Ideology and Power in the Viking and Middle Ages

Gro Steinsland, Dr. philos. (1989), Professor of History of Religion at the University of Oslo, Scientific Director at Centre for Advanced Study (CAS), Oslo. She has published extensively on Norse Pre-Christian and Medieval Religion and Culture.Jón Viðar Sigurðsson is Professor of History at the University of Oslo. He has published extensively on Norse-Icelandic political culture, including Chieftains and Power in the Icelandic Commonwealth (1999), Frå høvdingmakt til konge- og kyrkjemakt (1999), Kristninga i Norden 750-1200 (2003), Det norrøne samfunnet (2008) and Den vennlige vikingen (2010).Jan Erik Rekdal, Dr. philos., Professor of Celtic at the University of Oslo. He has published on Irish narrative traditions and Norse-Irish cultural contact and exchange, including "Interaction of Pagan and Christian traditions" in Mediaeval Irish narratives (1990) and Vikings and Saints: Encounters Vestan um Haf (2004).Ian Beuermann, Dr. art. University of Oslo (2007), Teaching Fellow Scandinavian Viking and Medieval History, Humboldt University Berlin. He has published on Norse-British-Irish political, ecclesiastical and cultural connections in the Viking and Middle Ages, most recently Norgesveldet South of Cape Wrath? (2010).

• List of ContributorsList of Maps and FiguresPrefaceIntroduction. Ideology and Power in the Viking and Middle Ages: Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland, Orkney and the Faeroes, Gro SteinslandChapter One. Origin Myths and Rulership. From the Viking Age Ruler to the Ruler of Medieval Historiography: Continuity, Transformations and Innovations, Gro SteinslandChapter Two. Kings, Earls and Chieftains. Rulers in Norway, Orkney and Iceland c. 900–1300, Jón Viðar SigurðssonChapter Three. Jarla So̧gur Orkneyja. Status and Power of the Earls of Orkney According to Their Sagas, Ian BeuermannChapter Four. An Arena for Higher Powers. Cult Buildings and Rulers in the Late Iron Age and the Early Medieval Period in the Mälar Region, Olof SundqvistChapter Five. From Wine in a Goblet to Milk in Cowdung. The Transformation of Early Christian Kings in Three Post-Viking Tales from Ireland, Jan Erik RekdalChapter Six. The Warrior in Old Norse Religion, Jens Peter SchjødtChapter Seven. Óðinn, Valho̧ll and the Einherjar. Eschatological Myth and Ideology in the Late Viking Period, Anders HultgårdChapter Eight. Family Matters? The Cultus of the Scandinavian Royal Martyrs, Joanna A. SkórzewskaConclusions. The Long Adaptation of Pagan and Christian Ideologies of Rulership, Ian BeuermannIndex