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The Viking Age SYLLABUS

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The Viking Age SYLLABUS History 1031: The Viking Age SYLLABUS Prof. Jonathan P. Conant Smith‐Buonanno Hall 106 Brown University MWF 1:00‐1:50 p.m. Spring 2015 For nearly three centuries, Viking marauders struck terror into the hearts of European Christians. Yet these feared Norsemen were not just raiders; they were traders and explorers who maintained a network of connections that stretched from North America to Baghdad and who developed a complex civilization that was deeply concerned with power and its abuses, the role of law in society, and the corrosive power of violence. This class examines the tensions and transformations within Norse society between AD 750 and 1100 and how people living in the Viking world sought to devise solutions to the challenges that confronted them as their world expanded and changed. The class will also take us inside the historian’s workshop, exposing us to the tools, texts, and objects from which historians and archaeologists construct their interpretations of the medieval past. Class meetings will interweave narrative and thematic lectures with student analysis of primary sources in translation. Topics include Viking raiding and trading activities; exploration, settlement, and interaction with the peoples of North America, Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic world; gender; Norse paganism, evangelization, and conversion to Christianity; kingship; environmental disaster; and the end (or ends) of the Viking age. REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING: 1. Informed participation, preparation of required readings, and periodic quizzes and short written assignments on weekly readings (as assigned): 20% 2. Written assignments: A project proposal or pre‐paper (2½ pages) presenting a historical critique of a Viking‐era primary source in translation, chosen in consultation with the teaching staff: 10% A final project or term paper (10 pages) that will develop, deepen and extend the analysis of the primary source critiqued in the pre‐paper: 25% 3. Exams: One midterm examination: 20% Final examination: 25% GETTING IN TOUCH: E‐mail: [email protected] Office: Peter Green House 010, 79 Brown St. Phone: x3‐5121 Office Hours: Tu 3–4 p.m., W 11 a.m.–12 p.m. and by appointment TEACHING ASSISTANTS: Sam Caldis ([email protected]) Joey Kurz ([email protected]) Charles Carroll ([email protected]) SECTIONS: Sections are required. Section assignments will be worked out during the second week of class. Once made, all section assignments are final. REQUIRED TEXTS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE: The following texts will be available for purchase at the Brown Bookstore: Simon Keynes and Michael Lapidge, Alfred the Great (New York: Penguin, 1984). ISBN: 978‐0‐ 1404‐4409‐4. $17.00 new R.I. Page, Runes (Reading the Past) (Berkeley: U. of California P., 1987). ISBN: 978‐0‐5200‐6114‐ 9. $20.95 new The Saga of the Volsungs, trans. Jesse L. Byock (New York: Penguin, 2000). ISBN: 978‐0‐1404‐ 4738‐5. $15.00 new Snorri Sturluson, King Harald’s Saga, trans. Magnus Magnusson and Herman Pálsson (New York: Penguin, 1976). ISBN: 978‐0‐1404‐4183‐3. $14.00 new Angus Somerville and Andrew McDonald, The Vikings and Their Age (Toronto: U. of Toronto P., 2013). ISBN: 978‐1‐4426‐0522‐0. Price: $19.95 new The Vinland Sagas, trans. Keneva Kunz (New York: Penguin, 2008). ISBN: 978‐0‐1404‐4776‐7. $16.00 new Anders Winroth, The Age of the Vikings (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U.P., 2014). ISBN: 978‐0‐ 6911‐4985‐1. Price: $29.95 new You may be able to find these books (new or used) for less through an online vendor such as amazon.com. Readings not available for purchase will be available online through e‐reserves. LECTURE PLAN *** Please come to class prepared to discuss the readings on the day indicated *** Week 1 1. Jan. 21 Introduction 2. Jan. 23 The Inheritance of Rome: Europe on the Eve of the Viking Invasions Reading: Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 1–3, 35–38, and 85–128; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 1–14; Saga of the Volsungs, pp. 11–26 Week 2 3. Jan. 26 Britain, Ireland, and the East on the Eve of the Viking Age 4. Jan. 28 Scandinavia Before History 5. Jan. 30 Norse Religion in the Pre‐Viking Period Reading: Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 3–8 and 39–49; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 157–180 and 213–240; Saga of the Volsungs, pp. 1–11 Week 3 6. Feb. 2 A World at Sea: Ships and Navigation 7. Feb. 4 The Preconditions of Violence 8. [Feb. 4–6] SECTION 1: Pre‐Viking Scandinavia Reading: Saga of the Volsungs, pp. 33–110; Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 8–15 and 49–53; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 71–98 Week 4 9. Feb. 9 The Nature of Exchange 10. Feb. 11 The Economics of Aggression 2 11. [Feb. 