This course will cover five elements of the Viking age.

We will begin with an overview of myths and misconceptions about the Vikings.

This will be followed by a brief history of the rise and fall of the Viking Age, why the Viking Age occurred, and what brought this glorious age to an end.

The next section will explore language and writing during the Viking Age, which includes topics such as Old Norse language, the runic alphabet, and Viking runestones. A brief linguistic history of the Germanic languages and Old Nose will be given. Students will learn how to write in runes, how runes were used, and how design work on runestones changes over time.

Next we shall delve into the written records of the Viking Age and the historical texts from which scholars draw their information about the Vikings. This section will cover the Sagas of the Icelanders (a body of prose literature from medieval Iceland), the Prose and Poetic Eddas (our main sources of Norse mythology), and an important figure in the field of medieval manuscript collection.

Last, we will learn about the gods and goddesses of Norse mythology, cult and magic practices in Iceland and Scandinavia, and the reading aloud of a text from Norse mythology. Students will be given a brief overview of the main Norse deities. They will also learn about the cult and magic practices that are found in the Old Norse texts and other historical documents. This section will conclude with the reading of Þrymskviða, a comical tale from Old Norse mythology.