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Vikings and the Western Frontier

På svenska

Author

Editor

  • Lars Larsson
  • Fredrik Ekengren
  • Bertil Helgesson
  • Bengt Söderberg

Summary, in English

The article investigates how and why the Vikings became world-famous. The point of departure is the World Exposition in Chicago in 1893, where an icon for the Viking, a replica of the Gokstad ship, arrived the very same day as Frederick Jackson Turner presented his frontier thesis. The origin of the word Viking, the romantic revival of the Viking, the creation of the Viking Age and the criticism of the Viking and the Viking Age is discussed. Finally the article argues that the Viking and the American frontiersman represent similar characters. The concept of the Viking has spread worldwide as an expression of an ideology central to the West.

Publishing year

2015

Language

English

Pages

289-294

Publication/Series

Small Things – Wide Horizons : Studies in Honour of Birgitta Hårdh

Document type

Book chapter

Publisher

Archaeopress

Topic

  • History and Archaeology

Keywords

  • Vikings
  • Viking Age

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISBN: 978 1 78491 132 4
  • ISBN: 9781784911317