The Viking Diaspora The Medieval World Series

The Viking Diaspora presents the early medieval migrations of people, language and culture from mainland Scandinavia to new homes in the British Isles, the North Atlantic, the Baltic and the East as a form of ?diaspora?. It discusses the ways in which migrants from Russia in the east to Greenland in the west were conscious of being connected not only to the people and traditions of their homelands, but also to other migrants of Scandinavian origin in many other locations.

Rather than the movements of armies, this book concentrates on the movements of people and the shared heritage and culture that connected them. This on-going contact throughout half a millennium can be traced in the laws, literatures, material culture and even environment of the various regions of the Viking diaspora. Judith Jesch considers all of these connections, and highlights in detail significant forms of cultural contact including gender, beliefs and identities.

Beginning with an overview of Vikings and the Viking Age, the nature of the evidence available, and a full exploration of the concept of ?diaspora?, the book then provides a detailed demonstration of the appropriateness of the term to the world peopled by Scandinavians. This book is the first to explain Scandinavian expansion using this model, and presents the Viking Age in a new and exciting way for students of Vikings and medieval history.

Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Vikings and their Ages: Definitions and Evidence Chapter 2. The Viking World: Geography and Environment Chapter 3. The Viking Diaspora Chapter 4. Gender and Family Chapter 5. Cults, Beliefs and Myths Chapter 6. Networks and Identities Bibliography Index

Judith Jesch is Professor of Viking Studies at the University of Nottingham. Her previous publications include Women in the Viking Age (1991), Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age. The Vocabulary of Runic Inscriptions and Skaldic Verse (2001) and The Scandinavians from the Vendel Period to the Tenth Century: an ethnographic perspective (2002).