2. Introduction
This course concerns the 'Viking
Age', a period often considered to
begin sometime around AD 700 and
conclude at AD 1100
In this period, profound changes
occurred in Scandinavian society
The Scandinavians moved from a
political organisation based on
small, tribal bands to recognisable
kingdoms similar to those of her
neighbours in Christian Europe
Moreover, the Scandinavians
became Christians themselves and
entered fully into European culture
and politics
It is therefore important to bear in
mind that the 'Viking Age' was not
static
3. Course Structure
This course endeavours to outline the
main aspects of Scandinavian culture
and their impact on their neighbours
It begins by considering the sources and
the nature of the evidence
This is followed by a definition of the
'Vikings' and provides the reasons for the
'Viking Age' being considered to be the
period between AD 700 – 1100
The subsequent lectures look at how the
Scandinavian settlement in different
regions developed, underscoring the
relations between Scandinavians and
those that they encountered whilst
trading, fighting, and colonisation
We see considerable variability in
different parts of Europe and the North
Atlantic as the process of assimilation
varied depending on the nature of the
political structure and cultures the
Scandinavians encountered
4. Advances in the Studies
Our perceptions of the Scandinavians in
the Viking Age have changed profoundly
in the last three decades
This has occurred under the impress of
new evidence—some of it afforded by the
advances in scientific techniques that
have resulted in better dating of sites and
the recovery of material that has was
formerly unknown
More importantly, however, have been
the new paradigms and perspectives that
have been borrowed from historians,
social theorists, and so on
We are now far more inclined to look at
the complexities of political and social
relations than merely to regard the
Vikings as pirates or barbarian despoilers
of civilisation
6. Literacy and Distribution of Evidence
The Scandinavians were largely illiterate in
the Viking Age, with the exception of those
that composed runic inscriptions (which
were principally used for commemoration)
This means that most of the contemporary
records concerning the Scandinavians and
their exploits were composed by those in
the literate cultures that they encountered
Accounts by the neighbouring peoples were
often written by the clergy and therefore
were both pejorative and biased
In many instances, they contain a complex
admixture of factual accounts of military
and political affairs and inaccurate
descriptions of the Scandinavians
Some are, nonetheless, quite valuable and
provide incidental information on dress,
custom, names and so forth that correspond
with the archaeological and linguistic
evidence
7. Historical Sources
The most reliable sources are the chronicles
that were composed in France, England and
Ireland
Nonetheless, the passages relating to the
Scandinavians are mainly concerned with
their military enterprises, with occasional
mention of the political manoeuvres of the
leaders
As an example, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
describes attacks and battles and has little
to say regarding culture, language, and so
forth
The same obtains for the French sources
that describe the assaults on Normandy and
the Low Countries, and the Annals of Ulster
that have accounts of Scandinavian attacks
and settlement in Ireland (with occasional
mention of Scotland and England)
8. Biases in the Historical Sources
It must be recognised at the outset that the
historical sources are profoundly biased
Firstly, there is the bias of commission: the
recording of perspectives, opinions and
events by those observing the
Scandinavians as outsiders. Usually, they
were clerics or court scribes that were
hostile to them because they were heathens
that were attacking their lands
Secondly, there is the bias of omission: the
clerics and scribes were often unfamiliar
with the traditions, objectives and
perspectives of the Scandinavians and
therefore did not record their views
Another bias is temporal: almost all of these
sources refer to the period of aggressive
assaults on Western Europe by the
Scandinavians and the subsequent period of
conversion and assimilation
9. Ecclesiastical Records
Although the clerics composed
biased records, they also sought to
faithfully record the beliefs of the
pagan people they encountered
This occurred, of course, through
the prism of their own beliefs and
their cultural milieu, but the records
that were composed regarding the
religious rites and the pantheon of
those whom they set out to convert
are often valuable sources of
information
The attempts at conversion in
Scandinavia and the settlements in
