Alternately, in ancient (Pagan/Pre-Islamic) times, sale and purchase of human slaves was a socially legal exercise. Published January 16, 2018. Viking economies and the Great Army: Interpreting the precious metal finds from Torksey, Lincolnshire . Viking raiders captured slaves all over Europe, and those slaves included many women - indeed, may have been predominantly female.3 As in all slaveholding societies male slaveholders had sexual access to We focus primarily on the normative practices of polygyny and concubinage, which have been shown by anthropological studies to legitimize behaviours that reinforce male power. They could be captured during raids, purchased – it is likely that slaves taken during battle by warring Irish tribes were sold on to the Vikings in Dublin, and certain crimes could be punished by slavery. Peter G. Foote and David M. Wilson. 18. publisher = "Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study", Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age. e Viking-Age . By Wyatt Redd. gender in Viking-Age Scandinavia. Similarly, leprosy is believed to have spread to Scandinavia during the Viking Age via the slave trade. Viking Sex Slaves – The Dirty Secret Behind The Founding Of Iceland. Given the genetics of Iceland and the nature of the people who settled it, it’s possible that a large percentage of the first women on Iceland were taken there as slaves. The concubine was never eligible to become her lover's wife due to this difference in social class, and thus was tolerated by the man's wife, since a concubine could be no threat to the wife's position (Ruth M. Karras, "Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age," Scandinavian Studies. We focus primarily on the normative practices of polygyny and concubinage, which have been shown by anthropological studies to legitimize behaviours that reinforce male power. ... each provided with two slave girls (Mon tgomery 2015, 253). suggest that both polygyny and concubinage were practised by Viking-Age . Slavery in the Viking Age was a common practice throughout Scandinavia and the Scandinavian diaspora with the use of slaves socially, culturally, and economically, depending on the region in which they existed. Silver hoarding on Bornholm and Gotland: Hoards as windows onto Viking-Age life . Vikings in the Middle Ages used the Baltic and Norwegian Seas for sea routes to the south. Our survey found that many of these behaviours might have been prevalent among Viking-Age … Our survey found that many of these behaviours might have been prevalent among Viking-Age … Viking Sex Slaves – The Dirty Secret Behind The Founding Of Iceland. Found on the island of Saaremaa in the town of Salme, the two war boats served as graves for 40 men. They could be captured during raids, purchased – it is likely that slaves taken during battle by warring Irish tribes were sold on to the Vikings in Dublin, and certain crimes could be punished by slavery. Concubinage was practiced in elite Rajput households between 16th and 20th centuries. Mar 18, 2013 - An online resource for historians bringing rare British and world history sources to the desktops of academics, librarians, teachers and students Slave trading also existed before the Viking period, but with the numerous territories that the Vikings conquered and their extensive trading networks, slavery could now operate within a system and bring them great wealth. SLAVERY IN THE VIKING AGE. Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age . “Slavery studies in the Viking Age have been attracting more … We focus primarily on the normative practices of polygyny and concubinage, which have been shown by anthropological studies to legitimize behaviours that reinforce male power. @article{8b9994bccac446339948da3754ff3f76. A 14th-century poem—the original likely dates from the end of the Viking era—gives an idea of how Vikings saw their slaves. Scandinavian elites. Brink S. Slavery in the Viking Age . Buy this book today! Karras, Ruth M. Slavery and Society in Medieval Scandinavia. Introduction: Viking women are commonly portrayed in the media as strong warriors in their own right. Our survey found that many of these behaviours might have been prevalent among Viking-Age societies. Slavery in the Viking Age was a common practice throughout Scandinavia and the Scandinavian diaspora with the use of slaves socially, culturally, and economically, depending on the region in which they existed. Their different functions and roles—such as This article proposes that in the Viking Age concubinage and slavery were intimately and intricately connected. Brink, S 2008, Slavery in the Viking Age. ‘Polygyny, concubinage and the social life of women in Viking-Age Scandinavia’, Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, 13, 165-209. One of the skulls lies at the foot end at the left of the picture. Brink S. Slavery in the Viking Age . Stay safe and healthy. e Viking-Age . Our survey found that many of these behaviours might have been prevalent among Viking-Age societies. You are currently offline. Viking homes were stranger than fiction: portals to the dead, magical artefacts and ‘slaves’ March 13, 2019 11.26am EDT Marianne Hem Eriksen , University of Cambridge Viking men were very sensitive and insecure about their private parts. Material reflections of Viking-Age slavery are meager but significant. 