1.

Record Nr.

UNISA996517771503316

Autore

Wang Solveig Marie

Titolo

Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia : An Interdisciplinary Study of Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period / / Solveig Marie Wang

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berlin ; ; Boston : , : De Gruyter, , [2023]

©2023

ISBN

9783110784305

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (XVIII, 278 p.)

Collana

Religious Minorities in the North : History, Politics, and Culture , , 2627-440X ; ; 5

Soggetti

HISTORY / Europe / Scandinavia

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Conventions -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Classical and Medieval Written Sources on the Saami -- Chapter 3: The Saami Motif-Cluster -- Chapter 4: Northern Fennoscandian Politics and Spatial Belonging -- Chapter 5: The Saami Trade -- Chapter 6: Liminal Identities and Fluid Spaces? Norse-Saami Personal Relationships -- Chapter 7: Saami in the South: Sources and Societies -- Reassessing Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period: Conclusion -- List of References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The interdisciplinary study investigates the relationship between Norse and Saami peoples in the medieval period and focuses on the multifaceted portrayal of Saami peoples in medieval texts. The investigative analysis is anchored in postcolonial methodologies and argues for the inherent need to decolonise the medieval source-material as well as recent historiography. This is achieved by presenting the historiographic and political background of research into Norse-Saami relations, before introducing an overview of textual sources discussing Saami peoples from the classical period to the late 1400s, an analysis of the textual motifs associated with the Saami in medieval literature (their relevance and prevalence), geo-political affairs, trading relations, personal relations and Saami presence in the south. By using decolonising tools to read Norse-Saami relations in



medieval texts, influenced by archaeological material and postcolonial frameworks, the study challenges lingering colonial assumptions about the role of the Saami in Norse society. The current research episteme is re-adjusted to offer alternative readings of Saami characters and emphasis is put on agency, fluidity and the dynamic realities of the Saami medieval pasts.