Western Europe often resulted in
vivid descriptions of the rituals that
do much to advance our knowledge
10. Travellers Accounts
Some very important accounts were
committed to paper by travellers,
usually merchants that encountered
the Scandinavians in other parts of
Europe
Not all were by Christians in Western
Europe—one of the most important
described the customs and religious
observances of Swedes on the River
Volga, compiled by the Muslim
emissary from the Caliphate of
Baghdad named Ibn Fadlan
Other accounts come to us from
merchants that described their
travels to Scandinavian markets,
such as that by Ottar (or Othere) at
the court of the English king Alfred
11. Sagas and Medieval Accounts
In the Medieval era—that is to say,
after the Viking Age had ended—
historical literature began to be
produced in Scandinavia
The most remarkable accounts are the
Icelandic sagas, which record many
traditions and events from the Viking
Age
We have, however, become hesitant in
accepting their historical accuracy as
they were often compiled as literature
and do not faithfully record events
Nonetheless, there is much in the
literature that is valuable and can be
teased out through studies of grammar
and correlation with archaeological
evidence
12. The Sagas and Religion
Some of the sagas are especially
valuable, such as the descriptions of
religious beliefs recorded in the Prose
Edda and the Poetic Edda
It is important to bear in mind that these
were Icelandic documents and therefore
describe beliefs and traditions current in
western Scandinavia
The beliefs of those in eastern
Scandinavia, although likely sharing
some broad similarities, differed for
there some cults were more popular
than in Norway and Iceland
Only the rather turgid Gesta Danorum of
Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark affords
information on the religious customs of
eastern Scandinavia
13. Runic Inscriptions
The rune stones provide a special class
of literary evidence
Such stones were principally erected to
commemorate a death or some sort of
significant personal event and offer
little historical information
Most follow the model of proclaiming
that a certain individual died abroad
and the name of the person that raised
the stone
Some of the runes, such as that at
Jelling, do record significant political
occurrences such as the
Christianisation of Denmark
Other runes are encountered on
weapons and were intended as
magical charms
14. Place Names
Important evidence for Scandinavian
settlement in the Viking Age is
provided by place names, or
toponymic studies
This indicates the intensity of
settlement and also affords a sense of
whether the colonists were rapidly
assimilated or retained their identities
It is also possible to distinguish older
and later settlements by the place
names, and the nature of the site
The place names in Scandinavia also
indicate the function and scale of the
site, but more information can be
gleaned here: the place names also
reveal political and religious structure
as well as topographical information
15. Survival of Scandinavian Words in Dialect
Another source of information regarding the
extent and influence of Scandinavian
settlement in the Viking Age are the number
of loan words
Many Scandinavian loan words have been
incorporated into English, but some regional
dialects preserve more of these than others
and reflect the intensity of settlement
In Scotland, the number of loan words in the
dialects of the Orkney Islands and the
Shetland Islands are the largest
Nonetheless, Lowland Scots has also
incorporated a large quantity of
Scandinavian words, possibly through an
influx of Anglo-Scandinavian settlers
sometime around AD 1000 in the Borders
and the Lothians
We should not forget that Scandinavian
words are more prevalent in some
specialised occupations such as sailing and
17. Advances in Dating Techniques
The development of techniques by which we can
accurately date features has been one of the most
important developments in archaeological research
Although the significance of this is perhaps least for
the study of the Medieval period (including the Viking
Age), it has transformed the approach to excavation of
sites entirely
We were formerly only able to date sites in relation to
one another—that is to say, we could say if they were
older, younger or roughly contemporary with another
site
This required us to dig trenches through sites to
establish the stratigraphic situation of finds in relation
to one another, or in other words, their relationship
expressed as z on a graph
A series of trenches, however, often missed vital
evidence of the relationship between features as
expressed as x and y
Without the relationship between features expressed
as x and y, the structure of settlements is poorly
understood
18.
19.