49-56. The Viking Achievement. This indicates that these women were most likely slaves captured by the Vikings. Vikings travelled far out of Scandinavia, west as far as present day Canada and east through Russia to Constantinople. Slavery in the Viking Age was a common practice throughout Scandinavia and the Scandinavian diaspora with the use of slaves socially, culturally, and economically, depending on the region in which they existed. Slavery in the Viking Age Slaves were one of the important commodities that were traded by the Vikings. The right to divorce was one of them. Primarily, non-Muslim women taken as prisoners of war were made concubines as happened after the Battle of Bani Qariza. On top of this, a strapped gown or overdress was worn, made of a rectangular piece of usually wool which was wr… Viking Slave Trade. It is suggested here that ‘liminal' depositions in Viking Age Scandinavia provide an interpretative model for these finds. Captured in war. 62, pp. 1988. Kershaw, J. in press. Before the advent of Christianity throughout Scandinavia and Viking territories around 1000 CE, concubinage (often connected to slavery), and plural marriages occurred at least among the royals. 62 [1990]: pp. in S Brink & N Price (eds), The Viking World. ... each provided with two slave girls (Mon tgomery 2015, 253). Their children of the slaves could not rid of being a slave just like their parents. It followed the Migration Period and the Germanic Iron Age. Ben Raffield, Neil Price, Mark Collard, Male-biased operational sex ratios and the Viking phenomenon: an evolutionary anthropological perspective on Late Iron Age Scandinavian raiding, Evolution and Human Behavior, 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.10.013, 38, 3, (315-324), (2017). In recent years scholars have pointed out that the terminology for slaves, and the attitudes towards unfree labourers, found in Icelandic Sagas, on rune stones or in law codes, actually reflect a … Ruth Mazo Karras’ article, "Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age” was written in 1990. Markey, T.L. By continuing you agree to the use of cookies. ... Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age. 2017 (English) In: Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, ISSN 1782-7183, E-ISSN 2030-9902, Vol. Scandinavian Studies, 62: 141–62. The entry into concubinage was marked by a ritual; however, this ritual differentiated from rituals marking marriage. Slaves, known as thralls in the Viking world, were used for labour and also as a currency to pay off debts. See also Ruth Mazo Karras, “Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age,” Scandinavian Studies, 62 (1990) 141-162. Sørenson, Preben M. title = "Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age". Found on the island of Saaremaa in the town of Salme, the two war boats served as graves for 40 men. In one, 33 men were stacked atop one another and covered with wooden shields. Elina Screen. The Routledge Worlds, Routledge, Abingdon, United Kingdom, pp. “Slavery studies in the Viking Age have been attracting more … Concubinage (/ k ə n ˈ k juː b ɪ n ɪ dʒ / kəng-KYOO-bih-nij) is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want to or cannot enter into a full marriage. 13, p. 165-209 Article in journal (Refereed) Published Abstract [en] In this paper we utilize evolutionary theory, anthropological data, and historical sources to explore how marriage practices shaped social behaviours and attitudes towards gender in Viking-Age Scandinavia. 2017 (English) In: Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, ISSN 1782-7183, E-ISSN 2030-9902, Vol. / Karras, Ruth M. T1 - Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age, Powered by Pure, Scopus & Elsevier Fingerprint Engine™ © 2021 Elsevier B.V, "We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. Raffield, B., Price, N. & Collard, M. 2017. 14. These women were called frillur (sing. The Routledge Worlds, Routledge, Abingdon, United Kingdom, pp. "Nordic Níðvisur: an Instance of Ritual Inversion?" Scandinavian Studies 62 (1990): 141-162. Kershaw, J. in press. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. Press. The Viking Slaves might be traded for money or products. An example of this would be America Ferrera’s Astrid in the film How to Train Your Dragon, who is initially the most promising student in dragon The end of the Viking economy Ways to Become a Viking Slave. 75-85. Raffield, B., Price, N. & Collard, M. 2017. 13, p. 165-209 Article in journal (Refereed) Published Abstract [en] In this paper we utilize evolutionary theory, anthropological data, and historical sources to explore how marriage practices shaped social behaviours and attitudes towards gender in Viking-Age Scandinavia. 49-56. We focus primarily on the normative practices of polygyny and concubinage, which have been shown by anthropological studies to legitimize behaviours that reinforce male power. polygyny, concubinage, and the social lives of women 169 Marriage Practices and Sexual Relationships in Viking-Age Scandinavia During the Viking Age in Scandinavia, both marriage unions and more informal relationships represented a means by which family structures, identities, and both social and political hierarchies were formed and adapted. See also Eric Oxenstierna. Gitte Tarnow Ingvardson. Wives in Old Icelandic society were usually of the same economic and social rank as their husbands, but they were not the only women in their husbands’ lives….In the earliest period after the settlement, many married men, whether farmers or chieftains, kept slave women as concubines. A Viking woman (Image: lifeinnorway.net) Contrary to the popular belief, Viking women had a lot of rights compared to women in the rest of Medieval Europe. London: Sidgewick & Jackson. However, on embracing Islam, it was encouraged to free slave women or bring them into formal marriage. In one historical account of Viking-era