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

Scandinavian History in the Viking Age
Merseburg: Chronik, AQDGM 9 (1966) [UL 570:01.c.57.9]. Excerpts also transl. in (B81):347-50 (on
the Anglo-Danish kings)
[B64] Dudo of St Quentin composed his history of the dukes of Normandy (or Gesta Normannorum
‘Deeds of the Normans’) in the opening decades of the eleventh century; it is naturally of more use for
Norman than Scandinavian history, but has something to say about the Norse origins of the Normans and
their later relations with Scandinavia. Text: M.J. Lair, Dudonis sancti Quintini De moribus et actis
primorum Normanniæ ducum, Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Normandie 3. série 3 (1865)
[UL P567.b.36.23]. Transl.: E. Christiansen, Dudo of St Quentin: History of the Normans (1998) [UL
568:2.c.95.155]
Hamburg-Bremen
Somewhat artificially, the historical works emanating from the archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen have
been set aside in a separate section, not only because they far outstrip other contemporary sources in the
depth of their coverage of Scandinavia but also because they are in many ways closely interlinked. A
basic collection of material with Latin texts and German translations can be found in:
[B70] W. Trillmich and R. Buchner, Quellen des 9. und 11. Jahrhunderts zur Geschichte der
hamburgischen Kirche und des Reiches, AQDGM 11 (1961) [UL 570:01.c.57.11]
From the early ninth century under Anskar to the early twelfth the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen
carried the papal authority to organise the conversion of the Scandinavians; their tale is largely one of
fighting against insuperable odds, whether due to the marginal position of Hamburg-Bremen in German
politics or the greater influence of missionaries from elsewhere in the field. There is a fair amount of
diplomatic material and correspondence from the period which illuminates their efforts (B741-742),
alongside two major historical works, the first of which deals with Anskar, bishop of (successively)
Hamburg, Bremen, and Hamburg-Bremen.
[B72] Rimbert wrote his Vita Anskarii soon after Anskar’s death in 865; although an invaluable source
for early missionary activity in Scandinavia, its value as a historical source is compromised by its
adherence to the principles of hagiographical rather than historical composition. Text: G. Waitz, Vita
Anskarii auctore Rimberto, accedit Vita Rimberti, MGH SRG (1884) [UL 570:01.c.8.17]. Transl.: C.H.
Robinson, Anskar the apostle of the north, 801-65 (1921) [UL 9100.d.3208]; further excerpts on Anskar
in (B1):227-30. Robinson’s translation can be accessed online at
www/fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html. Text and German transl.: (B70):1-133. For commentary
on the historicity of the text and Rimbert’s attempts to portray Anskar as a frustrated martyr, see (L118)
and H. Lutterbach, ‘Keine Sühne ohne Blut? Das Martyrium des hl. Ansgar’, Studien und Mitteilungen
zur Geschichte des Benediktinerordens und seiner Zweige 106 (1995), 79-99. [a] The anonymous Vita
Rimberti ‘life of Rimbert’ is largely of incidental interest for Scandinavian history, although it does
contain some further observations which carry on from Rimbert’s own life of Anskar, since Rimbert also
undertook missionary activity in the north. Text in Waitz’s edition above, 80-100. German transl.: J.C.M.
Laurent, Leben der Erzbischöfe Anskar und Rimbert, 2nd edn rev. W. Wattenbach, Die
Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit: neuntes Jahrhundert 7 (1889), 103-36 [UL 570:01.d.2.7]
[B73] Adam of Bremen’s Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum ‘Deeds of the archbishops of
Hamburg[-Bremen]’ is yet more significant, and provides the only contemporary attempt to produce
anything like a history of Viking-age Scandinavia. It was first composed around 1075 and then added to,
partly with notes from Adam’s own hand, with a series of scholia in the early 1080s and later. While
indispensable as the single most important written source for the (particularly late) Viking age, Adam’s
work has come under close scrutiny and heavy criticism for its biased and tendentious approach to many
of its subject areas; it was clearly designed to chronicle and then justify the claims of the archbishops of
Hamburg-Bremen to authority over the Scandinavian Churches. In the early part of the work Adam is
heavily reliant on Rimbert for his source material, and can sometimes be seen to select and adapt
according to his purposes; a variety of witnesses are cited for the later Viking age, the most celebrated
being the Danish king Svein Estrithsen. Text: B. Schmeidler, Magistri Adami Bremensis Gesta
Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, MGH SRG, 3rd edn (1917) [UL 570:01.c.8.29]. Text and
German transl. in (B70):135-499. Transl.: F.J. Tschan, History of the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen,
Records of civilization: sources and studies 53 (1959) [UL 60:8.c.95.3], reprinted with a new
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