The Viking World

December 23, 2023 - December 30, 2023

Are you interested in learning about the much talked about and debated history and culture of the Vikings? Learn from medievalist historian, Terri Barnes. Topics include Viking influence in the world, language and arts, and mythology and religion.

SOLD OUT – December 16, Expansion and Influence in the Wider World

December 23, Language and Arts:

This week we look at Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age through their traditional language and art. Old Norse and the runic alphabet dominate in a time when oral culture and storytelling were hallmarks of Viking life. We’ll talk about literary forms such as sagas and poetry, as well as what they wrote in runes. Their art was part of a long-standing Germanic tradition focusing on form and function. We will examine the materials, methods, and the primary styles of the period.

December 30, Mythology and Religion:

We end the series on an important cultural shift during the Viking Age when Scandinavians went from practicing the traditional “pagan” polytheism that we know as Norse Mythology to adopting Christianity and becoming religiously like the rest of Western Europe. You will learn about the cosmology of the Norse peoples in the early Viking Age as well as the reasons why they ultimately converted to the Christian faith and how that affected what it meant to be a “Viking.”