Examines the historical events in Europe A.D. 800 to A.D. 1100, and the resulting heroic legacy in medieval poetry and Icelandic sagas. The course focuses on such Viking Age figures as warriors, kings, poets, outlaws and adventurers; pre-Christian religion, the Viking raids and the Norse experience in "Vinland" carefully considered. Occasionally known as 'Sex and Violence in a Cold Climate', courses of this sort entail readings of many different kinds (literary, archaeological, historical, folkloric, sociological and so on). In addition to the assigned titles, we will access many such readings through JSTOR.

NOTE: Why you should NOT take this course! Or at least not during the spring term, because it is also offered as a Harvard Summer School Study Abroad program IN Scandinavia. In the summer version, Scan 150 is twinned with an archaeological field school. If you take the HSS version, you may use the courses to fulfill Gen Ed’s Study of the Past requirement, as well as either the Culture and Belief OR the Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding requirement. For more information, visit http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~samitch/Viking_Studies_Program or http://www.summer.harvard.edu/programs/study-abroad/scandinavia or speak with Steve Mitchell