The History of Vikings

All the basics of the Scandinavian history in the early Middle Ages.

This course is a journey into the past  one thousand years ago. It is a world of longships, rune stones and magnates ruling from great halls.

Section 1 is an introduction to the geography, the social structure and the premises for the historical development. It also has a brief outline of the main events, and gives an overview of the historical sources and their quality.

Section 2 gives you the chronology of the events c. 200-1200 in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. This is of course a very rough outline, but it will give you a strong foundation of knowlegde about this time.

Section 3 answers the question that has puzzled scholars for centuries: How could sparsly populated Scandinavia create such an impact on european and world history? The answer is that there were three main drivers of the expansion: Silver, dynasties and the kings' attempt to centralize power.

Section 4 descibes how the concept of 'The Vikings' was invented in the 19th century. If you go to the original sources, it becomes evident that 'vikings' actually had very little to do with the Scandinavian expansion. The modern use of the word also carries with it racist ideas of Nordic superiority, so I advice against using it as an ethnic designation. In the Middle Ages it meant something else, so it should be used in its original meaning.

Section 5 is a summary and conclusion, where you get a short wrap-up of all the materials in the course.

If you have any interest in viking or world history, then this course is made for you.