Written during the second half of the 12th century, the Historia Norwegie presents a lively and Christianised account of Norwegian history, particularly of the 10th century.

The fragmentary medieval chronicle,, is the oldest piece of historical writing from Norway, and probably our first specimen of Norwegian literature. It was composed in Latin in the second half of the twelfth century, perhaps in the Oslo area. Only the beginning of the work exists today, but it offers, among other things, a detailed report of a shamanic séance among the Sami as well as a unique early geographical description of Norway and the North Sea realm. Furthermore, we are presented with an early version of the Norwegian kings' genealogy, beginning with the mythical Yngling kings and ending, abruptly, with Olav Haraldsson's claim to the throne in 1015. This is the first critical edition of the Latin text since 1880, accompanied by a modern English translation by Peter Fisher. The introduction and full commentary in English take stock of previous scholarships and are new contributions to the interpretation of the text. The late Inger Ekrem (1938-2000) was working as a senior research fellow at the University of Oslo, Department of Classics. Her main publications belong within the field of 16th and 17th century Norwegian Latin literature. Lars Boje Mortensen, PhD, is a professor of Medieval Latin at the University of Bergen. He is the author of a book on the Lombard history of Paulus Diaconus, various editions and numerous articles on early and high medieval historiography and learning. Peter Fisher is a professor emeritus from Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge. He has published translations of Saxo Grammaticus' and Olaus Magnus'.

Surveying the past two decades of scholarship on the medieval historiography of Norway, this book provides a critical appraisal of the principal issues involved in the study of the primary sources and the key areas of scholarship and future research.

In Vox regis: Royal Communication in High Medieval Norway, David Brégaint examines how the Norwegian monarchy gradually managed to infiltrate Norwegian society through the development of a communicative system during the High Middle Ages, from c. 1150 to c. 1300. Drawing on sagas, didactic literature, charters, and laws, the book demonstrates how the Norwegian kings increasingly played a key -role in the promotion of royal ideology in society through rituals and the written word. In particular, the book stresses the interaction between secular and clerical culture, the role of the Church and of the Norwegian aristocracy

The emergence of a Norwegian medieval state had consequences beyond Norway. Inspired by transnational research on state formation, this book presents a comprehensive study of the political incorporation and subsequent judicial and administrative integration of Iceland, the Faroes, Shetland, and Orkney, into the Norwegian realm c. 1195-1397. Building on centuries-old cultural, economic, and political ties, the Norwegian crown established direct royal lordship over the former autonomous and semi-autonomous areas. Judicial unity, administrative development, and the king’s local representatives ensured that the tributary lands were comprised in the state-formation process. Although the political and administrative system allowed for local variation, the process led development in the direction of a unitary state, at least in judicial and administrative terms.

This book is the first of four planned volumes on the Norwegian realm and its dependencies in the central Middle Ages. As with future volumes, the underlying theme of this book is the transformation of Norway and parts of the Norse world into a monarchic state in the 12th and 13th centuries. The collection provides a presentation of the Norse world, the Norse community, the 'Norgesvelde' (the Norwegian domination), along with highlights of geographical, political, and cultural aspects. (Series: ROSTRA Books Trondheim Studies in History - No. 3)

In Iceland’s Relationship with Norway c.870 – c.1100: Memory, History and Identity, Ann-Marie Long reassesses the development of Icelandic society from the earliest settlements to the twelfth century. Through a series of thematic studies, the book discusses the place of Norway in Icelandic cultural memory and how Icelandic authors envisioned and reconstructed their past. It examines in particular how these authors instrumentalized Norway to explain the changing parameters of Icelandic autonomy. Over time this strategy evolved to meet the needs of thirteenth-century Icelandic politics as well as the demands posed by the transition from autonomous island to Norwegian dependency.

The twenty-eight essays in this Handbook represent the best of current thinking in the study of Latin language and literature in the Middle Ages. The insights offered by the collective of authors not only illuminate the field of medieval Latin literature but shed new light on broader questions of literary history, cultural interaction, world literature, and language in history and society. The contributors to this volume--a collection of both senior scholars and gifted young thinkers--vividly illustrate the field's complexities on a wide range of topics through carefully chosen examples and challenges to settled answers of the past. At the same time, they suggest future possibilities for the necessarily provisional and open-ended work essential to the pursuit of medieval Latin studies. While advanced specialists will find much here to engage and at times to provoke them, this handbook successfully orients non-specialists and students to this thriving field of study. The overall approach of The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Latin Literature makes this volume an essential resource for students of the ancient world interested in the prolonged after-life of the classical period's cultural complexes, for medieval historians, for scholars of other medieval literary traditions, and for all those interested in delving more deeply into the fascinating more-than-millennium that forms the bridge between the ancient Mediterranean world and what we consider modernity.

What did kingship mean to medieval Europeans - especially to those who did not wear a crown? From the training of heirs, to the deathbed of kings and the choosing of their successors, this engaging study explores how a ruler's subjects shaped both the idea and the reality of power.