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

PREFACE
This bibliography has been put together for the guidance of students studying the paper
‘Scandinavian history in the Viking age’ in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic,
University of Cambridge. Its model and inspiration was the bibliography of the history of Anglo-
Saxon England compiled by Professor Simon Keynes, and like its predecessor this bibliography also
makes no claim to be anything other than an informal and ephemeral document, in this case providing
a bibliographical guide to the sources of, and major themes in, Viking history.
Since the bibliography is intended primarily for the use of students, it includes translations as well as
editions of primary written sources, and the emphasis is heavily upon secondary literature in English.
When items in languages other than English are listed, the presence of any English summary is
indicated by (E.s.). The bibliography accordingly makes no effort to be exhaustive in any respect, and
overall concentrates extensively on more modern research; readers are nevertheless encouraged to
delve more deeply through the use of bibliographies included in the items cited here.
One final word of warning centres on the terms employed in this bibliography. ‘Scandinavia’ is here
defined as a cultural rather than geographical area, encompassing Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Faroe,
and Iceland; moreover, even within those limits ‘Scandinavian’ refers to the culture of the Germanicspeaking
elements rather than the indigenous Lappish or Sami populations. In chronological terms
‘Viking age’ is employed to refer roughly to a period from around 750 to around 1050; the period
before 750 has been called ‘Iron age’, the period after 1050 ‘mediaeval’. These parameters are for
pure convenience only, even though it is appreciated that they are an uneasy mixture of English and
Scandinavian, or archaeological and conventional historical, conceptions that can rightly be criticised
as too rigid, misleading, or simply wrong.
1 October 2001 Martin Syrett
Scandinavian History in the Viking Age: a Select Bibliography was first issued in October 2001.
Notification of any errors and suggestions for possible improvements are most welcome, and should
be directed to Mr Jonathan Grove, Department of ASNC, Faculty of English, 9 West Road,
Cambridge CB3 9DP.
Note for the Cambridge reader
The vast majority of references in this bibliography are (or soon will be) available for consultation in
the libraries of the University of Cambridge, and to some extent preference has been given to the
inclusion of such items at the expense of others which are not held in those libraries. The bulk of
them are naturally only accessible in the University Library, but a fair range of material is also to be
located in the libraries of various departments, such as the Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic section of
the English Faculty Library, the Seeley Library of the Faculty of History, and the Haddon Library of
the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology; references to holding libraries and classmarks will
generally be found in square brackets following individual items, with preference given to the
University Library. Students are encouraged to help build up the holdings of their college libraries
and may well want to purchase some of the more general items in section (A) themselves.
THE DEPARTMENT OF ANGLO-SAXON, NORSE, AND CELTIC
Information on the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic, University of Cambridge,
including a guide to the ASNC Tripos, is available on the Department’s website.
ISSN 1475-8520
ISBN 0 9532172 9 9