Eastern Way II - Gods and Kings
- 2 minsEastern Way II - Gods and Kings
In this episode we explore the mythical history of the Svear, as it is related to us by the ever-entertaining Snorri Sturluson. Along the way we discuss Divine Kings, Deadly Vats of Meads and even a Half-Giant-Magical-Oxen-Son plough-team. Believe it or not, these fantastical, fictional tales lead us to some rather more concrete evidence about life and politics in the land of the Svear in the years leading up to the Viking Age.
I hope you enjoy.
Map!
Sources
General
In Austrvegr: The Role of the Eastern Baltic in Viking Age Communication across the Baltic Sea by Marika Mägi
The Emergence of Rus 750 - 1200 by Simon Franklin and Jonathan Shepard
The Age of the Vikings by Anders Winroth
The Baltic Region, Russia, Byzantium and the Caliphate in The Vikings by Else Roesdahl. Translated by Kristen Williams and Susan Margeson
Chapter 6 - Across the Baltic in The Vikings: A history by Robert Ferguson
Part V: The Vikings in the East in The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood
Scandinavians in European Russia by Thomas S. Noonan in The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings edited by Peter Sawyer
The Viking Age in Finland by Torsten Edgren in The Viking World edited by Stefan Brink in collaboration with Neil Price
The Vikings and the Eastern Baltic by Heiki Valk in The Viking World edited by Stefan Brink in collaboration with Neil Price
The Viking Rus and Byzantium by Jonathan Shepard in The Viking World edited by Stefan Brink in collaboration with Neil Price
An Arena for Higher Powers: Ceremonial Buildings and Religious Strategies for Rulership in Late Iron Age Scandinavia by Olof Sundqvist
Ancient Scandinavia by T. Douglas Price
Swedish Geography and Terminology
Provinces of Sweden - Wikipedia
Mälaren - Wikipedia
The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood
History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen by Adam of Bremen. Translated by Francis Joseph Tschan and Timothy Reuter
Mead-halls of the Ancient Geats: Elite Settlements and Political Geography AD 375-1000 in Östergötland, Sweden. by Martin Rundkvist
Ynglinga Saga
Heimskringla I translated by Anthony Faulkes and Alison Finley.
Prose Edda translated by Jesse Byock
The notes and introductions in these editions as well as several chapters of An Arena for Higher Powers (referenced above) were important to this analysis.
Gamla Uppsala
Dating Two Royal Mounds of Old Uppsala by John Ljungkvist
Gamla Uppsala – the emergence of a centre and a magnate complex by John Ljungkvist and Per Frölund
Gamla Uppsala — Structural Development of a Centre in Middle Sweden by John Ljungkvist, Per Frölund · Hans Götheberg and Daniel Löwenborg
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