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Department of Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences and Health Sciences

(310) 825-2272 Quarter:____Fall 2010____________

The Viking Age: Society and Archaeology

Anthropology XL 137V / Archaeology Reg# ____V9004_____; # Units: ____4____

Instructor 

Davide Zori 

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA 

email: dzori@ucla.edu 

Course Meetings 

September 20‐December 6  

Mondays 7‐10 PM 

Royce Hall, Room 162 

As Viking raiders ravaged Britain, a sung prayer could be heard from churches dedicated

to Saints Vaast and Medard: “Our supreme and holy Grace, protecting us and ours, deliver us, God, from the savage Northman race which lays waste our realms.”

Ever since the first attack on the isolated Lindisfarne monastery in AD 793, the Vikings have fascinated European and American audiences. In popular culture Vikings loom large as marauding barbarians with horned helmets and dragon-headed ships. Scandinavian immigrants in Minnesota and Wisconsin identify with the Viking settlers of the sagas, root for the Vikings football team, and enjoy pointing out that Leif Eiriksson and not Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover the New World. In the arts, Wagner’s romantic image of Vikings and their legends inspired the creation of the Ring Cycle of operas, while Tolkein mined Norse myths and stories for his Lord of the Rings trilogy. In politics, Scandinavian countries glorify the Viking golden age for tourism and national pride. The manipulation of the Viking image also has a darker history, however, as the Nazi ideology and propaganda machine idealized Vikings as racial forbears who epitomized Germanic martial expansionism and “Aryan culture.”

But who were the historical Vikings? What were their homelands like? How was their society organized? Why and how did they conduct raids on most of the European world, from

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Russia to Ireland? What drove their expansionism, which led not only to pillaging and conquests in Europe, but also to the first European trans-Atlantic migrations? How did European and Scandinavian societies evolve in response to the Viking expansion? This course aims to survey the history and society of the Viking Age and provide answers to these questions.

In exploring the impact of the Vikings on northern Europe ca. 790-1100 AD, this course particularly seeks to familiarize the student with the data and analytical methods that lie behind the story of the Vikings. We will read medieval Icelandic sagas and modern historical, anthropological and literary studies, while learning to interpret the archaeological record. The first part of the course examines the raids, migrations, and trade which fueled the Viking world and led to explorations and journeys as far distant as North America and the Caliphate of Baghdad. We will take an in-depth look at the Viking migrations into the North Atlantic, where the Norse built a new society. The second part of class focuses on transformations within Scandinavian culture: from paganism to Christianity, from chiefdoms to states, and from rural to urban life. Learning Objectives:

Students will gain a detailed understanding of the geography, society, and culture of Viking Age Europe, as well as the various sources and data sets that inform our study of the Middle Ages. The course will teach students the methods and applications of interdisciplinary research, particularly emphasizing the potential of archaeology to make contributions to historical studies. Students will be introduced to the fascinating corpus of Norse literature by reading examples of several saga genres and analyzing their literary styles, social context, and historical content. Required Texts: Else Roesdahl, The Vikings (2nd ed., Penguin: 1998)- ISBN 13 # 978-0140252828 John Haywood, Penguin Historical Atlas of the Viking World (Penguin: 1995)- ISBN 13 # 978-0140513288 Jesse Byock, Viking Age Iceland (Penguin: 2001) - ISBN 13 # 978-0140291155 The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, translated by Jesse Byock (Penguin: 1998) - ISBN 13 # 978-0140435931 Grettir’s Saga, translated by Jesse Byock (Oxford: 2010) - ISBN 13 # 978-0192801524 The Vinland Sagas, trans. Keneva Kunz and Gisli Sigurðsson (Penguin:2008) - ISBN 13 # 978-0140447767 Grading Policy: The evaluation of student performance is based on a mid-term, a final exam, four quizzes, a final paper, and class participation. Classes are organized around a lecture/discussion format and students are therefore expected to have read the assigned material before coming to class. The four quizes are unnanounced pop-quizes and account for 20% of the total grade. The first of these quizes will be a map quiz, testing familiarity with the geography of the Viking World. The midterm is worth 30%, parcipation 10%, and the final exam 40%.

Students who have earned and “A” grade on the mid-term and quizzes, and have shown consistent participation have an option to replace the final exam with a final paper of at least 10 pages, analyzing the primary archaeological and textual data available for a topic in Viking studies chosen by the student under consultation with the instructor. Letter Grade Equivalent: A (90-100%); B (80-89%); C (70-79%); D (60-69%); F (<59%)

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Date Lecture Topic Readings Mon. Sept. 20

The Fury of the Norsemen: Who were the Vikings? Pre-Viking Scandinavia: Archaeology and Oral Epic Stories

The Vikings, pp. 3-5, 25-45, 52-63 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 16-23 The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, Introduction and pp. 1-34 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 24-25, 84-85

Mon. Sept 27

Sources on the Viking Age: Texts and Archaeology Rune Stones and the Viking Written Language

The Vikings, pp. 9-22, 108-116 The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, 34-78 The Vikings, pp. 46-51, 168-184 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 28-33

Mon. Oct 4

The Viking Homelands: a Closer Look

The Vikings, pp. 64-77, 94-107 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 36-39, 44-45

Mon. Oct. 11

Norse Paganism and Christianity Causes of Viking Expansion

The Vikings, pp. 147-167 Viking Age Iceland, pp. 292-307 Ibn Fadlan, a Rus Burial- http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ibn_fdln.htm#Risala

Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 26-27, 132-133 The Vikings, pp. 78-93, 187-194 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 8-11

Mon. Oct. 18

Viking Raids on Western Europe

The Vikings, pp. 195-261 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 46-65, 72-77

Mon. Oct. 25

Responses to the Viking Invasions: Colonization, Resistance, and Conquest

Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 66-71, 78-83 Grettir’s Saga, pp. vii-xxv, 9-54

Mon. Nov. 1

MIDTERM Vikings in Russia and the East: Raiders, Traders, and Mercenaries

STUDY The Vikings, pp. 277-292 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 100-109 Russian Primary Chronicle http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/nestor.html Grettir’s Saga, pp 55-90

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Mon. Nov. 8

The Migrations into the North Atlantic A New Society in Iceland

The Vikings, pp. 262-271 Viking Age Iceland, pp. 1-98 Grettir’s Saga, pp. 91-170 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 44-45

Mon. Nov. 15

Life in the Viking North Atlantic and the Mosfell Archaeological Project

Viking Age Iceland, pp. 118-158, 358-368 Grettir’s Saga, pp. 170-238 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 86-95

Mon. Nov. 22

The Movement from Iceland to Greenland and North America Viking Age Iceland, pp. 170-184, 369-372 Vinland Sagas pp. 7-104 The Vikings, pp. 271-276 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 96-99

Mon. Nov. 29

Viking State Formation, the Economic Transformation, and the End of the Viking Age

The Vikings, pp. 117-146, 295-297 Historical Atlas of the Viking World, pp. 34-35, 110-127, 134-135

Mon. Dec. 6

FINAL EXAM STUDY