Viking Age

Angus A. Somerville, now retired, formerly taught Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon at Brock University. Somerville was a contributor to the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary.R. Andrew McDonald is Professor in the Department of History at Brock University.

"The third edition of [The Viking Age] is a substantial enlargement and update."- D.J. Shepherd (CHOICE)

• List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: The Scandinavian Homelands 1. The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan 2. A Description of the Islands of the North Chapter Two: Scandinavian Society3. The Lay of Rig (Rígsþula) 4. Politics in Harald Finehair’s Norway 5. Hoskuld Buys a Slave6. Slave Revolts(a) Hjorleif's Slaves Revolt(b) A Slave Revolt in Egil's Saga7. How the Hersir Erling Treated His Slaves Chapter Three: Early Religion and Belief8. The Norse Creation-Myth 9. Ragnarok: The Doom of the Gods  10. Odin Welcomes Eirik Bloodax to Valhalla 11. Odin Hangs on Yggdrasil 12. Odin and Human Sacrifice (a) The Death of King Vikar (b) The Deaths of Domaldi and Olaf Tretelgja 13. Sigurd, the Earl of Lade, Sacrifices to the Gods14. The Temple at Uppsala 15. A Temple in Iceland16. Norse Funeral Practices (a) Snorri’s History of Burial Practices (b) Odin Orders Cremation and Becomes a God(c) The Death of Baldur the Good (d) Gunnar’s Burial Mound17. The Living Dead (a) Gunnar’s Posthumous Poem (b) Grettir’s Fight with GlamChapter Four: Gender in the Viking Age 18. Manly Men(a) Gunnar Weeps(b) The Death of Gunnar(c) Egil and Armod19. Unmanly Men(a) Deadly Insults from Grágás(b) A Flyting between Sinfjotli and Gudmund(c) Egil in Old Age20. Strong Women(a) Unn the Deep-Minded Takes Control of Her Life(b) The Goading of Hildigunn(c) The Prowess of Freydis, Daughter of Eirik the Red21. Mothers and Sons(a) Gudrun Drives Her Sons to Take Revenge(b) Gudrun Osvifrsdottir's Incitement of Her Sons22. Making and Breaking Marriages(a) Betrothals from the Sagas(i) The Betrothal of Olaf Hoskuldsson(ii) How Unn Mordsdottir Found Herself Betrothed(b) Divorces from the Sagas(i) How Gudrun Divorced Thorvald(ii) Vigdis Divorces Thord Goddi23. Women's Work(a) Housework in Laxdale Saga(b) Magical Women(i) The Greenland Prophetess(ii) A Phallic Ritual: Passing the Penis24. Men and Women Behaving Badly(a) Queen Gunnhild Has Her Way with Hrut(b) Gisli Sursson Defends the Family Honor(c) On the Penalties for Poetry(d) Hallfred the Troublesome Poet and Kolfinna(e) Grettir the Strong Puts a Woman in Her Place25. Same-Sex Encounters(a) Penitential of Saint Thorlak(b) Civil Penalties in Early Norwegian Law(c) Njal Gives a Garment to Flosi(d) King Harold Formsson and the Land-Spirits(e) Gisli Sursson Fights Skeggi the Berserk26. Gender Instability: Trans-Gender and Gender-Shifting(a) From Gulathing Law: On Seriously Insulting Speech(b) Odin's Wisdom and Arts(c) From Loki's Flyting (Lokasenna)(d) Loki and Svadilfari: loki's Adventure as a Mare27. Cross-Dressing(a) Thor as a Bride(b) How Aud Dealt wih Her Humiliating DivorceChapter Five: Viking Warriors and Their Weapons 28. The Accomplishments of a Viking Warrior(a) Earl Rognvald Kali on Being a Gentleman(b) Gunnar Hamundarson, the Ideal Warrior(c) Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway29. Warrior Women(a) A Warrior Woman(b) The Waking of Angantýr (The Lay of Hervor, Hervarakviða)30. Valkyries(a) Helgi and Sigrun I(b) Helgi and Sigrun II(c) Brynhild's Helride31. Berserkers and the Berserk Rage(a) Odin’s Berserks(b) Egil Skallagrimsson Fights a Berserk32. Weapons(a) King Magnus Barelegs Dresses to Kill (b) The Sword Skofnung (i) Hrolf Kraki and Skofnung(ii) Skeggi and Skofnung(iii) Kormak and Skofnung(iv) Thorkel Eyolfsson and Skofnung(v) Gellir Thorkelsson and Skofnung(c) Saint Olaf’s Sword, Hneitir Chapter Six: Fjord-Serpents: Viking Ships 33. King Olaf Tryggvason Builds the Long Serpent 34. Harald Sigurdarson’s Splendid Ship35. Animal Heads on the Prows of Ships36. A Sea-Battles from the Sagas: Olaf Tryggvason at the Battle of SvoldChapter Seven: "Sudden and Unforeseen Attacks of Northmen" 37. On the Causes of the Viking Expansion 38. Viking Raids on England, 789–850/1 39. Alcuin’s Letter to King Athelred, 793 40. An English Gospel Book Ransomed from the Vikings 41. Viking Raids on Ireland, 795–842 42. The Martyrdom of Blathmac, 825 43. The Life of Saint Findan 44. Irish Resistance to the Norsemen 45. Franks