The Life and Afterlife of the Vikings

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• engage with a range of approaches drawn from different disciplines
• perform more advanced bibliographic searches

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• scholarly models of Viking expansion and activity
• the potential and problems of archaeological, historical and literary sources
• how identities are constructed historically

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• sustain an argument and explain your ideas in written work
• evaluate the contribution of different kinds of data to a single topic
• show an increasing level of confidence in discussion and debate

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• determine the importance or otherwise of key developments in thinking about the nature of Vikings in medieval society
• analyse conflicting views
• critically examine the presentation of the Vikings in medieval sources and modern writing

This module specifically combines written and material evidence to examine Viking-age society. It will familiarise you with the broad categories of evidence (e.g. archaeological sites and artefacts, the saga tradition, categories of historical writing). It will focus on particular aspects of Viking culture, including social structure (power and givernance, class, gender, slavery), the diaspora (seafaring, migration and settlement, trade and exchange), belief and Christianisation, and subsequent perceptions of the Vikings and the formation of the Viking ‘myth’.

The module will be team-taught by members of the Faculty of Humanities through a combination of lectures and seminars. Learning activities will include independent study of the course material, oral presentations and small group work as appropriate.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Source commentaries

• Assessment Type: Formative
• Feedback: Written and/or verbal feedback.
• Final Assessment: No
• Group Work: No

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.