slavery, an early-medieval Irish chronicle known as The Annals of Ulster, described a Viking raid near Dublin in A.D. 821, in which “they carried off a great number of women into captivity.” This is one of numerous written sources referring to slavery in the Viking world, which include historical chronicles produced within northern … Karras, RM 1990, ' Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age ', Scandinavian Studies, vol. Filling a gap in the literature for an academically oriented volume on the Viking period, this unique book is a one-stop authoritative introduction to all the latest research in the field. Our survey found that many of these behaviours might have been prevalent among Viking-Age societies. Semantic Scholar is a free, AI-powered research tool for scientific literature, based at the Allen Institute for AI. Brink, S 2008, Slavery in the Viking Age. Among their names were Bastard, Sluggard, Stumpy, Stinker, and Lout. Vikings abused and beheaded their slaves. Some were part of a rich upper class, such as the lady – perhaps a queen – who was buried in the ostentatious Oseberg ship… ‘Male-biased operational sex ratios and the Viking phenomenon: an evolutionary anthropological perspective on late Iron Age Scandinavian raiding’, Evolution and Human Behavior , 38 (3), 315-24. 1st edition (2005) translated as Sexualität im Mittelalter, trans. No modern and serious discussion of slavery in prehistoric Scandinavia has, however, seen the light so far. Bond servants (bondi) could pay off their owner if they could raise enough money. Some features of the site may not work correctly. The place of slavery in Viking culture isn’t something that always gets referenced in popular history, so I asked Professor Price why that was when I interviewed him for the HistoryExtra podcast. Among their names were Bastard, Sluggard, Stumpy, Stinker, and Lout. As far as the accounts retold, there were three main ways for a person to become a Viking slave: Born as a slave. … One could be termed a fostne, which indicated that you were a hereditary fostered slave. Women could legally divorce men who didn’t satisfy them, and men suffering from impotence or small penis sizes were often ridiculed. Updated December 18, 2018. ‘Polygyny, concubinage and the social life of women in Viking-Age Scandinavia’, Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, 13, 165-209. The place of slavery in Viking culture isn’t something that always gets referenced in popular history, so I asked Professor Price why that was when I interviewed him for the HistoryExtra podcast. It contained skeletons of two persons who had been decapitated. An example of this would be America Ferrera’s Astrid in the film How to Train Your Dragon, who is initially the most promising student in dragon Introduction: Viking women are commonly portrayed in the media as strong warriors in their own right. Given the genetics of Iceland and the nature of the people who settled it, it’s possible that a large percentage of the first women on Iceland were taken there as slaves. Although women in the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE) lived in a male-dominated society, far from being powerless, they ran farms and households, were responsible for textile production, moved away from Scandinavia to help settle Viking territories abroad stretching from Greenland, Iceland, and the British Isles to Russia, and were perhaps even involved in trade in the sparse urban centres. But who were their slaves and what can we learn from the archaeological findings? Although women in the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE) lived in a male-dominated society, far from being powerless, they ran farms and households, were responsible for textile production, moved away from Scandinavia to help settle Viking territories abroad stretching from Greenland, Iceland, and the British Isles to Russia, and were perhaps even involved in trade in the sparse urban centres. We focus primarily on the normative practices of polygyny and concubinage, which have been shown by anthropological studies to legitimize behaviours that reinforce male power. A 14th-century poem—the original likely dates from the end of the Viking era—gives an idea of how Vikings saw their slaves. Check out our resources for adapting to these times. Viking Slave Trade. Published January 16, 2018. in S Brink & N Price (eds), The Viking World. This article proposes that in the Viking Age concubinage and slavery were intimately and intricately connected. Karras, Ruth M. "Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age," Scandinavian Studies. Viking raiders captured slaves all over Europe, and those slaves included many women indeed, may have been predominantly female.3 As in all slaveholding societies male slaveholders had sexual access to their slaves, and they often purchased women for that purpose alone. From the 9th to the 12th century Viking/Norse-Gael Dublin in particular was a major slave trading center which led to an increase in slavery. Jesch 1991Jesch , 2015.In our paper we will discuss a number of sagas, of differing date and provenance but all of course from the centuries after the Viking Age. In Scandinavian history, the period from the late eighth century until the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 is known as the Viking Age. 141-162. 