Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Northern Routes to Kingship: A History of Scandinavia AD 180-550

The Northern Routes to Kingship: A History of Scandinavia AD 180-550

Skre, Dagfinn

Hardcover

ArchaeologyGeneral World HistoryScandinavian History

Currently unavailable to order

ISBN10: 1138831379
ISBN13: 9781138831377
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Jan 31 2025
Pages: 694
Language: English

This book argues that tribal Scandinavia was set on the route to kingship by the arrival in the AD 180s-90s of warrior groups that were dismissed from the Roman army after defeating the Marcomanni by the Danube.

Using a range of evidence, this book details how well-equipped and battle-seasoned warriors, familiar with Roman institutions and practices, seized land and established lordly centres. It shows how these new lords acquired wealth by stimulating the production of commodities for trade with peers and Continental associates, Romans included, to reward retainers and bestow on partners. In these transcultural circumstances, lords and their retainers nurtured artisanal production of exquisite quality and developed a heroic ethos and refined hall etiquette. The topic of warfare, created by the volatile politics of lordly cooperation and competition, is also explored. Venturing substantially beyond the usual scope of syntheses of this period, this book looks at how the break-up of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of 'Great tribes' such as the Franks and Goths influenced lords and tribal leaders across Scandinavia to form kingdoms, emulating what they for centuries had considered the superior polity, the Roman Empire.

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