Category: Viking History
Behold! My first attempt at a blog-style history course has been preserved in this sub-category! I’ve always preferred my history served like snacks. They might be a bit stale now, but perhaps you like that sort of thing? I won’t judge.
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Women in the Viking Age, Part 3 (War)
The modern world longs for a place in our history in which women were not bound by the struggles they have faced for so long. The Viking realm has been no exception to this desire. The women in the Viking Age have presented us with an interesting situation. There is a significant amount of strong,…
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Women in the Viking Age, Part 2 (Law)
In general, women still lacked an independent legal status, similar to the condition for “Thralls.” Legal affairs were generally conducted through a guardian, such as her husband, father, or nearest male kin. Yet, despite facing such restrictions, women in Iceland held more rights than in any other Scandinavian or continental law codes. Women managed their households in…
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Women in the Viking Age, Part 1 (Overview)
Modern society has recently begun looking towards the Viking Age woman in order to find a historical place for strong, independent women. There is no fault in this, and there are many good reasons for this. Yet, women still did not have it easy, even in a society that made more effort to consider them.…
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Blood, Feud, and Honor in the Viking Age
Last week we discussed the ideal system of law in Viking Age society. Yet, that is just the surface of the system that actually existed. Although not directly related, feud was the true process for obtaining justice. Law was merely a phase that most feuds would go through. This lesson aims to shed light on…
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Law in the Viking Age
This week is a brief, uncomplicated overview of Viking Age Law. Most of this material, however, has been gathered from sources that pertain to later medieval Iceland. Still, the roots of Icelandic law run back to Viking Age Norwegian law. Keeping that in mind however, our understanding can never be without some level of doubt.…
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Viking Age Society
Now that we are done with literature, we will begin discussing the aspects of Viking History that such literature has helped us to better understand. I have talked about this subject once before with @gothic-metalhead through the following ask. Some of that information will be provided here, but you may also refer to that post for more…
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Sagas: Icelanders and Style
Last week, we discussed the two saga genres of Fornaldarsögur (mythical-heroic sagas) and Konungasögur (king sagas). This week, we will be discussing the third genre of saga literature:Íslendingasögur (family sagas). This final genre actually makes up the bulk of saga literature we have. It is also the genre that is most studied for historical information, in regards to medieval…
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Sagas: Kings and Heroes
This week, we will be discussing two genres of saga literature, king and mythical-hero. I will start by discussing the genres and then I will provide summaries of a few sagas that are well known from these categories. I will avoid summaries and spoiling details, but I will discuss the most popular kings and heroes…
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Sagas: Skalds and Poetry
This week we will begin a discussion on skalds (poets) and their tradition. Poetry had a much higher value in the medieval world than it does today. Words had power, so much so that they could even physically deform you. Law texts specifically note punishments for slandering someone’s name. This is not only unique to Scandinavian region…
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Sagas: Snorri and Eddas
This week we will continue our discussion of Viking Age related literature by entering the realm of the Edda and Eddic poetry. We will start by discussing an important Icelander named Snorri Sturluson, discussing the literature that has preserved much of our mythological material. Contents: Snorri Sturluson (d. 1241) Snorri Sturluson was a prominent member of…
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Sagas: Sources
This week’s lesson begins a multi-part series on the literature pertaining to the Vikings. This is among the more important of topics to understand for those wishing to study the period. Much of the information that we know about Vikings have come from this literature (and other literature from other places). The most important thing to…
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Viking Age Writing: Runes
This week’s lesson will explore the history of runes during the Viking Age. The younger futhark will be the prime focus of discussion, since those were the runes used throughout the Viking Age, but I will still touch on each set of Futhark during this lesson. I am by no means an expert, but this lesson…
