Description

This volume examines the various forms of contact between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe from 800 to 1350. It consists of twenty-five papers from international scholars specialising in archaeology, onomastics, literature, art history, epigraphy, religious history and linguistics. The volume is innovative in three respects: (i) in transcending conventional historical boundaries, by bringing together work on both the viking and medieval periods; (ii) by examining the ways in which mainland Europe influenced Scandinavia (e.g. kingship, law and social organisation; and classical and continental literary traditions); and (iii) by synthesising all the material for an English-language readership for the first time. The broader timespan of investigation illustrates the changing nature of contact and the gradual integration of Scandinavia into European society: by 1350 Scandinavia was no longer a heathen outpost on the periphery of the known world, but an integral part of Western Christendom. The cultural impact of mainland Europe on Scandinavia, frequently mediated through religious channels, although less dramatic, is shown to have had a more significant long-term impact than the earlier viking raids. The volume is structured around the following sections: Historical and Archaeological Evidence for [Scandinavian] Contact with the British Isles; Evidence for the Linguistic Impact of Scandinavian Settlement; Evidence for the Impact of Christianity on Scandinavia; Textual Evidence for Contact, Conflict, and Coexistence.