Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2007.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the Viking age is described in textbooks and teaching aids in the countries Sweden and Great Britain. The examination is done through a text analysis, specifically called textbook or teaching aid analysis, where the content of the teaching aid is examined.                      A literature survey with thoughts and statements regarding the Viking age of writers and experts, from both countries, are included.                       This examine is also to answer the question whether the teaching aids are typical or infrequent in relation to each other inside the explicit country, but also between the countries.   The result shows that the teaching aids in the main are typical in relation to each other. Some differences do exist and shows themselves in the choices of dispositions and layout, also in a few numbers of cases in the content.

I denna uppsats analyseras de delar som berör forntiden och vikingatiden, i fyra utvalda läromedel för historia i årskurs 4–6. Analysen syftar till att undersöka om och hur dessa läromedel svarar på kursplanens uttryckliga krav på att undervisningen skall bidra till att eleverna utvecklar en förståelse för hur historia kan användas utifrån olika syfte och mottagare. Syftet och frågeställningarna grundas i kursplanens centrala innehåll och kunskapskraven för historieämnet, och frågeställningarna motiveras av skolinspektionens kvalitetsgranskning av historieundervisningen 2015 som visat på en mängd brister i grundskolans undervisning gällande historiebruk. Tidigare forskning visar på att läroböcker innehar en central roll i historieundervisningen och att läroböcker dagligen används för att planera eller genomföra undervisningen vilket tillsammans med skolinspektionens granskning av undervisningen motiverar en analys gällande i vilken utsträckning läromedel från fyra ledande läromedelsförlag belyser och redogör för begreppet historiebruk. Genom en komparativ analys av de fyra läromedlen framgår det att ett av fyra läromedel redogör för och diskuterar historiebruk. / <p>Godkänt datum 2020-06-09</p>

My aim in this essay is to identify and explain the claims to power that women possessed and were able to wield over other individuals by examining women as a instigators of violence in the Icelandic saga literature. I sought to build upon the previous research on women's representation in the saga literature by further identifying and explaining the power of women. By using qualitative narrative analysis with an approach closely related to content analysis, I searched six Icelandic sagas of different character and featured the identified intrigues in a summary manner. The questions referred to the material are:  - Which expressions show that women's actions are a founding reason for men to engage in violence can be found in the material?  - How do the female actors exercise power in Old Norse literature?  In the light of works by Margaret Clunies Ross, Gro Steinlands, Birgit Sawyers and Jóhanna Katrín Fridriksdottirs and descriptions of women in the Viking Age context with the Norse religion combined with the theoretical starting points from John RP French, Bertram Raven and Sylvia Walby I have answered the questions of the study. The female characters’ claims to power found in the literature were found to be verbally based, in accordance with previous research, and therefore found in social interactions with other individuals.  The result shows that women’s power is established in five different power bases: reward, coercive, legitimate, reference and expertise, where coercion and expertise were the most prominent and frequently reproduced forms of power in the material. The descriptions of the woman's claims to power can demonstrate (1) that the woman had a powerful position in the Viking Age context, (2) highlighted as a cause of disorder which man must sort out - and then appears as the sovereign, (3) a Christian tendency and function as propaganda against paganism. But one of the most interesting and important aspects that this study highlights is that women's actions can be seen as destructive as they are a leading cause of violence in many cases, but the women do not always do this in pure malice, although malice may be present in some intrigue. Several women seem to have a constructive motive as they often want the family to escape the shame and instead perform great deeds which generate honor - which is the moral system that is found in paganism. By understanding women's motives in this way, one can understand that they want to achieve good even if it sometimes requires violent actions. These actions can also be viewed differently than in our modern societies which are characterized by a different mentality towards violence than was the case in Viking society.

This essay analyses the road Runstensvägen that connects the locality of Ösmo withDjursnäs where, which I argue, there would have been a harbour during the Viking age. Theessay deals with the roads connection to rune stones on the road and nearby, burial groundsfrom different time periods, and the names of nearby farms and plots in order to establish thenecessity and vitality of the road for the nearby settlements. Ultimately the essay discussesthe area around Djursnäs and the reasons why a harbour would be built in Djursnäs.

