Judith Jesch Knihy

The Viking Diaspora presents the early medieval migrations of people, language and culture from mainland Scandinavia to new homelands as a form of 'diaspora'. Rather than the movements of armies, this book concentrates on the movements of people and the shared heritage and culture that connected them. Judith Jesch considers connections including law, literature, material culture and even environment, and highlights in detail the most significant forms of cultural contact: gender, beliefs and identities. This book is the first to explain Scandinavian expansion using this model, and presents the Viking Age in a new and exciting way for students of Vikings and medieval history.

Viking studies have always concentrate on male vikings, the Scandinavian warriors and merchants who emerged on the European scene in the late 8th century. This is the first book-length study in English to investigate what women did in the Viking age, both at home in Scandinavia and in the Viking colonies from Greenland to Russia. [Text taken from the back cover of the book]

Using the evidence of archaeology, poetry, legal texts and annals, this volume investigates the social, economic and symbolic structures of early Scandinavia at the time of the Viking expansion. The contributors provide an outline ethnography, covering dwellings and settlements, kinship and social relations, law, political structures and external relations, rural and urban economies, and the ideology of warfare. The topics are discussed through case-studies, illustrating the changing scholarly interpretations of this formative period in Scandinavian history. By addressing these key research questions, the contributions trace the background to and the impact of urbanisation and Christianisation, and the development of royal power, which stimulated the transition from the Viking age to the medieval period in Scandinavia.

Focusing on the vocabulary associated with Viking ships and their crews, this book offers a critical analysis of maritime terminology and practices from around 950 to 1100. It examines runic and skaldic evidence, contextualizing the language within the broader scope of Viking naval activities, including fleet organization and sea battles. Through this exploration, the text sheds light on the cultural and historical significance of the Viking seafaring tradition.