1970. Female slave-servants or slave-performers could be elevated to the rank of concubine (called khavas, pavas) if a ruler found them attractive. There was a huge demand for slaves around the world. Karras RM. gender in Viking-Age Scandinavia. ‘A River of Knives and Swords': Ritually Deposited Weapons in English Watercourses and Wetlands during the Viking Age - Volume 17 Issue 4 - Ben Raffield. The term that Vikings used for slavery was generally ánauð, and a slave was referred to as a þral or thrall. Our survey found that many of these behaviours might have been prevalent among Viking-Age societies. Please wash your hands and practise social distancing. Slavery was an integral part of Viking culture, as attested by a variety of contemporary sources such as the observations of the tenth-century Arab envoy Ahmad Ibn Fadlān, which describe the capture, trafficking, sexual exploitation, and employment of slaves amongst Scandinavian societies, including their role in ritual and their treatment after death. Posted on January 25, 2011 by michaelngorman | Leave a comment. 17. Coins as an indicator of communications between the British Isles and Scandinavia in the Viking Age . In one, 33 men were stacked atop one another and covered with wooden shields. Concubinage and Slavery in Early Ireland. For example, a woman who stole could be punished by being forced to become her victim’s slave. 141-162. Slavery in the Viking Age Slaves were one of the important commodities that were traded by the Vikings. 141-162. In Viking-Age Scandinavia this responsibility of the wife meant much more than it would today; in fact, many women held a key position: 8 Birgit Sawyer: Scandinavia in the Viking Age While women may not have had power over people like men, we must be allowed to assume that in the domestic sphere women had power to make decisions of far-reaching consequences to the entire household. Updated December 18, 2018. For example, one of the leading explorers of Viking-Age women's lives, Judith Jesch, has made extensive use of the sagas and developed effective approaches for doing so (e.g. See also Ruth Mazo Karras, “Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age,” Scandinavian Studies, 62 (1990) 141-162. Nevertheless it is possible to step aside from the modern definitions of marriage and legitimacy and to look behind the documentary remnants of pagan times as recorded by Christians…, The history of marriage and the myth of Friedelehe, Before They Were Vikings: Scandinavia and the Franks up to the death of Louis the Pious, The Church, intensive kinship, and global psychological variation, The slave markets of the Viking world: comparative perspectives on an ‘invisible archaeology’, ‘A River of Knives and Swords’: Ritually Deposited Weapons in English Watercourses and Wetlands during the Viking Age, Male-biased operational sex ratios and the Viking phenomenon: an evolutionary anthropological perspective on Late Iron Age Scandinavian raiding, The study of slavery in the early and central middle ages: Old problems and new approaches, By clicking accept or continuing to use the site, you agree to the terms outlined in our. Scandinavian elites. frilla). We focus primarily on the normative practices of polygyny and concubinage, which have been shown by anthropological studies to legitimize behaviours that reinforce male power. The definition of slavery during the long Scandinavian Viking Age (AD c.750–1100) is far from simple. Evidence as to what constituted marriage in pre-Christian Scandinavia has also been shaped by the Church, in that the surviving material was committed to writing only after the advent of Christianity brought literacy. Courtesy of burials and their accompanying grave goods, we know that most women seem to have worn outfits comprised of two or three layers, the first of which being a linen or woollen sleeved shift or underdress fastened at the neck with a small disc brooch and sometimes pleated there, too. Even less pleasantly, groups of northmen were not averse to raiding within their own country, they would often sell fellow Norse folk into slavery. Scandinavian Studies, 62: 141–62. The Viking Age. Many of these slaves came from the British Isles and Eastern Europe. By Stefan Brink. Buy this book today! in Studies in Medieval Culture 10 (1977) pp. The Viking Age (793–1066 AD) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest and trading throughout Europe, and reached North America. Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age. Sexuality in Medieval Europe:  Doing Unto Others, third edition (Routledge 2017). notions of what constitutes valid marriage have been shaped by the teaching of the medieval Church. Their different functions and roles—such as By Wyatt Redd. The Viking Age started in the late 700s and lasted until the year 1050. ... Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age. Karras, Ruth M. "Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age." Concubinage was an accepted feature of family life, and even the advent of Christianity did not break down the institution. suggest that both polygyny and concubinage were practised by Viking-Age . 19. 62 [1990]: pp. One of the less cloudy areas when it comes to the lives of women in the Viking Age is their clothing and jewellery. Ann Arbor: Yale Univ. Ruth Mazo Karras’ article, "Concubinage and Slavery in the Viking Age” was written in 1990. This double grave from the Viking era at Grimsta in south-eastern Sweden was exhumed in 1974. The use of cookies Viking era at Grimsta in south-eastern Sweden was exhumed in 1974 slaves – the Secret! Period and the social life of women in the Viking era—gives an idea how... Written in 1990 ( Pagan/Pre-Islamic ) times, sale and purchase of human slaves was a socially legal exercise shaped... Has, however, this ritual differentiated from rituals marking marriage Slavery were intimately and connected! 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