Viking Society How Do We Know About Viking Society?

Viking Society

• How Do We Know About Viking Society?

• Settlement of Iceland

• Living Conditions
• Economy

• The Sagas and Viking Age Iceland

• Social Structure in Iceland

• System of Justice

• Blood Feud

• Family Sagas

How do We Know About Viking Society?

• Archaeological Record

• Burial sites
• Imports and exports

• Place Names

• “-by”
• “Pedersturp”
• “-Thorp

• Oral and Print Culture

• Fluidity of oral culture
• Greater fixity of print culture
• Christianity as religion of the book

• Sagas

• Wealth of information
• “Textual” character

Settlement of Iceland

• Isolated settlements of Irish monks in islands of North Atlantic 700-800

• Settlement of Iceland 870-930

• Flleing Harald the Fairhaired’s Unification of Norway
• 10-20,000 settlers
• Taking of fertile land

• Who came to Iceland?

• Scandianavians and Celts
• Chieftains
• Genetic studies

• Establishment of Althing 930

• Annual meeting
• Recitation of laws
• Settlement of disputes
• Least hierarchy in Iceland

Living Conditions in Iceland

• Living Conditions in Iceland

• Poor Resources
• Volcanic Rock
• Lack of wood
• Severity of Climate
• Food
• Dairy farming
• Problem of preservation
• Clothing
• Isolation
• Relative lack of resources

• Economy

• Barter and Money
• Foreign trade
• Domestic agriculture
• Sources of wealth
• Wool
• Dairy products
• Wood
• Luxury items

Sagas as Historical Sources

• Saga are the narratives about Icelandic society and its mythology written down in Christian Iceland during the 12th and 13th centuries

• Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241)

• Sagas of the Icelanders(Family Sagas)

• Njal’s Saga
• Egil’s Saga

• Edda Poems

• Poetic Edda (Old)
• Prose Edda (Young)
• Skaldic verse

• Learned Sagas

• Icelanders’ Book
• Heimskringla

• Other forms

• Legendary sagas (Volsung’s Saga)
• Saints lives

System of Justice

• Social Hierarchy

• Goði (Cheiftain)
• Thingman (Backer)
• Bondðr (Farmer)
• Slave

• The stakes

• Personal fortune
• Honor
• Relative flexibility

• Assemblies

• Althing (930-1271)
• National summer assembly
• Lawspeaker
• Lögrétta
• Varthing

• Local assemblies of spring and fall

• Prosecution
• Debt

Wergild System

• Amoral but pragmatic system based on compensation

• Price of a life

• Legal recourse

• Oral law
• Declaration
• Witnesses
• Prosecution

• Advocacy

• Devolved social system
• Respect
• Status

• Outlaw status

Blood Feud

• Causes of Blood Feud

• Territorial dispute
• Murder and blood money
• Dowries and inheritances
• Satisfaction
• Mobilization

• Godi and thingmen

• Rising and falling fortunes
• Restraint in violence
• Long-term consequences

The Family Sagas

• Njal’s Saga most famous of family sagas

• Themes

• Honor, fortitude, heroism
• Farmers and slaves, not kings and princes
• Contrast to Epic and Romance

• Style

• Terse
• Focus on actual social types (genealogy) rather than psychological experience

• Typical plot

• Introduction of daily life in context
• Conflict emerges out of daily life
• Marriage
• Property
• Jealousy
• Tragic consequences
• Potential for Feud

Conclusion

• Maintenance of “Viking” society in settlement society, Iceland

• So What? Relatively undisturbed preservation of unique Viking heritage, which provides knowledge of Viking period

• Sagas as historical record and compelling medieval literature, from which we can learn about Viking society

• Insight into Viking-age, pagan society