtsith), and these are geographically identified through a big data analysis of prehistoric graves and cemeteries (Kernel Density Estimation). In addition, we have identified thirteen clusters of graves representing other unmentioned groups. The emergence of larger legal entities was a prerequisite for the emergence of the Scandinavian kingdoms. In eastern Scandinavia kingship emerged through the control of major lakes connecting various folklands, while in the west control of trade and transport along the major sailing route (leden) was a driving facor for trans-regional kingship.

This paper seeks to provide a new contribution to the debates on Viking Age women by focusing on a rather controversial notion of ‘female warriors’. The core of the article comprises a preliminary survey of archaeological evidence for female graves with weapons (axes, spears, swords and arrowheads) from Viking Age Scandinavia. Attention is focused not only on the types of weapons deposited with the deceased, but first and foremost on the meanings which similar practices may have had for the past societies. The author discusses why, where and how the weapons were placed in female graves and attempts to trace some patterns in this unusual funerary behaviour. In addition to exploring the funerary evidence, the iconographic representations of what could be regarded as ‘female warriors’ are also briefly considered. Lastly, a few remarks are also made on the notion of armed women in the textual sources.

This study demonstrates how routes over mountain plateaus and passes connected farms, hamlets and regions. The routes enabled wide social and economic networks and were a prerequisite for regional surplus production in the Norwegian inland areas from the Viking Age.
Iron, furs, skins and antlers were among the important commodities for farmers in the mountain and valley regions. These resources were exchanged for goods from the coastal areas, and it is likely that the purpose for much of the traffic over the mountains was trade. Medieval law texts and later historical sources indicate that the bulk of the traffic over mountains took place during the summer. The commodities were transported on packhorses or by foot.
Using archaeological sites and findings, as well as place-names and historical sources, I have mapped the main mountain trails in South Norway. The historical significance of these communication routes are indicated by large burial sites, some consisting of hundreds of burial mounds, at the foot of several mountain crossings. These sites are testament to the great importance and value of communication and transportation across mountains passes – and its control – well before the extensive regional surplus production from the last half the Viking Age.

In his Lex Castrensis, the twelfth-century Danish writer Sven Aggesen tells the story of the creation of a law that he attributes to Knútr inn ríki (Cnut the Great) as a means of governing his substantial military following of retainers, known as the hirð. As unlikely as it is for Sven to claim that he preserves the law exactly as it was in Knútr's own time, the text's focus on process and punishment raises an intriguing question: can evidence be seen for shifting punitive attitudes and legal exchange in the late Viking-Age period of intense contact, interaction, and accommodation between Scandinavia and the British Isles? This chapter will offer a first step in considering the possibility for the exchange of legal practices and concepts in this context, and present a newly refined picture of England and its Scandinavian neighbours – one which points to sophisticated legal interchange happening much earlier than usually thought.

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Blurb:
In the summer of 1350, as a deadly pandemic tore across Europe, nine people were burnt at the stake in the Hanseatic city of Visby on the island of Gotland. Ostensibly, this was a sadly familiar story: the Black Death was rampant, and a supposed Jewish plot was offered as an explanation. The alleged perpetrators were forced to confess, and were duly executed. But the people who were consigned to the flames in Visby were not Jewish. In fact, there were no Jews on the island to be victimised. Of the nine accused, two were Christian preachers, and the only named individual, Tidericus, was an organista - probably the organ player at the church of St. Olaf in Visby. The outlandish theory was that the plague was a poisoning scheme run by an international conspiracy of Jews, oligarchs and secular administrators.

This book traces the story of the unfortunate Tidericus, and examines the implications of the antisemitic fantasy which led to his death. The positions of the different ethnic groups in Visby is considered against the backdrop of panic and paranoia which pandemics inspire. The interests of the native Old Gutnish-speaking population are compared to the motives of the Low German-speaking mercantile elite who were administering Visby at the time. A context of social unrest, with class divisions bisecting proto-national identities, proved to be a dangerous fuel for a surreal conspiracy theory. A popular willingness to believe in this lurid nightmare proved to be the undoing of Tidericus and his co-accused. The sources which record the affair, namely two pieces of Hanseatic correspondence, are edited and translated into English for the first time in the appendices.

Published by The Viking Society for Northern Research, London, 2020. 119 pp. ISBN 978-0-903521-99-4. £10 (£5 for Viking Society members). Order from sales@gazellebooks.co.uk. State Viking Society membership to qualify for members’ price.