20. Rescue Excavations
Another important advances has come through
government development policy, requiring
some construction work to be preceded by
archaeological investigations
This has provided an opportunity to investigate
sites that would ordinarily be inaccessible,
chiefly those in urban environments
The excavations at York, for instance, have
contributed profoundly to our understanding of
the Scandinavian occupation of the city and the
nature of urban sites
Similar policies have been followed in most
nations, resulting in a tremendous increase in
our knowledge
Moreover, the requirement for excavations
before major infrastructure projects has also led
us to investigate areas that were formerly not
the object of research and has led to a steady
accretion of evidence
21. Palaeoenvironmental Studies
The advances in the study of the ancient
environment have provided vital
information concerning the economy of the
Viking Age and the human impact on the
landscape
We can clearly distinguish the episode of
the first settlement on the marginal
landscapes of the North Atlantic, such as
Iceland, Greenland and the Faeroe Islands
An expansion of settlement, and a change
in economic structure, is also detectable in
the Hebrides and the Northern Isles
Nonetheless, the methods have been
applied widely and have afforded important
information on the economy and conditions
of settlement throughout the region
impacted by the Scandinavians in the Viking
Age
We are able, for instance, to discuss
hygiene, forest management, fuel supplies,
22. Other Scientific Developments
Archaeologists seldom develop scientific methods
for the analysis of material themselves, so they
are largely dependent on the innovations of other
disciplines for novel methods of investigating
their finds
One of the disciplines that has advanced quickly
is genetics and we are only now beginning to see
the applications of these studies to the
archaeological record
It is now possible to extract DNA from ancient
human remains and the genetic codes of
different populations are being compared, as well
as the scale of genetic flow into different regions
Work by those in nuclear medicine, using stable
isotopes and chemical trace elements, have been
important to the reconstruction of the diet and
also the identification of the birthplace of those
whose human remains are under analysis
24. Social Structure
Although the advances in scientific
techniques for the study of archaeological
remains has had a profound influence on
our understanding of the Viking Age, the
changing perspectives of the Scandinavians
themselves has been of paramount
significance for the new insights into this
era
We have been slowly discarding the image
of the Vikings as little more than pirates—
we have a more nuanced appreciation of
the structure of Scandinavian society
between AD 700 – AD 1100 and have begun
to look at internal relations
Moreover, we have also come to see the
Scandinavians as merchants and peaceful
colonists that quickly assimilated into many
cultures and left an indelible mark on their
host societies
25. Vikings and the East
The Scandinavian expansion into Eastern
Europe has also risen to the forefront of
research interest, as it is clear that this
occurred before the Viking Age began
and was of considerable importance in
the creation of wealth in Scandinavia as
it provided access to the wealth of the
great civilisations of the Middle East
We are becoming more familiar with the
Scandinavian contribution to the
opening of Russia and the Ukraine, but
also with their activities in the Baltic at
large
The absorption of the Scandinavians into
Russian culture and the part they played
in the emergence of the Medieval state
of Russia is a point of tremendous
controversy and is the subject of great
interest
26. Vikings and Their Neighbours
The raids on different nations is also being
seen differently, namely, as a response to
opportunities afforded by the social
structure of those people that were attacked
or the large markets of Continental Europe
Many of the assaults on Scotland and
Ireland are now regarded as raids designed
to acquire slaves for sale in the Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms or in France, where there was an
insatiable appetite for this commodity
Similarly, the weakness of some of the
kingdoms provided an irresistible attraction
to some of the Scandinavians, but it must
not be forgotten that there was an internal
compulsion in the Scandinavian homelands
for expansion because of political instability
and violence
Much of this had to do with the nascent
state formation occurring in Scandinavia
27. State Formation
One of the most important changes in
our view of the Viking Age concerns the
process of state formation in
Scandinavia
This has been seen as one of the main
reasons for the sustained attacks on
their neighbours—the homelands
provided little opportunity for low-level
nobles and many residents found life
brutal, short and uncertain
A trend towards warlords dominating
larger and larger regions, undoubtedly
through warfare, also afforded an
opportunity for greater levels of
organisation
It must be remembered, too, that the
prestige based society that arose also
required large quantities of wealth for
distribution to loyal retainers, forcing
further assaults