Ideology and Power in the Viking and Middle Ages

This volume is the result of an interdisciplinary research project carried out at the Centre for Advanced Study in Oslo, Norway, on ideological aspects of rulership in the Nordic countries (broadly defined as Scandinavia, Iceland, the Atlantic Islands including the Orkneys and the Faeros, and Ireland) during the Viking and early Middle Ages. The main hypothesis of the research project, that important elements of the pre-Christian ideology of rulership survived into the early Middle Ages in transformed or simply transferred manner, has been strengthened by the research, according to the editors (of the U. of Oslo, Norway, and Humboldt U., Germany). Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Gro Steinsland, Dr. philos. (1989), Professor of History of Religion at the University of Oslo, Scientific Director at Centre for Advanced Study (CAS), Oslo. She has published extensively on Norse Pre-Christian and Medieval Religion and Culture.Jon Viear Siguresson is Professor of History at the University of Oslo. He has published extensively on Norse-Icelandic political culture, including Chieftains and Power in the Icelandic Commonwealth (1999), Fra hovdingmakt til konge- og kyrkjemakt (1999), Kristninga i Norden 750-1200 (2003), Det norrone samfunnet (2008) and Den vennlige vikingen (2010).Jan Erik Rekdal, Dr. philos., Professor of Celtic at the University of Oslo. He has published on Irish narrative traditions and Norse-Irish cultural contact and exchange, including "Interaction of Pagan and Christian traditions" in Mediaeval Irish narratives (1990) and Vikings and Saints: Encounters Vestan um Haf (2004).Ian Beuermann, Dr. art. University of Oslo (2007), Teaching Fellow Scandinavian Viking and Medieval History, Humboldt University Berlin. He has published on Norse-British-Irish political, ecclesiastical and cultural connections in the Viking and Middle Ages, most recently Norgesveldet South of Cape Wrath? (2010).