The Vikings

Part I

Professor Kenneth W. Harl

THE TEACHING COMPANY ®

Kenneth W. Harl, Ph.D.

Professor of Classical and Byzantine History, Tulane University

Kenneth W. Harl is Professor of Classical and Byzantine History at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he has been teaching since 1978. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and went on to earn his Master’s and Ph.D. from Yale University.

Dr. Harl specializes in the Mediterranean civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium and in the ancient Near East. He has published numerous articles and is the author of Civic Coins and Civic Politics of the Roman East, A.D. 180–275 and Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to 700 A.D. He is a scholar on ancient coins and the archaeology of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). He has served on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Archaeology and is currently is on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Numismatics.

Professor Harl’s skill and dedication as an instructor are attested by his many teaching awards. He has earned Tulane’s annual Student Award in Excellence nine times. He is also the recipient of Baylor University’s nationwide Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers.

©2005 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership

i

	Table of Contents
	The Vikings
	Part I
Professor Biography	............................................................................................	i
Course Scope.......................................................................................................		1
Lecture One ..............................	The Vikings in Medieval History	2
Lecture Two ................	Land and People of Medieval Scandinavia	5
Lecture Three ...................	Scandinavian Society in the Bronze Age	8
Lecture Four .............	Scandinavia in the Celtic and Roman Ages	11
Lecture Five ............................................	The Age of Migrations	14
Lecture Six .......................................................	The Norse Gods	17
Lecture Seven ................................	Runes, Poetry, and Visual Arts	20
Lecture Eight ..................................	Legendary Kings and Heroes	23
Lecture Nine ..................................	A Revolution in Shipbuilding	26
Lecture Ten ...................	Warfare and Society in the Viking Age	29
Lecture Eleven ..........	Merchants and Commerce in the Viking Age	32
Lecture Twelve .............	Christendom on the Eve of the Viking Age	35
Timeline.............................................................................................................		38
Maps ..............................................................................................................		49
Glossary.....................................................................................................		Part III
Biographical Notes......................................................................................		Part II
Bibliography..............................................................................................		Part III

ii	©2005 The Teaching Company Limited Partnership