Bursting onto the European stage at the end of the eighth century,
the Vikings carved a bloody swath across early medieval Christendom,
terrorizing the locals from Ireland to Byzantium. Yet the Old Norse
were more than violent raiders. They were also savvy merchants, gifted
craftsmen, hardworking farmers, and cunning political players who built
kingdoms in Europe, established relations with the Muslim world, and
even made it to the shores of North America. This course will explore
the culture, history, arts and worldviews of the Old Norse, including
their mythology, the saga literature, and their conversion to
Christianity. We will also investigate how the Vikings have been
understood and represented through the centuries between their days and
ours, and will ask questions about how our knowledge of the Vikings is
produced
SCAN 327 Syllabus 2007 (MS Word Document)