Medieval Scandinavia

A morte de Odin? As representações do Ragnarök na arte das Ilhas Britânicas (séc. X). MEDIEVALISTA 11, 2012. Instituto de Estudos Medievais da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.

by Johnni Langer

Ęrgi ok œði ok óþola: 'Lust, perversity and unbearable longing' - the threat of induced desire in Skírnismál

by Richard Cole

Paper given at the colloquium "Gender and Transgression in the Middle Ages" (4th-5th May, 2012, St. Andrew)

The Territorialization of Power in the Icelandic Commonwealth

by Sverrir Jakobsson

A draft version of an article published in Statsutvikling i Skandinavia i middelalderen, eds. Sverre Bagge, Michael H. Gelting, Frode Hervik, Thomas Lindkvist & Bjørn Poulsen (Oslo 2012), 101-18.

Massed Bodies and the Yearning for Holocaust in Medieval Scandinavia

by Richard Cole

Paper circulated in advance of the colloquium, “The Middle Ages and the Holocaust: Medieval Anti-Judaism in the Crucible of Modern Thought” (April 22nd, 2012, University of Pittsburgh).

Mission Miscarried: The Narrators of the Ninth Century Missions to Scandinavia and Central Europe

by Sverrir Jakobsson

A draft version of a paper published in Bulgaria medievalis 2/2011, pp. 49-69.

„Centre and Periphery in Icelandic Medieval Discourse“, in Á austrvega. Saga and East Scandinavia. Preprint papers of the 14th international Saga Conference. Uppsala 9th-15th August.

by Sverrir Jakobsson

Ragnhild

by Anders Frojmark

In Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, vol. 29, pp. 613–15. Year of publication: 1996. Language: Swedish

At the Swedish church of Södertälje south of Stockholm, a cult of a local saint, Queen Ragnhild, presumed founder of... more At the Swedish church of Södertälje south of Stockholm, a cult of a local saint, Queen Ragnhild, presumed founder of the church, is known from 15th C. sources. The information concerning her identity is confused in the sources, but she is thought to have lived at the end of the 11th and/or beginning of the 12th C.
Apart from having founded Södertälje church, Queen Ragnhild is said to have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and 15th C. murals depict her as a pilgrim.
The publication of Vitis aquilonia by the exiled Catholic Johannes Vastovius in 1623 led to a renewed interest in St. Ragnhild, and Södertälje church is currently referred to as St. Ragnhild's church.

Ambiguous pots: Everyday practice, migration and materiality. The case of medieval Baltic ware on the island of Bornholm (Denmark)

by Magdalena Naum

published in Journal of Social Archaeology, 2012, 12 (1)

Archaeologists routinely deal with the remains of everyday life. Yet the significance and dimensions of daily... more Archaeologists routinely deal with the remains of everyday life. Yet the significance and dimensions of daily practices are rarely reflected upon. Merging Bourdieu’s theory of practice, recent theories of everyday life and the materiality approach in archaeology, this study addresses the potential importance of daily practices and mundane objects in dealing with a rupture caused by migration. As a case study I use an example of medieval (eleventh century) Western Slavic migration to the island of Bornholm (Denmark) and production and daily handling of ceramic pots, the so-called Baltic ware. I explore the possible background to the introduction of the new pottery style, its significance for the local population of the island and above all the meanings these types of ceramics could have had for the immigrant Slavs.

Difficult middles, hybridity and ambivalence of a medieval frontier: the cultural landscape of Lolland and Falster (Denmark)

by Magdalena Naum

published in Journal of Medieval History, 2012, vol. 38 (1)

This article focuses on the cultural and political landscape of the Danish islands of Lolland and Falster in the... more This article focuses on the cultural and political landscape of the Danish islands of Lolland and Falster in the Middle Ages. The close economic and dynastic relationships between medieval Denmark and the Slavic area south of the Baltic Sea, as well as Slavic settlement on the islands, contributed to the emergence of complex realities and attitudes, as well as a particular ‘in-betweenness’ of the islanders. By analysing archaeological and historical sources as well as borrowing concepts from postcolonial scholarship, the processes that developed in this borderland geography are explored. The paper highlights hybridity in material culture, pays attention to the ambivalence towards ‘national’ projects and underlines the complex and multi-positional identities of the islanders.

Defining a nation: Popular and public identity in the middle ages

by Sverrir Jakobsson

An article in Scandinavian Journal of History, 24(1999), 191–201.

Erindringen om en mægtig personlighed: den norsk-islandske historiske tradisjon om Harald Hårfagre i et kildekritisk perspektiv.

by Sverrir Jakobsson

An article published in Historisk tidsskrift, 81 (2002), 213-30.

Heaven is a Place on Earth: Church and Sacred Space in 13th century Iceland

by Sverrir Jakobsson

A draft version of an article published in Scandinavian Studies, 82 (2010), 1-20.

The Emergence of Norðrlönd in Old Norse Medieval Texts

by Sverrir Jakobsson

A draft version of a paper published in Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Sumarliði Ísleifsson & Daniel Chartier (Quebec, 2011), 25-40.

The Peace of God in Iceland in the 12th and 13th centuries

by Sverrir Jakobsson

A draft version of a paper published in Sacri canones servandi sunt. Ius canonicum et status ecclesiae saeculis XIII-XV (Opera Instituti historici Pragae. Series C – Miscellanea, 19), ed. Pavel Krafl (Prague, 2008), 205-13.

State formation and pre-modern identities in the North

by Sverrir Jakobsson

A draft version of an article published in Arkiv för nordisk filologi, 125 (2010), 67-82.

Missionary activity in early medieval Norway. Strategy, organization and the course of events

by Dagfinn Skre

Scandinavian Journal of History, vol. 23 (1998), pp. 1-19.

The Skiringssal Thing site þjoðalyng

by Dagfinn Skre

In Dagfinn Skre (ed.) 2007: Kaupang in Skiringssal. Kaupang Excavation Project Publication Series, vol. 1, pp. 385–406. Århus, Aarhus University Press.

La christianisation de la Suède (XIe–XIVe siècles): Aspects méthodologiques de la recherche actuelle

by Anders Frojmark

In La christianisation des campagnes: Actes du colloque du C.I.H.E.C. (25–27 août 1994) 1, sous la dir. de J.-P. Massaut & M.-E. Henneau. (Institut historique Belge de Rome: Bibliothèque 38.), 95–102. Bruxelles & Rome 1996. ISBN 90-74461-17-4. Language: French.

Situated at the margin of Europe, Sweden was not much affected by the great migrations or the Christian missions... more Situated at the margin of Europe, Sweden was not much affected by the great migrations or the Christian missions during the 5th and 8th centuries. Only from the 9th century onwards, a sustained endeavour to include Sweden in Christian Europe is discernible, ending in the creation of the ecclesiastic province of Uppsala in 1164, comprising the Swedish kingdom. The Christianization of Sweden was brought about without exterior military pressure or visible interior unrest. An interdisciplinary research group has been formed to study the Christianization of Sweden, and the paper is largely based on publications of this group. Two fields of discussion, where different approaches meet, have been chosen for the discussion. One is the debate considering the relative importance of phenomena of continuity and rupture respectively in the process of Christianization, e.g. concerning cult places, religious customs and burial. The other is the discussion of how the missions were organized and carried out, e.g. the relative importance of English, German and Roman influence on the establishing of Christian institutions in Sweden.

The Category of Affinity (Mdgsemd) in the Old Norse Model of Family Relations

by Fjodor Uspenskij

Arkiv för nordisk filologi. 2007. Vol. 122. P. 157–180

The Advent of Christianity and Dynastic Name-giving in Scandinavia and Rus’

by Fjodor Uspenskij

Early Christianity on the Way from the Varangians to the Greeks / Ed. by Ildar Garipdzanov and Oleksiy Tolochko. Kiev, 2011. (Ruthenica. Supplementum 4.) С. 108–119