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This course approaches the Vikings along historical
lines, and its backbone is Gwyn Jones' History
of the Vikings. The legendary history of early
Scandinavia, the consolidation of the Scandinavian
kingdoms, developments both at home and abroad
during the great period of Viking expansion, finally
the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity
(which wrote finis to the Viking adventure)--these
are the historical subjects discussed. Within this
historical framework, a good deal of attention
is devoted to Viking art and archaeology, to the
pagan religion of early medieval Scandinavia, and
to its system of writing (the celebrated runes)
and its literature (including the mythological
and heroic poetry of the Edda, the court poems
of the skalds, and the Icelandic sagas).
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The instructor for this course this semester is