The Viking Diaspora

Description

Cover Half Title Series Page Title Copyright CONTENTS List of tables Acknowledgements 1 Vikings and their Ages: definitions and evidence Vikings and their Ages The end of an era? Vikings and víkingar Viking Ages Evidence Sources for the Viking Age Linguistic evidence Artefactual evidence Natural evidence 2 The Viking world: geography and environment The northlands Scandinavia Norway Sweden Denmark The North Atlantic Faroe Iceland Greenland Vínland The west and south Britain and Ireland The European continent The east Finland The Baltic and Russia People and environment – arrival Arrival in a pristine landscape Arrival in an inhabited landscape Human populations Animals Bones and food People and environment – living in the landscape Survival and adaptation Effects and ends Naming the environment The uses of place-names Naming practices First impressions Case study – the Sheep Isles Names and the changing Viking world 3 The Viking diaspora Introducing the Viking diaspora The long, broad Viking Age – continuities in time and space Natural evidence Case study – genetics Artefactual evidence Case study – steatite Linguistic evidence Sagas and the past Case study – Vágar Understanding the Viking diaspora Defining diaspora ‘Dispersal from an original homeland, often traumatically’ ‘Alternatively, the expansion from a homeland in search of work, in pursuit of trade or to further colonial ambitions’ ‘A collective memory and myth about the homeland’ ‘An idealization of the supposed ancestral home’ ‘A return movement or at least a continuing conversation’ ‘A strong ethnic group consciousness sustained over a long time’ ‘A troubled relationship with host societies’ ‘A sense of co-responsibility with co-ethnic members in other countries’ ‘The possibility of a distinctive creative, enriching life in tolerant host countries’ Themes of the Viking diaspora 4 Gender and family Gender The importance of gender Gender, genes and migration Case study – north-west England Visible gender – clothing and accoutrements Case study – oval brooches Case study – swords Gender, individuals and names Gender in poetry and myth Case study – valkyries Family in the Viking diaspora The sex ratio in early Scandinavia Language in the diasporic family Case study – the Isle of Man 5 Cults, beliefs and myths Cults and beliefs Myth and religion of the North Cult and beliefs in Scandinavia – place-names Cult and beliefs in Scandinavia – archaeology Case study – cult leaders and cult buildings Deities in the diaspora The conversion to Christianity Myths Recording myths and legends Diasporic myths Case study – Norse myth in Orkney Reworking old legends Case study – Sigurðr Fáfnisbani in the Viking Age Case study – Sigurðr Fáfnisbani in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Myths and identities 6 Networks and identities Networks Raiding, trading, settlement Diasporic networks Case study – Mousa Broch Runic networks Skaldic networks Case study – poets of Orkney Identities Viking identities Case study – Scandinavian identities in northern England Case study – migration, diaspora and Icelandic identity Conclusion Bibliography Primary sources Standard reference works Secondary sources Index