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Orð Víkinganna: the Level and Scale of Literacy in the Viking World

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Orð Víkinganna: the Level and Scale of Literacy in the Viking World Orð Víkinganna: The level and scale of literacy in the Viking World The cases of Birka and Sigtuna Master’s Thesis 45 credits Department of Archaeology and Ancient History Uppsala University HT2019-HT2020 Date of Submission: 2021-18-01 Themistoklis D. Zacharopoulos Supervisor: Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia Orð Víkinganna: The level and scale of literacy in the Viking World The cases of Birka and Sigtuna ※ Orð Víkinganna: Läs - och skrivkunnighet (literacy) i vikingarnas värld En fallstudie baserad på det arkeologiska materialet i de vikingatida städerna Birka och Sigtuna ※ Themistoklis D. Zacharopoulos MA thesis 45 credits in Archaeology HT2019-HT2020 Supervisor: Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson Campus Engelska Parken - Uppsala Abstract Zacharopoulos, D. T. (2021). Orð Víkinganna: The level and scale of literacy in the Viking World. The cases of Birka and Sigtuna. Uppsala, Dept. of Archaeology and Ancient History This thesis aims to study the level and scale of literacy as it expanded in Viking towns during the 8th-12th century. In order to get an understanding of this spread, I have worked with two case-studies of Viking towns, as they were founded and prospered during and by the end of the Viking Age in Sweden; the town of Birka located in Björkö Island in Lake Mälaren, and the town of Sigtuna located in the province of Uppland, in central Sweden. Through the study of selected archaeological material, this paper aims to bring together scattered information and shed light on what we know about the level and spread of literacy in Viking society. The purpose of this endeavour, is to question not only the notion of an illiterate pagan society that the Viking Age Scandinavians are considered to have been, but also question both the methodology in which the scholarly archaeological community studies literacy, as well as the way literacy itself is defined in the study of the ancient world. The paper includes a bibliographic and a material-studying approach, as well as a section where digital archaeological research methods are used with Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software in order to illustrate the level and scale of literary expansion in Viking Age Sweden. Keywords:, Viking Age, Sweden, literacy, Birka, Sigtuna, runes, inscriptions, styli, writing tools, GIS, archaeolinguistics, archaeological research Master thesis in Archaeology [45 hp]. Supervisor: Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson. Defended on January 22, 2021. © Themistoklis D. Zacharopoulos Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626, 75126 Uppsala, Sweden Cover Picture: “Birka and Hovgården” - Photo by Albertine Slotboom. © Copyright World Heritage Photos (original picture from online source) Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson of the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University. The door to Prof. Hedenstierna-Jonson’s office was always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had a question about my research or writing. She consistently allowed this paper to be my own work but steered me in the right direction whenever she thought I needed it. I would also like to thank the experts who were involved in the implementation of this research project: Curator Anders Söderberg of the Sigtuna Museum, who tirelessly provided me with all the necessary material, bibliography and useful information in order to conduct my research; Curator Antje Wendt of the Historiska Museum in Stockholm, who – in spite of the difficult times of the Covid-19 global pandemic – did her best in order to provide me with the material and information needed in order to properly conduct my research while I was visiting this archive; Associate Professor Dr. Daniel Löwenborg, who provided me with the help and information needed for completing the GIS approach on my research. Without their passionate participation and input, this research could not have been successfully conducted. A special gratitude needs to be expressed towards all my colleagues and fellow master’s students who, with their valuable inputs, ideas and support, lifted my spirits and helped me keep going, during a period when the world was going through a crisis and everything seemed to fall apart. I wish them all the best of luck in their future endeavours, and I am certain they will all be invaluable members to our field’s community in the future. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents and to my dear friends, for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you. The Author Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................... Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................................. Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................................... List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................................... List of Tables & Charts ............................................................................................................................................ 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Paper Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. A Historical Background of the case studies and the material ............................................................... 2 1.3. Introducing the Material .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.4. Source-critical Issues ............................................................................................................................... 5 2. A look on Literacy: Definition, Terminology and Issues................................................................................... 7 3. A look on the Material ..................................................................................................................................... 11 3.1. On Runes and their importance on historical research ........................................................................ 11 3.2. On Styli and the issue of their definition and classification ................................................................. 15 4. The Case Studies ............................................................................................................................................. 23 4.1. The case and material of the Birka settlement ...................................................................................... 23 4.1.1. The Writing Tools .......................................................................................................................... 25 4.1.2. The Runic Inscriptions .................................................................................................................... 26 4.2. The case and material of the Sigtuna settlement .................................................................................. 28 4.2.1. The Writing Tools .......................................................................................................................... 29 4.2.2. The Runic Inscriptions .................................................................................................................... 31 4.3. Comparative Analysis and Results ........................................................................................................ 33 5. The level and expansion of Viking Age Literacy ............................................................................................ 36 5.1. Tracing the indicators ............................................................................................................................ 36 5.2. Mapping the Indicators .......................................................................................................................... 41 5.2.1. Birka ............................................................................................................................................... 43 5.2.2. Sigtuna ............................................................................................................................................ 44 6. Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................................................ 46 References ........................................................................................................................................................... 48 Primary Sources .................................................................................................................................................. 48 Contemporary Sources.......................................................................................................................................
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