HIS4128 – Perspectives on Viking Age History (c.750 - c.1050)

The Vikings are commonly viewed as the most noticeable Scandinavian contribution to global history. Indeed, the raiding and trading Vikings left their traces across Northern Europe and beyond, and the Scandinavian emigration of the ninth and tenth centuries left noticeable imprints on adjacent regions such as Carolingian Francia, Anglo-Saxon England, the North Atlantic and Eastern Europe. Scholars debate different aspects of this transforming and expanding society. Yet most of them agree that ostentatious consumption was a key feature of Viking culture; those who owned the best weapons and largest ships were able to distribute the most precious gifts among their followers. The Vikings brought home not only material riches, but also new ideas as well as a new religion, which changed Scandinavia dramatically in the long run. In this course, we will discuss several important topics pertaining to the Viking Age, namely Viking Age political and material culture, religious transformation, social relations, trade and communication, with a particular focus on the interplay between internal and external factors.

A student who successfully completes this course should be able to:

• explain the basic outlines of social history of Scandinavia c. 750-1050
• evaluate and discuss the use of different types of source material
• analyse and discuss different perspectives on the history of the Viking Age
• employ an interdisciplinary approach to study of the Viking Age (with an emphasis on mainland Scandinavia and its interactions with neighbouring countries)

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

A good ability to read and understand English is required for this course.

The course will be taught in the form of 16 hours of lectures and 8 hours of seminars/group work, which will mainly focus on different Viking Age sources. The teaching schedule is available on the semester page.

The students are expected to attend all seminars and lectures.

Participation in seminar discussions is obligatory 3 out of 4 seminars.

More detailed information about obligatory assignments and activities will be given at the first meeting.

The exam in HIS4128 is comprised of one term paper and one 3 day take-home exam.

• The term paper (aprx. 6 pages) will be submitted in the first part of the term and counts for 40% of the final grade.
• The 3 day take-home exam (6-10 pages) will be submitted toward the end of the term and counts for 60% of the final grade.
• Do not write your name in your exam. Use your candidate number. It is a four digit number which you will find next to your exam registration in StudentWeb. You are given a unique candidate number for each exam.
• Both the term paper and the take-home exam must be passed to get a pass grade for the course. You must take both parts in the same semester.

More information about the course papers will be announced at the first meeting

The examination text is given in English.You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.