Medieval Scandinavia: The Downfall of the Kalmar Union
For the ninth and last article in the series, Beñat Elortza Larrea explores the internal tensions and conflicts that caused the dissolution of the Kalmar Union.
Medieval Scandinavia: War, Plague, and the Beginning of the Kalmar Union
Beñat Elortza Larrea discusses the ravages of famine, warfare and disease in fourteenth-century Scandinavia, culminating with the formation of the Kalmar Union in 1397.
Medieval Scandinavia: The Finnish Peoples
In this seventh article of the series, Beñat Elortza Larrea discusses the main developments in the Finnish borderlands and the impacts of Swedish conquest.
Medieval Scandinavia: The Swedish Kingdom
Beñat Elortza Larrea discusses the transformation of Svealand and Götaland into the Swedish kingdom.
The Vikings also suffered from Smallpox, researchers find
The fatal disease smallpox is older and more widespread than scientists have first thought.
Medieval Scandinavia: Assemblies, Law-Giving and Language
In this feature on the Medieval Scandinavia series, Beñat Elortza Larrea discusses law assemblies, legislation, and how legal terminology can be tricky from a researcher’s perspective.
Medieval Scandinavia: The Rise and Fall of the Danish Kingdom
The history of Denmark between the late tenth and early fourteenth centuries.
Medieval Scandinavia: Power Dynamics in the Viking Age
In the first article on a series about the rise of kingdoms in medieval Scandinavia, Beñat Elortza Larrea examines the society and power dynamics found in the Viking Age.
The Sandby Borg Massacre: Interpersonal Violence and the Demography of the Dead
During excavations of the Iron Age ringfort of Sandby borg (AD 400–550), the remains of twenty-six unburied bodies were encountered inside and outside the buildings.
Gender equality and the Vikings
Modern-day Scandinavia is regarded as a model of equality between the sexes. A new study indicates that this may go back to the early Middle Ages.
Around the Barbarian Sea: Settlements and Outcomes in the Early Medieval Baltic
The Viking towns of Birka, Kaupang, Hedeby and Ribe have captured the imagination of archaeologists and the public alike, presenting the lives of their enigmatic inhabitants.
Charisma, Violence and Weapons: The Broken Swords of the Vikings
The blades were beaten, bent or twisted, sometimes folded together in a way that needs preparation, expertise and equipment. The fact that these swords were subjected to special treatment, handled in a different manner than the rest of the grave goods, underscores the distinctive role of swords in Norse society
The Dead Man’s Prophecy and a Roundtrip to Hell: The Early Adventures of Hadingus
What can be more glorious, more tempting than the conquest of death?
How today’s wars are similar to the medieval wars in Scandinavia
There are many ways in which to understand present-day warfare. One way is to look at the wars that took place in Middle Ages.
How the borders of Scandinavia changed in the Middle Ages
Here are several videos that track the rise and fall of states in Scandinavia during the medieval period.
Viking Age garden plants from southern Scandinavia – diversity, taphonomy and cultural aspects
This article presents the diversity of evidence for garden plants from archaeological contexts in southern Scandinavia dated to the Viking Age (AD 775–1050).
Food of Medieval and Renaissance Scandinavia
After the end of the Viking age, Scandinavian food culture changed due to contacts and cultural influences. The upper classes were inspired by dishes of continental Europe, and we start to get some literature that can give us more insights into the food culture.
Large-scale whaling in northern Scandinavia may date back to 6th century
The intensive whaling that has pushed many species to the brink of extinction today may be several centuries older than previously assumed. This view is held by archaeologists from Uppsala and York whose findings are presented in the European Journal of Archaeology.
Creating Holy People and Places on the Periphery
Holy people have been venerated in various forms by all religions and ideologies throughout history. Christianity is no exception with the development of the cults of saints beginning shortly after its formation.
The elusive Norse harbours of the North Atlantic: why they were abandoned, and why they are so hard to find
In the 8th century, Scandinavians began to press westwards across the North Atlantic; exploring, raiding, colonizing and trading.
A Falconer’s Ritual: A study of the cognitive and spiritual dimensions of pre-Christian Scandinavian falconry
Working from the premise that falconry was introduced in Scandinavia from an eastern origin sometime in the course of the 6th century AD, this paper suggests that the practice may have harboured cognitive and spirituals dimensions unshared by the rest of the feudal, Christian European kingdoms.
The Development of Merchant Identity in Viking-Age and Medieval Scandinavia
What, precisely, did a medieval or premedieval Scandinavian merchant do? What were the expectations placed upon them, and how did they figure into the broader society of the medieval Nordic world?
Across the North Sea and Back Again: A Comparative Study between the Cults of St. Olav and St. Edmund
This thesis serves to examine the transmission of royal missionary saints between Norway and England during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, focused on the cult of St. Olav and the cult of St. Edmund.
How and why did the Viking Age begin?
The question of how the Viking Age started has been much debated by historians. One of the leading scholars in the field, Neil Price, is looking to address this fundamental question with his latest project – The Viking Phenomenon.