126-069 Viking Studies B: Sagas and Society

126-068 Viking Studies A: Culture and Conflict. Medieval or European studies students wishing to enrol in this subject would normally have completed first year Medieval or European studies.

This subject explores social, cultural and literary developments in early medieval Scandinavia, focusing on Viking explorations of the North Atlantic including the settlement of Iceland. Iceland was a fascinating 'social laboratory' in which blood feuds, pagan gods and gender roles shaped society. Its extraordinary medieval literary achievements included handbooks of pagan myth and the Sagas of Icelanders, secular narratives composed from the twelfth century. These sagas, which students will read in translation and study in the original Old Norse, feature daily life, feuding farmers and viking conflicts. Students will form their own opinions on the use of literary texts, archaeological evidence and historiographical scholarship to understand the past. Through extensive text-based language study, which will integrate vocabulary and grammar with the cultural content and context of the material, students should develop a broad knowledge of Old Norse.

• be able to seek and evaluate information and new ideas critically;

• be able to plan and execute tasks and projects efficiently and independently, as well as part of a team.

Seminar attendance and participation 10% (during semester); weekly vocabulary tests 10% (during semester); 3000 word research essay 45% (late semester); take-home language exam 35% (late semester).

A course reader and language materials will be made available in class

• Geir Zoega, A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Toronto 2004.
• Jesse Byock, Viking Age Iceland. Harmondsworth 2001.