ISSHF1530 ¨C The Vikings and Medieval Norway

Course content

This course surveys the history and culture of Norway during the Viking Era (ca. 750-1030) and the Medieval Era (ca. 1030-1536), including mutual influences and interactions with neighboring regions and peoples. The course includes a focus on Norse mythology and covers the social and political contexts of Viking expeditions, national unification, and conversion to Christianity. It covers the medieval Kingdom of Norway¡¯s period of relative peace and prosperity in the 1200s, and then the Black Death and Kalmar Union. Reading focuses on skaldic and saga literature (especially Icelandic and Norwegian) and other historical primary sources. Also included in this course is consideration of how the memory of the Vikings and Medieval Norway have influenced political and cultural trends in Norway over the past few centuries.

Learning outcome

Learning outcome:

Knowledge:

After this course you will have knowledge about:

• Norwegian geography

• The basic prehistory of Norway

• Norse mythology

• Social and political conditions in Norway during the Viking Era and Middle Ages

• The causes, effects and broad narrative of the Viking expeditions

• The processes that led to significant changes such as conversion to Christianity, national unification, economic diversification, and international unions

• Medieval Icelandic and Norwegian literature

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Skills:

After having completed the course, you will:

• read primary and secondary historical sources with good comprehension

• apply reading, writing, and thinking methods such as critical source assessment, interpretation, corroborating, and contextualizing

• analyze complex information in written responses

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General competence:

After completing the course, you will:

• be better prepared to understand and appreciate the historical-cultural environment of modern Norway and neighboring countries

Admission to the course

If you would like to take this course, you must apply directly to the In