Course Information
- Credits 3
- Major Disciplines History, Literature
- Related Disciplines Religious Studies
- Long Study Tour Ireland, Iceland
- Session Session 2
About this course
In this course, we study the history, religion, and worldview of the pre-Christian Scandinavians as reflected in primary medieval texts and poems from the Viking Age. The course offers insights into the Viking Age in Scandinavia, both by reading original sources and by examining the pop-cultural echoes of the Viking world in the fiction and fantasy of today.
Syllabus
Faculty
Kim Bergqvist
PhD Candidate in History, Department of History, Stockholm University. MA (2010) and BA (2008) Stockholm University. Teaches medieval history at Stockholm University since 2012. Visiting Scholar to Columbia University (2016), Cornell University (2014), and the University of Navarra, Pamplona (2012–13). Publications have appeared in The Medieval Chronicle and Collegium Medievale. Areas of specialization: medieval Scandinavia; medieval Iberia; comparative history; medieval literature, genre and fiction; political culture; gender history; the history of emotions. With DIS since 2018.
Lena Norrman
Ph.D., Older Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, 2006. Senior Lecturer in Swedish in the department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch at the University of Minnesota since 2005. The role of women in medieval Scandinavia is the focus of Dr. Norrman’s research, with special emphasis on the use of weaving as a means of communication. She is the author of Viking Women: Narrative Roles in Woven Tapestries (2008). She has also published articles on women, storytelling and weaving in Viking Age Scandinavia and Classical Greece. With DIS from 2018.
Long study tour
About this tour
The information for this Study Tour is currently being finalized. The full description will be posted here soon.
Learning outcomes
- Gain insight into the social and cultural world of the Vikings as rendered in the culture and history of Ireland
- Develop an understanding of Viking Age religion and culture
- Identify the role of the Viking Age in contemporary Icelandic consciousness
Possible activities
- Coming soon
About this tour
On this Study Tour, we visit Viking landmarks and historical sites to get a glimpse into the culture and values of the Viking Age. We experience the amazing nature of Iceland with its glaciers, spouting geysers, volcanoes, raging rivers, and magnificent waterfalls, with a multitude of birds and cavorting whales just offshore. These signature natural phenomena serve as our point of departure in examining the Icelandic Sagas. We will build an understanding of their meaning and authorship from the inside out, as we cultivate a relationship with the land in which they are set, the time in which they were written, and the landscapes that lend visual substance to their poetry.
Learning outcomes
- Gain insight into the social and cultural world of the Vikings as rendered in the culture and history of Iceland
- Develop an understanding of Viking Age religion and culture
- Identify the role of the Viking Age in contemporary Icelandic consciousness
Possible activities
- Visiting the National Museum, Manuscript Museum, and Saga Museum
- Excursions to lava fields (on horseback), massive waterfalls, geyser parks, and other natural spectacles
- Following the path of the Eyrbyggja Saga and the Golden circle through Western Iceland
- A geothermal bathing experience at the Blue Lagoon
