Viking identities in Ireland: it's not all black and white (original) (raw)
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Viking Ethnicities: A historiographic overview
The ‘Viking Age’ is well established in popular perception as a period of dramatic change in European history. The range of viking activities from North America to the Middle East has excited the interest of many commentators. Vikings are variously regarded as blood thirsty barbarians or civilised entrepreneurs; founders of nations or anarchic enemies. But how cohesive was the identity of the ‘Vikings’ and how did they see themselves? In recent years the answer to this question has been evaluated from a range of perspectives. Established paradigms (often situated within a nationalist framework of thought) have come under greater scrutiny and new ideas have entered the debate. This paper will review some trends in the historiography of viking ethnicities and cultural identities in the period 800–1000 AD. This overview also highlights the value of comparative analysis of human migrations to the field of Viking Studies.
The Construction and Reconstruction of Regional Collective Identity in Viking Age Norway
Quaestio Insularis 18, 2017
This article considers the theoretical approaches commonly used to propose answers to two questions. First is the question of how one should define ‘collective identity’. The second is how to identify groups of collective identity using the limited resources available. The article outlines a methodology with which to reconstruct the regional landscape of pre-unification Viking Age Norway, which is then be tested through two detailed case studies based on the modern Norwegian ‘landsdeler’ of Vestland, Sørland and Nord-Norge. Finally, this article proposes that regional elites are likely to have played the primary role in the creation and maintenance of regional collective identity.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to "Danes" and to the "Danish tongue", but it is not clear that English writers would have known how to distinguish between Danes and Norwegians, or even that Danes and Norwegians distinguished between themselves. The first record we have of Englishmen differentiating between Scandinavian groups occurs in the continuations of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at 920A. In the Chronicle itself, the first such delineation appears in a poem under the year 942, in which the Danes are contrasted favorably with the Norðmenn. 1 The word Danair does not appear in Irish sources until the 980s, when we suddenly see it used in 986, 987, and 990. 2 This word must have seeped into the Irish language from the Old Norse word dönsk, which actually referred to the language spoken by all Scandinavians. The word
How Did the Norsemen in Greenland See Themselves? Some Reflections on “Viking Identity
Journal of The North Atlantic, 2009
The concept of identity can be seen from different angles and understood on different levels. In the context of Viking identity, we can contrast two possibilities: 1) that there was an overarching Scandinavian cultural unity in the Viking Age, or 2) that there were distinct cultural identities in different parts of what is often called the "Viking world." In fact these options are not mutually exclusive; both could easily be true and probably are. In this paper, identity is discussed based on archaeological, literary, and iconographic sources. The focus is on the North Atlantic settlements, especially Iceland and Greenland, and the extent to which Norsemen regarded their connections with Scandinavia as homeland connections. Many factors affected the sense of belonging of a Norse group with Scandinavian roots, including language, names, religious customs, and material culture. House constructions suggest that building traditions were transferred even if the materials needed were not always locally available. Comparisons are drawn with other, more recent situations, and examples are given from the emigration of Swedes to America in the 19 th and 20 th centuries. The Swedish-Americans have a dual identity, they feel both as Swedes and (above all) as Americans. It is suggested that something similar was true for the Norse settlers in Greenland; they were Greenlanders, but at the same time, their Scandinavian roots continued to be signifi cant.
Formation and Resolution of Ideological Contrast in the Early History of Scandinavia
Some recent studies concerning early medieval Europe have suggested that Scandinavia and Francia represented two ideological poles with which other populations within the Germanic world might have intended to align themselves. While such a view sometimes may be useful, it may also over-simplify a more complex situation. Scandinavians must have recognised cultural distinctions between themselves and Christian Europeans, but may not have viewed these distinctions necessarily as emblems of opposition unless faced by a direct political or military threat. Indeed, ideological contrasts concerning the way society was structured and power was wielded may have cut across apparent ethnic boundaries. Roman influences on early Germanic society may have assisted in the creation of a ‘Germanic’ identity. Roman pressure also may have affected the development of Germanic governmental structures, encouraging king-centred governmental ideologies that contrasted with possibly older, assembly-centred systems. Scandinavia, never threatened by Roman domination, may have retained assembly-centred structures longer than other Germanic societies. Southern Scandinavia’s ‘central places’ of the Early Germanic Iron Age, such as Gudme, may have had functions comparable with those of the later Old Saxon Assembly and Icelandic Alþingi. Such sites may have provided a focus for an emergent Scandinavian identity. This assembly-centred system may have been disrupted as chieftains struggled to attain the kind of power enjoyed by their counterparts in king-centred societies (much as happened in medieval Iceland), perhaps explaining the poverty of archaeological finds in the region from the Late Germanic Iron Age. The growing Frankish threat to Scandinavia in the eighth century may have both spurred further consolidation of power in the hands of the élite and, initially, provoked an ideological reaction against Christian Europe. Yet while wary of domination by Christian European kingdoms, the Viking-Age Scandinavian élite may have envied their powerful model of lordship and had an interest in accessing elements of their culture. Such a situation may be reflected in historical legends, particularly the Scylding-Skjöldung cycle, which perhaps developed during the Viking Age. These legends might represent not source material for historical glimpses of early northern Europe (as is often assumed) but rather Scandinavian attempts at self-definition in relation to the burgeoning and powerful cultures of Christian Europe. Scandinavia’s eventual adoption of Christianity and Christian lordship in the course of the Viking Age largely resolved the ideological contrasts that had existed both within Scandinavian society and between Scandinavia and Christian Europe.