Signs of Power. Manorial Demesnes in Medieval Iceland
An important aspect of medieval Icelandic social organization, namely the manor, has been neglected in previous research, and very little research has been undertaken comparing Icelandic manorial organization with other regions. This article focuses on one aspect of manorial organization, namely the manorial demesne or central farm of the manor.
The Reenactors: A Documentary on Medieval reenactors
We are visiting the medieval fair on Gotland. Here we find people dedicating mostly of their spare time to as accurate as possible recreate medieval life. What makes them want to do that? Is it geeks escaping reality or a proper presentation of researched history? Or maybe a little bit of both?
Saints’ Cults in Medieval Livonia
Saints’ cults played a crucial role in medieval society. Although we know very little about the beliefs and rituals of the indigenous peoples of Livonia, either before or after the thirteenth-century conquest, we may assume that the process of Christianization must have caused major changes in their religious practices.
Death as an architect of societies Burial and social identity during the Viking Age in South-western Scania
In my opinion, the mono-cultural Viking Age is largely the product of one past social group, that had imposed on us their narration about the events, through production of tangible and durable monuments and sources. If analysis of the past should be of any value, it needs to be not only specifically spatially located, but also socially located.
How Nordic are the old Nordic Laws?
Medieval legislation plays a peculiar and very important role in Nordic legal history.
Anglo Saxon and Viking Ship Burial – The British Museum
This session explores Viking and Anglo Saxon ship burials between the seventh and tenth centuries presented at The British Museum.
The political impact of crusading ideology in Sweden, 1150-1350
Swedish historiography has occasionally touched on the political impact of crusading ideology but the topic cannot be said to have attracted any great deal of research and only in recent decades have certain scholars given it their undivided attention…
Medieval Widowhood and Textual Guidance: The Corpus Revisions of Ancrene Wisse and the de Braose Anchoresses
In this article, I shall examine the lives of Loretta and her siblings as templates for the kind of audience imagined by the authors of the Ancrene Wisse Group and, in particular, by the author of Ancrene Wisse as he revised his original text.
Island Words, Island Worlds: The Origins and Meanings of Words for ‘Islands’ in North-West Europe
This paper proposes the notion that words mirror ideas, perspectives and world- views. Etymologies and meanings of general words for ‘islands’ in a number of languages in North and West Europe are then discussed.
Unlocking the secrets to Sweden’s Holy King
Researchers in Sweden have opened the casket of King Erik IX, and hope to analyze his bones to understand more about the health of the twelfth-century ruler and to even make sure these remains are his.
Childbirth Miracles in Swedish Medieval Miracle Collections
The chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth was very real for medieval women, and still is in many Third World countries. In Medieval Catholic Western Europe, including Scandinavia, these risks, and the absence of medically schooled persons who could give efficient help, led many women to turn to the saints for intercession.
Women in early towns
What do we know about women’s role in these societies? What did women do and how numerous were they? And did they pay the same role in Viking-Age proto-towns as in more developed medieval urban communities?
In quest for the lost gamers: An investigation of board gaming in Scania, during the Iron and Middle Ages
The games we play today are of course not entirely the same as those played a thousand years ago,
The politico-religious landscape of medieval Karelia
In historical sources the Karelians appear in the 12th century although archaeological excavations suggest that the amalgamation of groups of Baltic Finns, centered on the Karelian Isthmus, that came together from east and west respectively to form them originated in the late Iron Age and early Viking Age.
Shoes and shoemakers in late medieval Bergen and Stockholm
The purpose of this article is to analyse the differences between shoemakers in late medieval Bergen and Stockholm on one hand, and the differences between the archaeological finds of shoes in the two towns on the other hand.
Rituals of Greeting and Farewell: Reflections on a Visit to the Royal Court of Norway in 1302
An account of reception and farewell rituals at the royal court of Norway in 1302 is described in detail and analyzed through the use of ritual studies.
Saint Lucy’s Day: A Light in a Dark Time
Scandinavian and Sicilian girls eagerly await the arrival of Saint Lucy on 13 December.
The Viking Age and the Crusades Era in Yngvars saga víðförla
The ‘Saga of Ingvar the Far-Traveller’ is based on a reliable fact, justified by about 25 runic inscriptions which date to the first half of the eleventh century, that a military expedition, led by Ingvar, went from Sweden to Eastern Europe, then moved to the South or to the South-West and perished there.
Snow Castles and Horse Racing on Ice: Winter Fun in the Medieval North
Although the winters could be long and harsh in medieval Sweden, the people still found time to have fun and games.
Fifth-century massacre discovered by Swedish archaeologists
Archaeologists in Sweden have uncovered the site where hundreds of people may have been killed in a brutal massacre.
The Role of Woman in Medieval Sweden on the Evidence of the Earliest Legal Texts
Legal texts are aimed at maintaining order and defining what is legal in a given society. In the Middle Ages they often take the form of descriptions of situations and cases representing the conditions for the application of various rules.
The Jew Who Wasn’t There: Anti-Semitism, Absence and Anxiety in Medieval Scandinavia
On the 2nd July 1350 in the city of Visby, a man named Diderik was burnt at the stake.
Rune Stones and Magnate Farms: The Viking Age in Vadsbo Hundred
What is the relationship between the Viking Age magnate farms and local place names? What of the numerous Rune stones, burial mounds, surface finds, and ancient monuments? Are they also tied to subsequent names? Can they help us place farms and other sites?
Saga Motifs on Gotland Picture Stones: The Case of Hildr Högnadóttir
This article will only examine one of these legends, namely the ‘Hildr legend’ in the context of two of these stones, lärbro stora hammars and stenkyrka smiss . An attempt will be made to place the images in a larger context than has been done before, and by doing so to strenghten the probability that they were indeed intended to refer to the original Hildr legend.
“The Wrath of the Northmen”: The Vikings and their Memory
These raiding peoples emerge out of all three Scandinavian homelands–Norway, Sweden, and Denmark–sending off their young men all over the known world in search of wealth and prestige.