Alexandra Sanmark – författare

Until very recently Viking and Norse assembly sites were essentially unknown, apart from a few select sites, such as Thingvellir in Iceland. The Vikings are well-known for their violence and pillage, but they also had a well-organised system for political decision-making, legal cases and conflict resolution. Using archaeological evidence, written sources and place-names, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of their legal system and assembly sites, showing that this formed an integral part of Norse culture and identity, to the extent that the assembly institution was brought to all Norse settlements.Sites are analysed through surveys and case studies across Scandinavia, Scotland and the North Atlantic region. The author moves the view of assembly sites away from a functional one to an understanding of the symbolic meaning of these highly ritualised sites, and shows how they were constructed to signify power through monuments and natural features. This original and stimulating study is set not only in the context of the Viking and Norse periods, but also in the wider continental histories of place, assembly and the rhetoric of power.

This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has enabled a new understanding of the development of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control. In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.

This book brings together the cumulative results of a three-year project focused on the assemblies and administrative systems of Scandinavia, Britain, and the North Atlantic islands in the 1st and 2nd millennia AD. In this volume we integrate a wide range of historical, cartographic, archaeological, field-based, and onomastic data pertaining to early medieval and medieval administrative practices, geographies, and places of assembly in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, and eastern England. This transnational perspective has enabled a new understanding of the development of power structures in early medieval northern Europe and the maturation of these systems in later centuries under royal control. In a series of richly illustrated chapters, we explore the emergence and development of mechanisms for consensus. We begin with a historiographical exploration of assembly research that sets the intellectual agenda for the chapters that follow. We then examine the emergence and development of the thing in Scandinavia and its export to the lands colonised by the Norse. We consider more broadly how assembly practices may have developed at a local level, yet played a significant role in the consolidation, and at times regulation, of elite power structures. Presenting a fresh perspective on the agency and power of the thing and cognate types of local and regional assembly, this interdisciplinary volume provides an invaluable, in-depth insight into the people, places, laws, and consensual structures that shaped the early medieval and medieval kingdoms of northern Europe.

Using archaeological evidence, written sources and place-names, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the Viking legal system and assembly sites, showing that this formed an integral part of Norse culture and identity, to the extent that the assembly institution was brought to all Norse settlements.

Nytryckt 2017. I boken Vikingarna får läsaren ta del av en spännande historia som startar när vikingarna plundrade klsterön Lindisfarne i England år 793. Men förutom plundrare var vikingarna även duktiga hantverkare och ett skickligt handelsfolk. På de brittiska öarna och i norra Frankrike koloniserade vikingarna stora områden och i öster var de en enande kraft i grundandet av det ryska riket. Dessutom nådde vikingarna Nordamerika nästan 500 år före columbus. Författare är Alexandra Sanmark och Fredrik sundman. Alexandra är arkeolog och historiker och har undervisat om vikingatiden på bland annat Uppsala universitet. Fredrik är både journalist och fotograf. This book tells the history of the Vikings who were first acknowledged when they attacked the monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in England in 793. The Vikings were however also skilled traders and artisans. On the British Isles and in northern France the Vikings colonized large areas and in the east they were a unifying force in the formation of Russia. They also travelled to North America almost 500 years before Columbus. The book is written by alexandra Sanmark and Fredrik Sundman. Alexandra is an archaeologist and historian and has taught Vikings Studies e.g. at the University of Uppsala. Fredrik is both a journalist and photographer. Innehållsförteckningen: Vilka var vikingarna? Vikingatåg i öster och väster Vad låg bakom vikingatågen? Expansion och bosättning Vikingaskepp Sjömanskap och navigation Rövare och handelsfolk Krigskonst Städer Livet på landsbygden Vikingarnas bostäder Vikingarnas mat Vikingarnas kläder Samhällets uppbyggnad Vikingarnas religion Vikingarnas skapelseberättelse Kultplatser Kristnandet

Medieval kings and kingship, and the rituals that define them, continue to captivate both scholars and the wider public. This interdisciplinary volume offers a Europe-wide perspective on early medieval kingship, with a particular focus on Scotland. What types of royal sites existed in the early medieval period in Scotland, and how did they vary regionally? Can we trace these sites in placenames? What rituals and other activities were associated with these sites, and what purposes did they serve? These and other questions are explored in the papers gathered together in this interdisciplinary volume. Drawing together experts in archaeology, history, placenames, folklore, poetry, and art history, the volume unpacks the story of early medieval kingship in Scotland against a European backdrop and across multiple scales, from multi-site regions and the mobile exercise of kingship, to single-site landscapes, analysis of significant objects, and the memorialisation of stories through tradition. Framed by recent archaeological excavations in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, England, and Scandinavia, this book presents a rich and innovative approach to the study of kingship in the early medieval period.

Medieval kings and kingship, and the rituals that define them, continue to captivate both scholars and the wider public. This interdisciplinary volume offers a Europe-wide perspective on early medieval kingship, with a particular focus on Scotland. What types of royal sites existed in the early medieval period in Scotland, and how did they vary regionally? Can we trace these sites in placenames? What rituals and other activities were associated with these sites, and what purposes did they serve? These and other questions are explored in the papers gathered together in this interdisciplinary volume. Drawing together experts in archaeology, history, placenames, folklore, poetry, and art history, the volume unpacks the story of early medieval kingship in Scotland against a European backdrop and across multiple scales, from multi-site regions and the mobile exercise of kingship, to single-site landscapes, analysis of significant objects, and the memorialisation of stories through tradition. Framed by recent archaeological excavations in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, England, and Scandinavia, this book presents a rich and innovative approach to the study of kingship in the early medieval period.