Remembered Remedies from England? An Early Veterinary Charm at St. Gall

Among the folios of a ninth-century miscellany held by the Abbey Library of St. Gall in present-day Switzerland (Cod. Sang. 732), a series of local annals known as the Annales Sangallenses breves (ASb) is accompanied by an anomalous formula, featuring in the space of four empty entries for the years 838–41: Vnion genip[ro]n genitul catulon contristuan feruan nain nati feruna neq[ue] sonus maris ia[m] non me tin pe.1 Added in a separate hand and ostensibly indifferent to the surrounding annalistic account, this largely unintelligible sentence comprises various enigmatic Latin(-sounding) elements, arranged in patterns of assonance, alliteration, and rhyme. For all intents and purposes, the passage appears performative in nature..

Hostile in Tent: Reconsidering the Roles of Viking Encampment across the Frankish Realm

When considering the establishment of overseas viking encampments, some of the most detailed and vivid contemporary descriptions of this activity originate from the Frankish realm, a region which nevertheless remains precariously positioned in wider comparative investigations of the viking world. To address this imbalance, this chapter assembles and reassesses the extant evidence for these camps across this expansive territory, whilst providing a distinct, continental perspective on their establishment, operational parameters, and overall strategic significance. In doing so, it affirms that these encampments would have represented much more than mere ramparts for vikings to bide their time behind, as they offered opportunities to regroup, recuperate, and perform repairs; to build up rations and other reserves; to conduct reconnaissance; and to engage in commerce and craft production. By and large, they would have been carefully planned and highly organised spaces, whose continued operation would have revolved around the collective, coordinated efforts and expertise of their occupants. All things considered, the available evidence alludes to a highly intricate and dynamic landscape of regional viking encampment, which would have played a principal part in keeping the viking phenomenon afloat and afoot across the Frankish realm

The Controlled Decline of Viking-Ruled Dorestad

The emporium of Dorestad rose to prominence as a primary hub for goods arriving from the Rhenish heartlands during the eighth and early ninth centuries. Enticed by its growing wealth and prestige, Viking raiders sacked the settlement multiple times during the 830s and subsequent decades before politically attaching themselves to the rulers of the divided Carolingian kingdoms. Scandinavian hostility has mainly, sometimes exclusively, been blamed for the gradual economic downturn and eventual disappearance of Dorestad towards the turn of the century. Reconsidering the dominant hypotheses on the economic decline of ninth-century Dorestad, this paper proposes an alternative interpretation of the evidence, which places these events within a larger Frankish design to actively retain control of commercial interests throughout the region, utilising the newly established Scandinavian benefice to secure upstream centres of political, commercial, and ecclesiastical power

Traversing the Inner Seas: Contacts and Continuity in and around Scotland, the Hebrides, and the North of Ireland

Throughout the medieval period, the ‘Inner Seas’ linking Scotland, the Hebrides, and the north of Ireland represented a confluence and crucible of identity. The region’s myriad islands served as stepping stones in a maritime network across which people, property, and perceptions travelled freely and purposefully. Encompassing three main themes, ten authors, and a multitude of interdisciplinary insights, this peer-reviewed volume represents some of the foremost research from the most recent residential conferences of the Scottish Society for Northern Studies, exploring the turbulent history and legacy of this interconnected seascape as both centre and periphery

Viking-Age Slavery (ed. M. Toplak, H. Østhus, and R. Simek), 2021

Review of Matthias Toplak, Hanne Østhus, and Rudolf Simek (eds), Viking-Age Slavery. Vienna: Fassbaender, 2021. 226pp. ISBN 9783902575951

An Adversary for the Ages: The Late Medieval Historiography of Viking Endeavour across the Low Countries. A Preliminary Survey

Throughout the ninth and early tenth centuries, the maritime and riverine landscapes of northwestern Francia had been subject to recurrent acts of viking aggression. Resonating in the minds of many consecutive Netherlandish authors, these agents continued to feature in an extensive regional corpus of late medieval historiography. Whilst many chroniclers were notably faithful to their diverse source material in recounting these early medieval events, others deliberately embellished or otherwise fictionalised vikings as abstract and anachronistic antagonists. By highlighting its sociopolitical context, authorial intent, and assorted textual influences, this preliminary study explores the historiographical depiction of the viking phenomenon as an ongoing narrative theme across the late medieval Low Countries

Down by the River: Exploring the Logistics of Viking Encampment across Atlantic Europe

Like any other medieval mariner, itinerant viking hosts would regularly have made their way ashore to regroup and reinforce their constituent craft and crews. Accordingly, historical and archaeological records from across Atlantic Europe attest to various waterside encampments having been established during overseas viking campaigns. The everyday practical operation of these camps remains largely underexplored, however, maintaining long-standing impressions that these were relatively dormant hideouts, principally used to intersperse bouts of conflict or to wait out the winter. Bringing together the interdisciplinary evidence for viking encampment from Ireland, England, and the Frankish realm, this study provides a more pronounced picture of the overall logistics involved in establishing and maintaining sites like these. Focusing on the themes of sustenance, security, industry, and commerce, it affirms that the encampments played host to an intricate, adaptive system of logistical (inter)relationships, which contributed to the overall sustainability of the earlyviking phenomenon.</jats:p

Annales Fontanellenses

The ninth-century Annales Fontanellenses are a concise set of monastic annals composed by the community of St Wandrille, situated along the lower reaches of the river Seine. Covering the 840s and 850s, their contents are concerned with a relatively brief but highly tumultuous period in the history of the Frankish realm, representing an eclectic range of reports on meteorological phenomena, politico-military proceedings, and the movements of viking hosts across the western Frankish kingdom. Considering the composition and content of the annals in their institutional and historiographical context, the present work furnishes the first annotated English translation of this often-overlooked text