11–13] SECTION 2: Apostle to the North Reading: Rimbert, Life of St. Anskar (e‐reserves); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 32–34; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 99–130 Week 5 Feb. 16 No class: Long Weekend 12. Feb. 18 Victims 13. [Feb. 18–20] SECTION 3: Franks and Vikings Reading: The Royal Frankish Annals, Annals of Xanten, Annals of St. Vaast (e‐ reserves); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 16–24 and 129–134; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 15–44 Week 6 14. Feb. 23 Settling In 15. Feb. 25 Accommodation 16. [Feb. 25–27] SECTION 4: Fighting Back Reading: Alfred the Great, pp. 9–120 and 171–172; Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 25–29 Week 7 17. March 2 Midterm 18. March 4 Iceland: Discovery and Settlement 19. [March 4–6] SECTION 5: Sagas and Social History Reading: The Book of Icelanders; The Book of Settlements; Hrafnkel’s Saga (e‐ reserves); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 53–56 and 80–81; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 45–70 Week 8 20. March 9 The Icelandic Commonwealth 21. March 11 Iceland’s Viking‐Age Ritual Landscape Guest lecturer: Kevin P. Smith, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology Reading: The Prose Edda: “Prologue” and “The Deluding of Gylfi”; Landnámabók sections 27–67 Recommended additional reading: The Poetic Edda: Völuspá; G. Lucas and T. McGovern, “Bloody Slaughter: Ritual Decapitation and Display at the Viking Settlement of Hofstaðir, Iceland. European Journal of Archaeology 10 (2007): 7–30 22. [March 11–13] SECTION 6: Archaeologies of Death Reading: N. Price, “Passing into Poetry: Viking‐Age Mortuary Drama and the Origins of Norse Mythology,” Medieval Archaeology 54 (2010), 123–156; N.L. Wicker, “Christianization, Female Infanticide, and the Abundance of Female Burials at Viking Age Birka in Sweden,” Journal of the History of Sexuality 21.2 (2012), 245–262; S. McLeod, “Warriors and Women: The Sex Ratio of Norse Migrants to Eastern England up to 900 AD,” Early Medieval Europe 19.3 (2011), 332–353; T.D. Price and H. Gestsdóttir, “The First Settlers of Iceland: An Isotopic Approach to Colonization,” Antiquity 80 (2006), 130–144; T. Molleson “A Norse Age Boatman from Newark Bay” (all e‐reserves); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 31–32 3 Week 9 23. March 16 Greenland Pre‐paper or project proposal due at the beginning of class 24. March 18 North America 25. [March 18–20] SECTION 7: The Vinland Sagas Reading: The Vinland Sagas (complete); Somerville and McDonald, pp. 75–80 Week 10 March 23–27 No class: Spring Break Week 11 26. March 30 Norse Paganism in the Viking Age 27. April 1 Conversion 28. [April 1–3] SECTION 8: Thinking With Runes Reading: Runes (complete); “Kiss Me: The World of Runes” (e‐reserves); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 56–66 and 70–73; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 181–213 Week 12 29. April 6 The Viking Trail East 30. April 8 Byzantium and the Caliphate 31. [April 8–10] SECTION 9: Harald Hardrada Reading: King Harald’s Saga (complete); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 29–30 and 73–75; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 131–156 Week 13 32. April 13 The End of the Viking Age 33. April 15 New Worlds of Violence 34. [April 15–17] SECTION 10: From Vikings to Crusaders Reading: Saga of Sigurd the Crusader (e‐reserves); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 34–35 and 81–83 Week 14 35. April 20 The Death of the Greenland Colony Reading: Diamond, Collapse, pp. 211–276 (e‐reserves); Somerville and McDonald, Vikings, pp. 135–139; Winroth, Age of the Vikings, pp. 241–248 36. April 22 Conclusions Term paper or final project due at the beginning of class IMPORTANT DATES: March 2: Midterm exam March 16: Pre‐paper or project proposal due at the beginning of class April 22: Term paper or final project due at the beginning of class May 6: Final exam, 2 p.m. ***All assignments are due at the beginning of class*** 4 The Fine Print: By taking this class, you are agreeing to the following terms: 1. Attendance and participation: Informed participation accounts for 20% of a student’s final grade in this class; thus regular, punctual attendance at lectures and sections is expected of all students. If you are going to miss section for any reason, please call or e‐mail your section leader ahead of the scheduled class meeting time to let him or her know (see “Getting in Touch,” above). Students may take up to one excused absence from section without affecting their participation grade; further excused absences may negatively affect a student’s grade. Any unexcused absences will result in a penalty of 12.5% of the student’s participation grade per section missed. Excused absences for medical reasons require a note from Brown Health Services indicating that the student has been sick.
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