Städer var nykomlingar i det medeltida Skandinavien. Efterhand blev stadslivet något att eftersträva, en rikare tillvaro med en mångsidig miljö. Städer växte fram ur existerande behov och utifrån nya maktrelationer. Under lång tid hade människor inte behövt staden och det sammanträngda liv som den erbjöd. Landskapet bestod i stället av enstaka gårdar, hushåll med gemensam bebyggelse, jordagods med makt över regionen, samt mindre och större byar. Frågan är vad som definierade det nya livsmönstret? Var det mängden invånare, hur tätt de bodde, hantverkets variation eller administrativa funktioner som avgränsade den? Eller är det invånarnas handlingar som vi ska utgå ifrån, en tätare interaktion och möten med främlingar? Det nya livsmönstret, de maktrelationer och de nya behov som lågt till grund för förändringen vill jag utveckla i detta häfte.

This article describes my Ph.D. project. In particular, it is aimed at giving an overview of the phenomenon under discussion, namely the coexistence and competition between loanwords and endogenous words in Old Icelandic. Examples are given from three different textual typologies, as they are taken from a religious text (The Icelandic Homily Book), a law-book (The Grágás), and one of the Icelandic family sagas (Egils saga). The article is in Icelandic. However, the main content of this article is also available in English in two of my conference papers (see  "Talks" here on Academia).

There are over 3000 runic inscriptions on stone made in Scandinavia in the late Viking Age. This book is the first attempt by a historian to study the material as a whole. The analysis reveals significant regional variations that reflect different stages in the process of conversion, and the growth of royal power. Many monuments were declarations of faith or manifestations of status; but virtually all reflect inheritance claims, and cast unexpected light on the prehistory of the inheritance customs found in later Scandinavian law codes. The results of this analysis make a significant contribution to understanding developments in other parts of the Germanic world, as well as Scandinavia. The inclusion of a digest of the data-base on which this book is based will facilitate further study of this rich vein of evidence.

In the East Slavic historical consciousness, the sacrifice of the first canonized Rus' saints Boris and Gleb (died in 1015) came to be viewed as a reflection of the sacrifice of the Old Testament figure Abel and as a model of the imitation of Christ concerning the renouncement of secular power. The author of this article advocates the following thesis: the fact that the first canonized East Slavic saints came from the secular ruling elite testifies to the attempts of the Rus' literati to stress the strong influence of recently adopted Christianity on politically important decisions in Kievan Rus' , which allegedly achieved its religious "maturity" within the context of salvation history through this. The existence of the martyrs among the secular ruling elite, however, cannot be viewed as a specific element of East Slavic medieval culture alone because this type of sainthood was, despite local differences, present in recently Christianized lands on the northern and eastern periphery of Europe at the time.

This chapter makes a close reading of a short vignette in Eyrbyggja saga - the attempted forced marriage between the Swedish berserk Halli and Víga-Styrr's daughter Ásdis - exploring the ways that various norms and normative expectations are deliberately manipulated by the characters in question to further their own social goals in the narrative.

In the Middle Ages, several different types of finger rings were used that could have different functions and
meanings for different types of people. Exclusive finger rings with motifs depicting the Virgin and child has
been found as loose finds in different locations in Scandinavia. What might have been the function of these
rings? Who wore these types of rings and what was their position in medieval society? What iconographic
meanings did the Virgin with child - motif had? This paper will feature comparative analyzes of these types of
rings and their contexts and work with iconographic studies of the Virgin with child - motif to understand these
rings possible function and to whom they belonged. These types of rings are said to have been worn by people
of the extreme elite based on their exclusive appearance. The rings may have been used by elites in church
organizations and the motif may possibly have a connection to the cult of the Virgin Mary. The result shows
that the rings have probably been multifunctional - both practical and symbolic, that show the persons espousal
to the church, prestige, and wisdom. They also may have had an affective value for the wearer as a protection
of the ghost of Virgin Mary.

Medieval North Atlantic Studies, which is broadly defined as the study of the British Isles, Iceland, Scandinavia, the English Channel, and the Low Countries, has a tendency to research two types of interactions. First, it focuses on common themes between these cultures, which then strengthens the argument for their grouping. Second, it emphasizes that these cultures traveled throughout Africa, Europe, and the East, participating in a “Global Middle Ages.” These current approaches to the North Atlantic, however, are compatible with the ideologies of white supremacists, and, for this reason, they should be examined. These approaches focus on the globality of the North Atlantic mainly in order to discuss how Northern cultures changed the rest of the globe, and not to show how these North Atlantic cultures were themselves changed by these interactions. The arguments assume an all‐white North Atlantic, maintaining that Old Norse literature and culture does not deal with issues of race. Evidence of the racial awareness of medieval Scandinavians has been dismissed as atypical, further exacerbating the problem. A decentered Global North Atlantic approach is benecial to the study of the North Atlantic because it centers those most harmed by white supremacists' ideologies, counteracting white supremacists' wrongful understanding of the middle ages. The essay uses the Icelandic Saga af Tristram ok Ísodd as an example to show that the saga dehumanizes characters through religious, racial, and geographical markers. Moreover, these examples have been ignored by academics who continue to disregard discussions of race in Old Norse literature and culture, as they imagine Vikings as devoid of racial understanding.