The multitude of perspectives on the Viking Age is one of the great assets of the field; they challenge and complement each other, and the tension between them is productive. However, the dominant strands of research are essentially local or national in nature, and may perpetuate the exceptionalistic approach developed in the romantic and nationalistic era. We hold that transcending this approach is a prominent ambition within Viking Studies. General perspectives that embrace the grand contexts of the Viking Age need to be developed alongside the local and national.
The opening up of such perspectives is well underway. This conference is intended to push that development even further by stimulating dialogue between different perspectives. In an introductory session where some general perspectives on Viking-age research will be discussed. The conference’s three main sessions are dedicated to each of the three geographical zones of the Scandinavian diaspora as seen from Scandinavia: the South, the West, and the East.
Contact
The conference is hosted by Centre for Viking-Age Studies (ViS) at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, in cooperation with Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo, and Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen.