Viking Law and Order: Places and Rituals of Assembly in the Medieval North

ISBN-13: 9781474402293 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 320 str.

Alexandra Sanmark

Opis

Until very recently Viking and Norse assembly sites were essentially unknown, apart from a few select sites, such as Thingvellir in Iceland. The Vikings are well-known for their violence and pillage, but they also had a well-organised system for political decision-making, legal cases and conflict resolution. Using archaeological evidence, written sources and place-names, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of their legal system and assembly sites, showing that this formed an integral part of Norse culture and identity, to the extent that the assembly institution was brought to all Norse settlements.
Sites are analysed through surveys and case studies across Scandinavia, Scotland and the North Atlantic region. The author moves the view of assembly sites away from a functional one to an understanding of the symbolic meaning of these highly ritualised sites, and shows how they were constructed to signify power through monuments and natural features. This original and stimulating study is set not only in the context of the Viking and Norse periods, but also in the wider continental histories of place, assembly and the rhetoric of power.

Spis treści

Chapter 1: Assembly Research: Past and Present; I. Brief introduction; II. The Contents of this book; III. Previous research: the state of knowledge in 2004; IV. A new interdisciplinary approach; V. Assembly sites in this book: complex and layered. Chapter 2: Early Germanic and Norse Assembly Organisations; I. Assembly organisation on the Continent; II. Norse administrative organisation. Chapter 3: Introducing the Assembly Sites of Scandinavia; I. Sites and case study areas; Sweden; Denmark; Norway; II. Royal and elite presence and involvement. Chapter 4: Elite Rituals at Scandinavian Assemblies; I. Mounds; II. Thing ‘peace’ and sacred space; III. Symbolic islands; IV. Rituals of motion; V. The ritual theatre; VI. Spectacle; VI. Conclusion. Chapter 5: Assembly Sites in Scandinavia: Activities and Rituals of the Community; I. Time; II. Communication and travel; III. Hearths and cooking pits; IV. Entertainment; V. Building the assembly sites; VI. Communal land; VII. Trade; VIII. Conclusion. Chapter 6: Centralisation of Power: Christianity and Urbanisation; I. Thing sites – short lived and long lived; II. Top-level assemblies and markets; III. The amalgamation of Assemblies, Towns and Bishoprics; Sweden; Denmark; Norway; III. Conclusion. Chapter 7. The Norse in the North Atlantic: Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland; I. Iceland; Location and communication; Water; Booths; Site markers; Churches; II. The Faroe Islands; Location and communication; Water; Booths; Site markers; Shifts; III. Greenland; Brattahlíð; Garðar; Greenland summary; IV. Discussion and Conclusion. Chapter 8: The Norse in Scotland: Assembly and New Ancestors; I. Introduction; II. Administrative organisation; Units; Hierarchy; III. Top-level sites in Scotland; Shetland; Orkney; Caithness and Sutherland; Rosshire; Kingdom of Man and the Isles; Ireland; IV. Conclusions. Chapter 9: Assemblies in the Longue Durée; I. ‘Barbarians’ v. Romans; II. Power of the past; III. The Legacy of the thing institution; Abbreviations; Bibliography.