The Vikings Reimagined: Reception, Recovery, Engagement

According to Spray, the specific jokes and parodies of the sagas as a genre can offer a thermometer of academic and social attitudes to the times in which these works were created. Despite growing public awareness of what historically accurate Vikings looked like, Norsemen in branding most often app...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScandinavian Studies Vol. 93; no. 1; pp. 141 - 145
Main Author Mueller-Vollmer, Tristan
Format Book Review Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Champaign University of Illinois Press 22.03.2021
Subjects
19th century
Attitudes
Childrens picture books
Computer & video games
Cultural heritage
Gender
Hemingway, Ernest (1899-1961)
Humor
Immigrants
Melville, Herman (1819-1891)
Novels
Reviews
Social factors
Stereotypes
Theater
Tourism
Vikings
Poland
Beijing China
Ireland
China
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Summary:According to Spray, the specific jokes and parodies of the sagas as a genre can offer a thermometer of academic and social attitudes to the times in which these works were created. Despite growing public awareness of what historically accurate Vikings looked like, Norsemen in branding most often appear as the Victorian stereotypes with long blond beards, clad in furs, and the notorious horned helmet, which indicates that the pop culture Viking can co-exist in the public's mind with the historical Viking. While some attractions such as Dublinia and re-enactment groups such as Fingal Living History focus on educating visitors on historicity of the Norse settlements in Ireland, events such as the 2008 Waterford Viking Marathon continue to cater to the image of "big hairy" Vikings in popular culture to convey the idea of strength, endurance, and readiness for action. [...]Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough discusses the use ofVikings as a means for identity building for Scandinavian immigrant populations in the United States.
ISSN:0036-5637
2163-8195
DOI:10.3368/SCA.93.1.0141