Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...
Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...
Scandinavian history in the Viking age - Department of Anglo-Saxon ...
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<strong>Scand<strong>in</strong>avian</strong> History <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vik<strong>in</strong>g Age<br />
likely to reflect <strong>the</strong> greater verisimilitude <strong>in</strong>, for <strong>the</strong> example, <strong>the</strong> k<strong>in</strong>gs’ saga tradition (B290 ff.) when<br />
compared with Saxo (B657). For a general survey <strong>of</strong> East Norse historical writ<strong>in</strong>gs:<br />
[B630] S. Nordal, (ed.), Litteraturhistorie. A: Denmark, F<strong>in</strong>land och Sverige, Nordisk kultur 8:A (1943)<br />
[UL 592:01.b.1.8]<br />
Danish sources<br />
The earliest historical writ<strong>in</strong>gs emanat<strong>in</strong>g from Denmark are l<strong>in</strong>ked <strong>in</strong>extricably to <strong>the</strong> young Danish<br />
church. On <strong>the</strong> one hand, <strong>the</strong>re are annals and documentary sources from <strong>the</strong> church <strong>of</strong> Lund, which was<br />
established as <strong>the</strong> Danish archbishopric <strong>in</strong> 1104; on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> earliest connected pieces <strong>of</strong> historical<br />
prose are characterised by hagiographical works (B645).<br />
Anthologies<br />
For a full collection <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most useful Danish sources, see:<br />
[B635] M.C. Gertz, Scriptores m<strong>in</strong>ores historiæ Danicæ medii ævi, I-II (1917-22) [UL 597:2.b.90.1-2]<br />
[B636] For an earlier collection <strong>of</strong> excerpts, see: G. Waitz, ‘Ex rerum danicarum scriptoribus saec. XII. et<br />
XIII.’, MGH SS 29 (1892), 1-246 [UL R560.G101]<br />
Mediaeval Danish literature<br />
[B640] H. Brix, ‘Oldtidens og Middelalderens Litteratur i Danmark’, (B630):3-63<br />
[B641] S. Kaspersen et al., Dansk litteraturhistorie 1. Fra runer til ridderdigtn<strong>in</strong>g o. 800-1480 (1984)<br />
[UL 754:06.c.95.22]<br />
[B642] D.W. Colbert, ‘The middle <strong>age</strong>s’, A <strong>history</strong> <strong>of</strong> Danish literature, ed. S.H. Rosel, A <strong>history</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Scand<strong>in</strong>avian</strong> literatures 1 (1992), 1-70 [UL 746:05.c.95.37]<br />
[B643] A. Leegaard Knudsen, ‘Interessen for den danske fortid omkr<strong>in</strong>g 1300: en middelalderlig dansk<br />
nationalisme’, DHT 100 (2000), 1-34 (E.s.)<br />
Hagiography<br />
Aside from <strong>the</strong> odd m<strong>in</strong>or late Vik<strong>in</strong>g-<strong>age</strong> sa<strong>in</strong>t <strong>of</strong> dubious au<strong>the</strong>nticity, Danish hagiography before <strong>the</strong><br />
middle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> twelfth century is dom<strong>in</strong>ated by accounts <strong>of</strong> sa<strong>in</strong>t Knut Sve<strong>in</strong>sson. The traditions about<br />
Knut were formed <strong>in</strong> Odense, <strong>the</strong> site <strong>of</strong> his cult, <strong>in</strong> a series <strong>of</strong> texts from <strong>the</strong> late eleventh and early<br />
twelfth centuries. Various pieces are to be found edited <strong>in</strong>:<br />
[B645] M.C. Gertz, Vitae sanctorum Danorum (1908-12) [UL 111:1.b.90.1]<br />
[B646] Thøger or Theodgarus is said to have been a German missionary who settled at Vestervig <strong>in</strong><br />
Denmark dur<strong>in</strong>g Sve<strong>in</strong> Estrithsen’s reign; although he may have been a genu<strong>in</strong>e historical figure, <strong>the</strong><br />
traditions surround<strong>in</strong>g his life and cult are perhaps <strong>of</strong> dubious au<strong>the</strong>nticity, see (B645):1-26<br />
[B647] Knut Sve<strong>in</strong>sson was k<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> Denmark from 1080-86, when he was murdered <strong>in</strong> Odense dur<strong>in</strong>g a<br />
popular upris<strong>in</strong>g (D135). Aside from an <strong>in</strong>scription and liturgical material, <strong>the</strong>re are two ma<strong>in</strong> early<br />
sources that refer to his life and cult. [a] The anonymous Passio sancti Kanuti regis et martyris was<br />
composed around 1100; text: (B645):62-71. [b] More substantial is Aelnoth’s Gesta Svenomagni regis et<br />
filiorum eius et passio gloriosissimi Canuti regis et martyris, composed around 1122, which also conta<strong>in</strong>s<br />
some <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g observations on <strong>the</strong> conversion process and <strong>the</strong> early <strong>Scand<strong>in</strong>avian</strong> church. Text:<br />
(B645):77-136; Danish transl. by E. Albrectsen <strong>in</strong> (D136):25-52. See also T. Gad, Legenden i dansk<br />
middelalder (1961), 155-62 [UL 111:5.c.95.1]<br />
Annals<br />
Annals began to be composed <strong>in</strong> Denmark from <strong>the</strong> third quarter <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> twelfth century, with <strong>the</strong> earliest<br />
collections stemm<strong>in</strong>g mostly from <strong>the</strong> archiepiscopal centre at Lund. Many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m conta<strong>in</strong> material<br />
relat<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> Vik<strong>in</strong>g <strong>age</strong> <strong>in</strong> Denmark, but <strong>the</strong>y are wholly dependent upon earlier, foreign materials and<br />
have no <strong>in</strong>dependent value; much <strong>the</strong> same even applies to <strong>the</strong> series from Lund beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> 1074,<br />
although this time <strong>the</strong>y are reliant on twelfth-century Danish compositions such as <strong>the</strong> Roskilde chronicle<br />
(B652).<br />
[B650] Text: E. Jørgensen, Annales Danici medii ævi (1920) [UL 597:2.a.90.1]; a revised edition is<br />
provided by E. Kroman, Danmarks middelalderlige annaler (1980) [UL 597:2.c.95.12]. For <strong>the</strong> textual<br />
background, see A.K.G. Kristensen, Danmarks ældste annalistik: studier over lundensisk annal-skrivn<strong>in</strong>g<br />
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