The Viking World: Old Norse Literature, Culture, and Influence (Previously Recorded Webinar)
$18.00
From 800 to 1066, the people we know as “The Vikings” reshaped the history, politics, and culture of Europe, raiding, conquering, settling, and trading from Byzantium in the east to North America in the west, and Iceland to the coasts of Spain and Italy. 800 years later the rediscovery of their literature and mythology took European culture by storm, inspiring artists, writers, and composers throughout the Romantic period. To this day, images of warriors in horned helmets, beautiful Valkyries, future-determining Norns, and frenzied berserkrs shape our perceptions of the people and culture of medieval Scandinavia.
But which of these perceptions (or stereotypes) are true, anyway? What was the actual culture of the Vikings like? Did they really wear horned helmets? (No. Horns are a huge handicap in combat.) Did they really drink mead from the skulls of their enemies? (No. The mead always leaks out through the eye sockets.) Was their culture really as crazy and as it is depicted? (No. The reality is far more extreme.)
In this overview of Viking and Old Norse culture, we will try to answer these and other questions by focusing on how we know what we know about the remarkable people of the North. Our primary evidence will be what they told us about themselves in writings in their own language: poetry and prose, primarily from medieval Iceland, that has survived to the present day. The ancient, stylistically simple, and mythologically profound poetry of the Elder Edda; the bafflingly complex works of the later Skalds; the wry cleverness of Snorri Sturlusson’s prose explanations of mythology and history; and the laconic but deeply insightful narratives of the Sagas combine to allow us to glimpse the fascinating individuals behind the dramatic images. From their words, we come to understand—at least somewhat—the remarkable people of medieval Scandinavia.
Instructor: Dr. Michael Drout, the Frances A. Shirley Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, where since 1997 he has taught Old and Middle English, Science Fiction and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Meet Time: This is a previously recorded webinar with lifetime access.
Individual Price: $18 (Non-Refundable)
How to access the class: The recording for this webinar will be available in the customer’s HHL account under the “My Courses” tab. Click on the webinar there to view the video and access any further content connected with it.
Description
From 800 to 1066, the people we know as “The Vikings” reshaped the history, politics, and culture of Europe, raiding, conquering, settling, and trading from Byzantium in the east to North America in the west, and Iceland to the coasts of Spain and Italy. 800 years later the rediscovery of their literature and mythology took European culture by storm, inspiring artists, writers, and composers throughout the Romantic period. To this day, images of warriors in horned helmets, beautiful Valkyries, future-determining Norns, and frenzied berserkrs shape our perceptions of the people and culture of medieval Scandinavia.
But which of these perceptions (or stereotypes) are true, anyway? What was the actual culture of the Vikings like? Did they really wear horned helmets? (No. Horns are a huge handicap in combat.) Did they really drink mead from the skulls of their enemies? (No. The mead always leaks out through the eye sockets.) Was their culture really as crazy and as it is depicted? (No. The reality is far more extreme.)
In this overview of Viking and Old Norse culture, we will try to answer these and other questions by focusing on how we know what we know about the remarkable people of the North. Our primary evidence will be what they told us about themselves in writings in their own language: poetry and prose, primarily from medieval Iceland, that has survived to the present day. The ancient, stylistically simple, and mythologically profound poetry of the Elder Edda; the bafflingly complex works of the later Skalds; the wry cleverness of Snorri Sturlusson’s prose explanations of mythology and history; and the laconic but deeply insightful narratives of the Sagas combine to allow us to glimpse the fascinating individuals behind the dramatic images. From their words, we come to understand—at least somewhat—the remarkable people of medieval Scandinavia.
Instructor: Dr. Michael Drout, the Frances A. Shirley Professor of English and Director of the Center for the Study of the Medieval at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts, where since 1997 he has taught Old and Middle English, Science Fiction and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Meet Time: This is a previously recorded webinar with lifetime access.
Individual Price: $18 (Non-Refundable)
How to access the class: The recording for this webinar will be available in the customer’s HHL account under the “My Courses” tab. Click on the webinar there to view the video and access any further content connected with it.
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