Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia: An Interdisciplinary Study of Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period

Solveig Marie Wang

book: Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia

Open Access Published by De Gruyter 2023

Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia

An Interdisciplinary Study of Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period

Solveig Marie Wang

Volume 5 in the series Religious Minorities in the North

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110784305

Overview
Contents

About this book

Open Access

The interdisciplinary study investigates the relationship between Norse and Saami peoples in the medieval period and focuses on the multifaceted portrayal of Saami peoples in medieval texts. The investigative analysis is anchored in postcolonial methodologies and argues for the inherent need to decolonise the medieval source-material as well as recent historiography. This is achieved by presenting the historiographic and political background of research into Norse-Saami relations, before introducing an overview of textual sources discussing Saami peoples from the classical period to the late 1400s, an analysis of the textual motifs associated with the Saami in medieval literature (their relevance and prevalence), geo-political affairs, trading relations, personal relations and Saami presence in the south. By using decolonising tools to read Norse-Saami relations in medieval texts, influenced by archaeological material and postcolonial frameworks, the study challenges lingering colonial assumptions about the role of the Saami in Norse society. The current research episteme is re-adjusted to offer alternative readings of Saami characters and emphasis is put on agency, fluidity and the dynamic realities of the Saami medieval pasts.

Author / Editor information

Solveig Wang, University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
List of Abbreviations Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	XVII
Conventions Publicly Available Download PDF	XIX
Chapter 1: Introduction Open Access Download PDF	1
Chapter 2: Classical and Medieval Written Sources on the Saami Open Access Download PDF	34
Chapter 3: The Saami Motif-Cluster Open Access Download PDF	73
Chapter 4: Northern Fennoscandian Politics and Spatial Belonging Open Access Download PDF	119
Chapter 5: The Saami Trade Open Access Download PDF	151
Chapter 6: Liminal Identities and Fluid Spaces? Norse-Saami Personal Relationships Open Access Download PDF	178
Chapter 7: Saami in the South: Sources and Societies Open Access Download PDF	212
Reassessing Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period: Conclusion Open Access Download PDF	247
List of References Open Access Download PDF	253
Index Open Access Download PDF	273

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Historians, medievalists, sholars of Postcolonial studies, literary scholars of Northern Literature
Pages
- Front matter: 18
- Main content: 278
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 3
- Coloured Illustrations: 4
- Maps: 0
- Coloured Maps: 0
Keywords: Saami; Scandinavia; Middle Ages; Northern Literature; postcolonialism

eBook

Published: March 20, 2023
ISBN: 9783110784305

Hardcover

Published: March 20, 2023
ISBN: 9783110784169