and Vikings, 800–829 46. The Northmen in France, 843–865  47. An Account of the Siege of Paris, 885–886 48. Vikings in the Iberian Peninsula (a) Ibn al-Kutia. Year 230 (17 September 844 - 1 October 845)(b) Ibn Adhari. Year 229 (30 September 843 - 17 September 844)Chapter Eight: "The Heathens Stayed": From Raiding To Settlement 49. Viking Activities in England, 851–900 50. The Martyrdom of Saint Edmund51. The Vikings in Ireland, 845–917 52. Ketil Flatnose and His Descendants in the Hebrides 53. Earl Sigurd and the Establishment of the Earldom of Orkney 54. Runic Inscriptions from Maes Howe, Mainland, Orkney 55. Runic Inscriptions from the Isle of Man 56. Rollo Obtains Normandy from the King of the Franks Chapter Nine: Austrveg: The Viking Road To The East 57. The Ru¯s 58. The Ru¯s Attack Constantinople59. On the Arrival of the Varangians60. A Muslim Diplomat Meets Ru¯ s Merchants on the Volga River 61. River Routes to Constantinople 62. A Norwegian Soldier of Fortune in the East 63. Ru¯ s Expeditions to the Middle East 64. The Yngvar Runestones Chapter Ten: Into the Western Ocean: The Faeroes, Iceland, Greenland, and Vinland 65. The Islands in the Northern Ocean, c. 825 66. Sailing Directions and Distances in the North Atlantic 67. The Western Ocean 68. Adam of Bremen on Iceland 69. Icelandic Accounts of the Discovery and Settlement of Iceland (a) The Book of the Icelanders (b) The Book of Settlements 70. Skallagrim’s Land-Take in Iceland71. The Settlement of Greenland (a) The Book of the Icelanders (b) The Book of Settlements 72. The King’s Mirror on Greenland 73. Adam of Bremen on Vinland 74. The Norse Discovery of Vinland 75. Thorfin Karlsefni in Vinland Chapter Eleven: Viking Life and Death 76. Advice for Sailors and Merchants 77. Svein Asleifarson’s Viking Life 78. Children (a) Young Grettir Helps around the Farm (b) Children Mimic Adults(c) The Child is Mother of the Woman (d) Young Egil Plays for Keeps 79. Games and Entertainment (a) A Horse-fight from Njal’s Saga (b) Skallagrim's Rough Play (c) Ball Games and Scraper-Games at Sand from Hord's Saga (d) Entertainment at a Wedding Feast at Reykjaholar from The Saga of Thorgils and Haflidi(e ) Mock Lawsuits from The Saga of the People of Ljosavatn 80. The Jomsvikings Meet Their End  81. The Burning of Njal Chapter Twelve: From Odin to Christ 82. Early Missions to the North: The Life of Saint Anskar 83. The Conversion of the Danes under Harald Bluetooth 84. Olaf Tryggvason and the Conversion of Norway 85. A Poet Abandons the Old Gods86. The Christianization of Norway under Saint Olaf 87. The Conversion of the Icelanders88. The Conversion of Greenland 89. The Conversion of Orkney 90. Christianity in Sweden 91. Christianity and the Church in Norway92. The Travels of King Sigurd, Jerusalem-Farer 93. The Journey of Abbot Nikolas Bergsson from Iceland to Jerusalem Chapter Thirteen: State-Building at Home and Abroad 94. Harald Finehair and the Unification of Norway 95. Denmark: The Jelling Stone 96. State-Making in Denmark: Unification and Expansion 97. The Martyrdom of Alfeah (Saint Alphege) 98. Knut the Great and the North Sea Empire99. The England Runestones 100. The Earldom of Orkney at Its Zenith Chapter Fourteen: The End of the Viking Age 101. The Battle of Clontarf, 1014 102. The Battle of Stamford Bridge, 1066 103. The Battle of Largs, 1263Chapter Fifteen: Reawakening Angantýr, or Viking Revivals 104. The First Revival(a) Snorri Sturlson (1179-1241) and Norse Poetics(b) Saxo Grammaticus and Icelandic Sources105. Romantic Vikings(a) The Fatal Sisters: An Ode, from the Norse Tongue(b) The Vegtam's (Odin's) Kvitha (poem); or The Descent of Odin: An Ode, from the Norse Tongue106. Operatic Vikings: Richard Wagner (1818-1883), from Das Rheingold, Scene Two107. Aryan Anthropology: Vikings in Politics(a) Halfdan Bryn: Methodology(b) Hans F.K. Günther on Nordic Man(c) Alfred Rosenberg: Creative Men and Beautiful, Motherly Women108. The Gods Reborn(a) Carl Jung: "Wotanism"(b) Odin Lives(c) Odinism in America(d) Versions of Ásatrú(i) The Icelandic Forn Sed Norge / The Society of the Ancient Faith in Norway109. Plundering the Vikings, from The Irish Times110. The Vikings in the Courtroom of History: Terrorists, Tourists, Others(a) Savage Warriors(b) Piracy and Commerce(c) Intruders of a Recognizable Type?(d) Revisiting the Revisionists(e) The Viking DiasporaEpilogue 111. Advice from OdinSourcesIndex of TopicsIndex of Authors and Sources