The Scandinavians from the Vendel Period to the Tenth Century

Using the evidence of archaeology, poetry, legal texts and annals, this volume investigates the social, economic and symbolic structures of early Scandinavia at the time of the Viking expansion. The contributors provide an outline ethnograpjy, covering dwellings and settlements, kinship and social relations, law, political structures and external relations, rural and urban economies, and the ideology of warfare. The topics are discussed through case-studies from the contributors' recent research, illustrating the changing scholarly interpretations of this formative period in Scandinavian history. By addressing these key research questions, the contributions trace the background to and the impact of urbanisation and Christianisation, and the development of royal power, which stimulated the transition from the Viking age to the medieval period in Scandinavia. This book brings together for the first time in English a wealth of current Scandinavian archaeological, historical and cultural research.

JUDITH JESCH is Reader in Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham.

Contributors: LENA HOLMQUIST OLAUSSON, BENTE MAGNUS, E. VESTERGAARD, BIRGIT ARRHENIUS, STEFAN BRINK, LISE BENDER JORGENSEN, SVEND NIELSEN, FRANDS HERSCHEND, NIELS LUND, DAVID N. DUMVILLE, JUDITH JESCH, DENNIS H. GREEN.

Reviews

Illuminating and revealing.... Along with the rest of the series this is a welcome addition to the library shelf, and a book to which reference will regularly be made. SAGA-BOOK

Details

First Published: 01 Nov 2001
13 Digit ISBN: 9780851158679
Pages: 400
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: Boydell Press
Series: Studies in Historical Archaeoethnology

Details updated on 21 May 2013