Viking Wars

Description

Copy editor: Fredrik Sundman. The 13 articles presented in this publication represent some of the latest, and most relevant research on Viking warfare from the Viking and early Scandinavian medieval period in Europe. The Vikings fought for power, wealth, and land in many areas of the Northern hemisphere, and left traces of their activities from Canada in the West to the Caucasus in the East. In many parts of Europe visual, literary, and material culture contain influences of past Viking activities. This volume offers new insights on Viking female warriors; local defence systems; a Danish-Obodrite attack on a Frankish fortress; deeply rooted traditions relating to weapon production; viking encampments in Atlantic Europe; rune carvers in campaign; textiles essential for sea journeys, and related warfare; the symbolic power of weapons; the roles of Rus’ captives and slave soldiers; as well as the relationship between Viking and Norse settlers, and the indigenous Piets of the Western Isles. The Norwegian Archaeological Society is proud to present the very first special 'Viking' volume: 'Wars'. The volume is co-funded by the Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS) at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. The Norwegian Archaeological Society / Preface 5 Karoline Kjesrud and Frode Iversen / Introduction: Viking Wars 9 Frode Iversen / The Four Petty Kingdoms of 'Upplǫnd': Equestrian Graves and the Political Integration of the Norwegian Highlands in Late Viking Age Norway 13 Marianne Moen / No Man's Land or Neutral Ground: Perceived Gendered Differences in Ideologies of War 43 Thorsten Lemm / The Fight for Nordalbingia: Reconstruction and Simulation of the Danish-Obodrite Attack on the Frankish Fortress of Esesfelth in AD 817 63 Mads Dengsø Jessen and Michelle Taube / The Symbolic Use of Whetstones and Their Role in Displaying Authority over Metallurgical Processes and Trade 85 Beñat Elortza Larrea / Archaic Martial Traditions in High Medieval Scandinavia: a Glimpse of Viking Age Warfare? 105 Judith Jesch / Women, War and Words: a Verbal Archaeology of Shield-maidens 127 Leszek Gardeła / Shield-maidens and Norse Amazons Reconsidered: Women and Weapons in Viking Age Burials in Norway 143 Eva Andersson Strand / Weaving Textiles: Textile Consumption for Travel and Warfare 167 Christian Cooijmans / Down by the River: Exploring the Logistics of Viking Encampment across Atlantic Europe 187 Laila Kitzler Åhfeldt / Rune Carvers in Military Campaigns 207 Joseph Thomas Ryder / Revisiting the Norse on the Western Isles from a Landscape Perspective 231 Csete Katona / Scandinavian/Rus' Captives and Slave Soldiers: an Eastern Perspective 255 Anne Irene Riisøy / Weapons in Legal Rituals: Between Myth and Reality 275