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In this book a MacArthur Award-winning scholar argues for a radically new interpretation of the conversion of Scandinavia from paganism to Christianity in the early Middle Ages. Overturning the received narrative of Europe's military and religious conquest and colonization of the region, Anders Winroth contends that rather than acting as passive recipients, Scandinavians converted to Christianity because it was in individual chieftains' political, economic, and cultural interests to do so. Through a painstaking analysis and historical reconstruction of both archeological and literary sources, and drawing on scholarly work that has been unavailable in English, Winroth opens up new avenues for studying European ascendency and the expansion of Christianity in the medieval period.
Old Norse literature abounds with descriptions of magic acts that allow ritual specialists of various kinds to manipulate the world around them, see into the future or the distant past, change weather conditions, influence the outcomes of battles, and more. While magic practitioners are known under myriad terms, the most iconic of them is the völva. As the central figure of the famous mythological poem Völuspá (The Prophecy of the Völva), the völva commands both respect and fear. In non-mythological texts similar women are portrayed as crucial albeit somewhat peculiar members of society. Always veiled in mystery, the völur and their kind have captured the academic and popular imaginati...
The Cambridge History of the Polar Regions is a landmark collection drawing together the history of the Arctic and Antarctica from the earliest times to the present. Structured as a series of thematic chapters, an international team of scholars offer a range of perspectives from environmental history, the history of science and exploration, cultural history, and the more traditional approaches of political, social, economic, and imperial history. The volume considers the centrality of Indigenous experience and the urgent need to build action in the present on a thorough understanding of the past. Using historical research based on methods ranging from archives and print culture to archaeology and oral histories, these essays provide fresh analyses of the discovery of Antarctica, the disappearance of Sir John Franklin, the fate of the Norse colony in Greenland, the origins of the Antarctic Treaty, and much more. This is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of our planet.
Exploding the traditional myth that view queens as simply an appendage to the king, these essays explore the social and cultural constructions of female power. This volume does more than merely identify and describe queens, but rather, offers its readers an understanding of the roles of these 'dominant women', situated within archaeological discourse that change our assumptions about female-ruled societies. Examining the ancient societies in Asia, North and South America, Europe and Africa, the authors explore the powerful positions held by queens, as well as the role that gender played in their kingdoms. Spearheading the notion that 'women's work' is not the same in all cultures, the contributions in this volume compel readers to rethink gender relationships and ideology in our cultures.
The interdisciplinary study investigates the relationship between Norse and Saami peoples in the medieval period and focuses on the multifaceted portrayal of Saami peoples in medieval texts. The investigative analysis is anchored in postcolonial methodologies and argues for the inherent need to decolonise the medieval source-material as well as recent historiography. This is achieved by presenting the historiographic and political background of research into Norse-Saami relations, before introducing an overview of textual sources discussing Saami peoples from the classical period to the late 1400s, an analysis of the textual motifs associated with the Saami in medieval literature (their rele...
A provocative study that explores medical, social, cultural, and aesthetic customs and practices of treating the dead body in Sweden in an era of modernization.
The first Spanish books about the game of draughts have a very high standard and date from the XVI century, while the first French book comes from the XVII century and the game description is very basic. Contrarily to this evidence scholars did not consider it necessary to grant Spain the honour of being the country of creation of the game of draughts and of the new modality in chess with the new dama. Both the Alquerque-3 and the Alquerque-9 games were known in Roman times. The situation is completely different for the Alquerque-12 game. It is said that the Alquerque has its origin in Egypt. Perhaps this is the case for the Alquerque-3 and Alquerque-9 games, but never for Alquerque-12. Some authors claim that the Alquerque-12 game is a Greek or Roman game, but the great expert of these games, Dr. Ulrich Schädler, discards those theories. The first volume of the Alquerque-12 game unravels France and Spain. The second volume deals with the remaining countries of the world.
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