This bachelor thesis explores the agricultural landscape in southwestern Norway during the Viking Age. Based on macrofossil samples from the site Sømme in Rogaland fylke the prehistoric use of cultivated and non-cultivated plants are analysed and compared to previous studies and the state of knowledge. The thesis also investigates the potential social status of the site Sømme, the silversmithy and the smith. The results suggest Hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare) was cultivated nearby based on charred seeds found in postholes of the house. Nitrogen demanding plants, such as Fat-hen (Chenopodium album), were also found, which suggests an agricultural practise that involved manuring. The social status of Sømme and the silversmith is likely to have been quite high. People in graves with smithy tools in Norway are considered to have held a high social status. In Joa, close to Sømme, is one such grave. The smith has most likely been in direct contact with the ruling class when crafting jewellery.

An iron age double grave containing a man and a woman has been found in Klinta, Köpings Parish, Öland, Sweden. Archaeologist have debated this grave and have begun to interpret the woman as a völva. The most famous artefact was found in the womans grave. It was an iron staff, Klintastaven. This staff have been the main focus when it comes to this grave but there were also three types of artifacts found with the bones: base metal artifacts covered in runes, amulets, as well as animal bones. This essay aims to analyse the artifacts from the grave and their relation to the Old Norse religion of Scandinavia and the research have established a connection between these artifacts and the Old Norse religion of Viking times.

In this thesis a ground-penetration radar survey was carried out in four areas, Borgmästarängen, Draken, Urmakaren and Koppardosan in Sigtuna. The aim of this paper is to detect remnants of the Viking Age harbor at those chosen sites. Former research investigations have discovered findings which are related to shipbuilding like clench nails, rivets and boat nails; however, the question remains whether Sigtuna ever had a central harbor, and researchers suggested instead that every town plot had its own mooring. This paper addresses this question by deploying geophysical surveys to increase the understanding of the town’s organization. Furthermore this paper will discuss how the detected structures can be understood in comparison to earlier Viking Age and early Medieval towns, in this case Birka, Hedeby and Schleswig where central harbors have been discovered and investigated.

In 1953, two individuals were excavated in Erik XIII’s alley, Visby, Gotland. After the excavation, the individuals did not undergo an osteological examination and were preserved for several years by the Gotland Museum. These two individuals were selected for this thesis to undergo an osteological analysis. The purpose of the essay was to identify and investigate the two individuals from Erik XIII's alley and illuminate the Viking age of Visby. A spatial analysis of Erik XIII's alley and the surrounding environment was carried out, to emphasize Visby’s Viking-age. Erik XIII's alley is in the northern part of Visby's inner city and is within walking distance of the two largest Viking-era burial grounds in Visby, Kopparsvik and Gustavsvik. Individual 1, who was judged to be a man, was approximately 182cm tall and was between 33-45 years old when he died. Individual 2 was judged to be a probable man and was between 17-25 at the time of his death and had an approximate length of 173cm. The individuals have only two common pathologies, which are osteophytes and tartar. Individual 2 had significantly fewer pathologies than individual 1, which may be a side effect of the age difference between them. In individual 1, enthesopathies were also identified, which were roughly consistent throughout the body, ligamente flava, pitting and osteoarthritis. Individual 2 showed changes from two different deficiency diseases, cribra orbitalia and enamel hypoplasia. The discussion is divided into three parts that emphasize the individuals, the comparison with other Viking-era individuals on Gotland and the spatial context. The individuals' pathologies are discussed, and possible interpretations of the individuals are presented. When the individuals from Erik XIII's alley are compared to other Viking-age individuals who have undergone osteological examinations, the result mainly varies. In the spatial context, possible interpretations of the graves are presented, which consist of an additional burial ground with different interpretations, as a burial ground for the king's company, or simple farm burials.

<p>Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka litteraturen efter agenterna och deras handlingar vid de religiösa sammankomsterna, i Tröndelag, så som det beskrivs av Snorre Sturlason i <em>”Håkon den Godes saga”</em> Följande frågor fokuseras:</p><ul><li>Hur ser det rituella gästabudet ut i Snorres text?</li><li>Vilka var det som agerade i den fornskandinaviska kulten och varför?</li><li>Vad säger källorna om rituella gästabud och kultfunktionärer?</li><li>Speglar texten autentiska traditioner?</li></ul>