Ideology and power in the Viking and Middle Ages : : Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, Orkney, and the Faeroes / / editors, Gro Steinsland [et al.].

• Superior document: Northern world, v. 52
• TeilnehmendeR: Steinsland, Gro.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2011.
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Series: Northern world ; 52.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xi, 405 pages) :; illustrations, maps
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Ideology and power are central elements in the political, social, religious and cultural development of the North during the transition from the Viking to the Middle Ages. While the medieval European Christian ideology of rulership has been widely discussed, an analysis of the Nordic pre-Christian ideology, and of its confrontation with the new European ideals has so far been lacking. This book examines the concepts and practices associated with chieftains, earls and kings from the ninth to the thirteenth century: the myths and rituals surrounding their position in a northern European warrior culture. The analysis seems to indicate that important elements of the pre-Christian ideology of rulership survived into the Christian Middle Ages, either transformed or even simply transferred. Contributors are Ian Beuermann, Anders Hultgård, Jan Erik Rekdal, Jens Peter Schjødt, Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, Joanna Skórzewska, Gro Steinsland and Olof Sundqvist.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Ideology and power in the Viking and Middle Ages : Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, Orkney, and the Faeroes / Gro Steinsland -- Origin myths and rulership : from the Viking Age ruler to the ruler of medieval historiography : continuity, transformations, and innovations / Gro Steinsland -- Kings, earls, and chieftains : rulers in Norway, Orkney, and Iceland, c. 900-1300 / J{acute}on Vi℗ðar Sigur℗ðsson -- Jarla s{uml}ogur Orkneyja : status and power of the earls of Orkney according to their sagas / Ian Beuermann -- An arena for higher powers : cult buildings and rulers in the late Iron Age and the early medieval period in the Malar region / Olof Sundqvist -- From wine in a goblet to milk in cowdung : the transformation of early Christian kings in three post-Viking tales from Ireland / Jan Erik Rekdal -- The warrior in Old Norse religion / Jens Peter Schjodt -- O℗ðinn, Valh{uml}oll, and the Einherjar : eschatological myth and ideology in the late Viking period / Anders Hultgard -- Family matters? : the cultus of the Scandinavian royal martyrs / Joanna A. Skorzewska -- Conclusions: The long adaptation of pagan and Christian ideologies of rulership / Ian Beuermann.