Course description for 2026/27
The Vikings: From Old Mythology to Modern Representation
HIS1007
Course description for 2026/27
The Vikings: From Old Mythology to Modern Representation
HIS1007
The course provides an introduction to the Viking world in Northern Europe.
The course is taught provided that a sufficient number of students register
The course provides an introduction to the Viking world in Northern Europe. It will focus on the north and expansion in the arctic and North America (Vinland). Special emphasis will be given to these regions as mythical stages for heroism, and supernatural and trollish encounters, including boundaries and crossing of gendered coded roles. The course will also delve into the pre-Christian religious views that formed Viking mythology. Studies of modern representations (film and other media of popular culture) of the Viking myth, and how it shaped the idea of the northern past will be explored as well.
Knowledge
The student must have knowledge of the Viking history, expansion and exploration, and the treatment of these subjects in central research literature.
- The student should acquire basic knowledge of the major events and economic, social and political processes of the Viking Age, as well as the expansion and exploration activities of the Vikings
- The student should have broad knowledge of the Scandinavian societies’ cultural and religious practices between c. 700 and 1100
- The student should have broad knowledge about the changing perceptions and representations of Vikings from the Early Middle Ages to the present day
Skills
- The student should be able to demonstrate their ability to present and discuss various aspects of the Viking Age in written form.
- The student should be able to reflect on their academic output and modify this through supervision.
- The student should be able to find, consider and refer to relevant subject matters in the curriculum, and use them when developing and dealing with certain research questions.
General competence
- The student should be able to access relevant literature on Viking history.
- The student should be able to review relevant knowledge from the literature list.
- The student should be able to discuss central theories and perspectives from the curriculum in written work.
Semester fee and curriculum literature. Students should have a laptop at their disposal.
Part of English language semester package Introduction to Norwegian History (Fall).
Lectures, group discussions, group work
Annual evaluation procedures
Take-home exam, Individual. 7 days. Graded A-F
All aids are generally allowed for assignments. However, it is not allowed to collaborate on individual submissions. Examination candidates must therefore be cautious with discussions about the task text that can result in similarities in content, structure, language, interpretation, and evaluations in the answer. The answer must be designed by the individual candidate alone, and similarity can be an expression of unauthorized collaboration that can be considered as cheating. Generating an answer using ChatGPT or similar artificial intelligence and submitting it wholly or partially as one's own answer is considered cheating.
No prerequisite knowledge. The curriculum literature will be exclusively in English.
Course language
English
Credits
10
Study location
Bodø
Responsible faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences
Course coordinator
