HIST 309: The Viking Age (GS)

Course Description

Who were the people we call “Vikings” and how did they live? How does our modern memory of the Vikings correspond to what scholars have been able to reconstruct of their family life, economy, political organizations, art, and poetry? This class will attempt to answer these questions and others through the study and discussion of written records, archaeological findings, and the works of modern historians. the course will concentrate on a “long” Viking Age, from the eighth through the early thirteenth centuries, in order to incorporate Icelandic sources and Scandinavian expansion west to the North Atlantic islands of the Faroes, Shetland, Orkney, Iceland, Greenland and, eventually, to North America. We will begin with Scandinavian society in the Early Middle Ages and then explore the reasons for Scandinavian expansion, the boats that allowed Vikings to travel, their raids along the coasts of Britain, Ireland, and the Frankish Kingdoms, the establishment of new settlements, and the religious beliefs of the Norse along with their conversions to Christianity. We will take a global approach, examining how the Vikings interacted with the different cultures they encountered across the world, how Viking raiding and trading affected other kingdoms and in turn how Scandinavian society, and indeed Europe as a whole, was affected by their interactions with these new cultures. Prerequisite: Junior standing or any 100-level History course or instructor consent.