Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...

Scandinavian History in the Viking Age
[B6] The basic scholarly editions of the Icelandic family sagas, as well as some selected kings’ saga
material, is the Íslenzk fornrit series [ÍF]; these have introductions and notes in modern Icelandic and
normalised texts with minimal critical apparatus
[B7] A further series of Scandinavian texts was produced by the Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk
litteratur [SUGNL]; these old editions have now to some extent been superseded, but cover a wider range
than Íslenzk fornrit
Non-Scandinavian sources
[B10] The most significant body of material relating to the Vikings can be found in the huge series
Monumenta Germaniae historica [MGH] which was begun in Germany in the nineteenth century. The
initial series of edited texts under the heading Scriptores [SS] [UL R560.G101] has now largely been
superseded by the Scriptores rerum germanicarum in usum scholarum [SRG] [UL 570:01.c.8.1 ff.] and
then the Scriptores rerum germanicarum nova series [SRG n.s.] [UL 570:01.c.10.1 ff.]. Large amounts of
other relevant material can also be found under the auspices of MGH; in particular, diplomatic material in
the series Diplomata [DD] [UL R560.G118] and correspondence in the series Epistolae [EPP]
[R560.G111]
[B11] A further useful set of Frankish or German primary sources can also be found in the series
Ausgewählte Quellen zur deutschen Geschichte des Mittelalters [AQDGM] [UL 570:01.c.57.1 ff.], which
have the advantage of both Latin texts and German facing translations
II. NON-SCANDINAVIAN SOURCES
As the Scandinavians were illiterate (in the strict sense of the word, at least) during the Viking age,
sources from outside Scandinavia provide the bulk of our written material for this period. Unfortunately,
they frequently (and naturally) show a clear tendency to be either mis- or ill-informed and prejudiced,
and when combined with the relative paucity of historical evidence relating to Scandinavia itself these
factors render such sources rather less informative than we might often wish. The sources gathered here
consist largely of histories, chronicles, or hagiography, ie. texts that seem to have been written for the
purpose of preserving historical information for posterity; for documentary evidence such as laws or
correspondence, see section (B.VI). For guidance in the bewildering field of mediaeval source materials,
see:
[B15] Typologie des sources du moyen âge occidental (1972 ff.) [UL R532.6]; a series of fascicles
examining various kinds of sources for mediaeval European history, mostly in French and naturally very
general
[B16] R.C. van Caenegem et al., Guide to the sources of medieval history, Europe in the middle ages:
selected studies 2 (1978) [UL R532.11]
Many sources, particularly Insular, are also well worth looking up in:
[B17] E.B. Graves, A bibliography of English history to 1485 (1975) [UL R542.50]
Classical sources
Written sources from before the eighth century are largely of peripheral interest, and tend to consist of
little more than cursory descriptions of Scandinavia and observations on the characteristics and
movements of the tribes resident in the region. Accordingly, only a small selection of the vast literature
on the subject is given.
[B25] The Classical geographers. The earliest written reports of Scandinavia come from the
geographers and philosophers of the Classical period. Particularly striking are the reports of the Greek
explorer Pytheas of Marseilles, who is said to have reached a place called ‘Thule’ in the northern oceans
in the fourth century BC (C10). Pytheas’ accounts were only preserved, and largely disbelieved, in the
works of later authors such as [a] Strabo. Text and transl.: H.L. Jones, The geography of Strabo, Loeb
classical library, 8 vols (1917-32) [UL R707.5 STR.1-8]. Further details were also provided by the
Roman scholar [b] Pliny. Text and transl.: H. Rackham et al., Pliny, Natural history, Loeb classical
library, 10 vols (1938-62) [UL R712.5 PLI.3-12]. The fullest classical geography, which touches on
‘Scandia’, is that of [c] Ptolemy. Text: O. Cuntz, Die Geographie des Ptolemaeus (1923) [UL N.47.48].
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