The Vikings Reimagined: Reception, Recovery, Engagement

285 Pages·2019·2.914 MB·English

by  Tom Birkett (editor), Roderick Dale (editor)

TheVikingsReimagined
The Northern Medieval World
On the Margins of Europe
Editorial Board
CarolyneLarrington(Chair),St.John’sCollege,Oxford
OrenFalk,CornellUniversity
DawnHadley,UniversityofSheffield
JanaSchulman,WesternMichiganUniversity
JónViðarSigurðsson,UniversitetetiOslo
The Vikings
Reimagined
Reception, Recovery, Engagement
Edited by
Tom Birkett and Roderick Dale
ISBN978-1-5015-1815-7
e-ISBN(PDF)978-1-5015-1388-6
e-ISBN(EPUB)978-1-5015-1364-0
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2019947710
BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek
TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie;
detailedbibliographicdataareavailableontheInternetathttp://dnb.dnb.de.
©2019WalterdeGruyterInc,Boston/Berlin
Coverimage:©DanLeeth/AlamyStockphoto
Typesetting:IntegraSoftwareServicesPvt.Ltd.
Printingandbinding:CPIbooksGmbH,Leck
www.degruyter.com
Acknowledgements
The editors would like to thank the Irish Research Council, who funded the
“Rediscovering the Vikings Conference” from which this collection arose
through a New Horizons Starter Grant (2015–2017), and who recognized the
valueofengagingthecommunityinresearchonthe Vikingpast.Weare also
grateful to the School of English at University College Cork for hosting the
project, to Dr. Sarah Baccianti for keeping Old Norse going at UCC during
Tom’s research leave, to Kevin Crossley-Holland for his unfailing generosity,
and to all the contributors, presenters, and exhibitors who took part in the
conferenceorsubmittedmaterialtotheWorld-TreeProjectarchive.Abigdebt
ofthanksisalsoduetothecomitatusatUCC(andparticularlyAlison,Niamh,
Trisha,andLaura)forhelpingeverythingtorunsmoothly.Itisnotpracticable
tonameeveryonehere, butthisedited collectionwould nothavebeenpossi-
ble without the good will of many people. Finally, we’d like to thank Anne
SchoernerandKarenfortheirsupport.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501513886-202

Contents
Acknowledgements V
Listoffigures IX
TomBirkett
Introduction 1
M.J.Driscoll
1 Vikings! 19
NeilPrice
2 MyVikingsandRealVikings:Drama,Documentary,andHistorical
Consultancy 28
LeszekGardeła
3 (Re)discoveringtheVikingsinPoland:FromNineteenth-Century
RomanticstoContemporaryWarriors 44
KlaudiaKarpińska
4 WomeninVikingReenactment 69
JessicaClareHancock
5 Who’sAfraidofanElectricTorch?ReimaginingGender
andtheVikingWorldinContemporaryPicturebooks 89
ThomasSpray
6 TheTerribleNjorl’sSaga:ComedicReimaginingsofthe
ÍslendingasögurfromtheVictorianstothePresentDay 107
HeatherO’Donoghue
7 TheOnethatGotAwayinOldNorseMyth,Moby-Dick,
andtheWorkofHughMacDiarmid 129
RichardNorth
8 DeatheretheAfternoon:JómsvíkingasagaandaScene
inHemingway’sForWhomtheBellTolls 145
VIII Contents
CarolyneLarrington
9 “(NoMore)Reaving,Roving,Raiding,orRaping”:TheIronbornin
GeorgeR.R.Martin’sASongofIceandFireandHBO’sGameof
Thrones 162
KendraWillson
10 ASagaKinginaFinnishBeijingOpera 180
MajaBäckvall
11 “PickupRune”:TheUseofRunesinDigitalGames 201
RoderickDale
12 FromBarbariantoBrand:TheVikingsasaMarketingTool 214
RebeccaBoyd
13 RaidingtheVikings:HowDoesIrelandConsumeItsViking
Heritage? 232
EleanorRosamundBarraclough
14 TheGreatVikingFake-Off:TheCulturalLegacyofNorseVoyagesto
NorthAmerica 250
KevinCrossley-Holland
Afterword:TellTheseStoriesYourself 267
Index 273
List of Figures
Figure3.1 1–Thor’shammerfromthevicinityofWolininWestern
Pomerania;2–Fragmentofacross-shapedpendantfrom
KątyinGreaterPoland;3–Fragmentofacross-shaped
pendantfromGralewoinGreaterPoland;4–Asmallplaque
withatriquetramotiffromOstrówLednickiinGreater
Poland.ReproducedafterGardeła,ScandinavianAmuletsin
VikingAgePoland,pp.70,118andŻurowski,“Zostatnich
odkryćnaOstrowieLednickim,”p.108 47
Figure3.2 SelectionofobjectsfromaVikingAgecremationgrave
discoveredatŚwielubieinPomerania:1–Ovalbrooch;
2–Fragmentedcatch-plateoftheovalbrooch;
3–Indeterminateironobject;4–Copperalloytubes;
5–Fragmentofaclayvessel;6–Gamingpiecesmadeofbone;
7–Meltedglassbeads;8–Amberfragment.Reproduced
afterKostrzewski,Obrządekciałopalnyuplemionpolskich,
p.68 48
Figure3.3 Selectionoffindsfromanearlymedievalcemeteryat
ŁubowoinGreaterPoland,includingaspear,anaxe,aniron
knife,andironhoopsofabucket.ReproducedafterGardeła,
ScandinavianAmuletsinVikingAgePoland,p.28 50
Figure3.4 ExcavationsinWolinundertheNazibanner(1936).
ReproducedafterKazimierzBłahij,Ostatniatajemnica
zatopionychbogów 52
Figure3.5 Grave10fromtheearlymedievalcemeteryatLutomiersk
incentralPoland.1–Twocopperalloycheekpieceswitha
decorativemotifprobablyrepresentingtwoflyingserpents,
supernaturalcreatureswell-knownfromSlavicbeliefs;
2–Decoratedbridlemounts;3–Twocopperalloyspurs
withzoomorphicmotifs.ArtisticreconstructionbyMirosław
Kuźma.FindsredrawnafterGrygiel,“Cmentarzysko
wareskichdrużynnikówwLutomiersku,”p.715andNadolski,
Abramowicz,Poklewski,CmentarzyskozXIwiekuw
LutomierskupodŁodzią,platesXLIVandLIV 54
Figure4.1 Recreationofabattleduringthe22ndFestivalofSlavsand
Vikings,Wolin,Poland.Photograph:KlaudiaKarpińska 72
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501513886-204