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H2020Individual fellowship2018–2020

GENTES · Genesis of Ethnicities and Nations in Textual Evidence for Scandinavia, c. 750-c. 1000

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2018-09-01 → 2020-08-31
EU contribution
€178,157
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST

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Results in brief

Genesis of Ethnicities and Nations in Textual Evidence for Scandinavia, c. 750-c. 1000

The Scandinavian past in the ninth and tenth centuries -- forming part of what is usually referred to as the 'viking age' -- is an area of lively scholarly and, increasingly, popular interest. The origins of the modern Scandinavian countries and their identities are commonly anchored in this period. The narrative accounts of this period in Scandinavia have thus heavily been focused on seeking the origins of modern Danish, Norwegian and Swedish identities. In Norway in particular, heavy usage is made of the later medieval Icelandic saga material in producing narratives of this period, which leads to several difficulties due to their lateness relative to the date of the events they describe. This project set out to criticise the dominant narratives of the birth of the Danish and Norwegian kingdoms through the use of contemporary and near-contemporary sources, which scholars in the past had rejected for various reasons. It was suggested that a new and invigorating approach could be taken to Scandinavian history in this period in particular through the examination of Adam of Bremen's (writing in the 1070s) information on Norway.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Traditional narratives of Scandinavian history generally see the early Middle Ages, or ‘Viking Age’, as the period in which the three kingdoms of Norway, Denmark and Sweden were created (or ‘unified’). Such narratives draw mainly on the 13th-century Icelandic Sagas, written several centuries after the events they portray. This project will challenge these narratives by developing and testing two hypotheses:1) that contemporary and near-contemporary sources, rather than the sagas, should provide the basis of Scandinavian history between c. 750 and c. 1000;2) that Scandinavia should be examined as a unit in this period, and that later borders and ethnic identities should not be projected into the past.To do so will require a critical re-evaluation of the written sources for the period. The objectives of the project will thus be to investigate five key areas:1) bias and sources of information in contemporary and near-contemporary written sources;2) the assessment of the sources, methods and agendas of twelfth-century Scandinavian texts;3) the dating and transmission of Old Norse verse;4) the reliability of the Icelandic Sagas;5) the harmony of the resulting picture with archaeological evidence.These objectives will be achieved through an interdisciplinary, critical approach to the sources that will draw on historical, literary, philological and text-critical techniques. The sources will be studied in a European context, rather than a national or exclusively Scandinavian one. By drawing on the debate about ‘ethnogenesis’ that has transformed our understanding of Continental European history in the Migration Age, the project will present Scandinavia’s earliest history through a non-national lens. The resulting research will contribute to both scholarly and popular debates about historical identities and their (mis)use by nationalisms, which will be extremely timely, given the intensification of these debates in the wake of the refugee crisis and Brexit.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • OESTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN · WienCoordinatorAustria

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union