The Vikings were more than just raiders and brave conquerors. Starting from the end of the 8th century, they expanded in all cardinal points and contributed to a lively cultural exchange in the regions they settled. Travelling around, they got acquainted with literary motives, foreign fashions and the Christian religion.
On their route to the East, they engaged in trade and mercenary activities, besides piracy, and got in contact with high developed societies like the Arab Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire.
The seminar shall offer a survey of the Viking activities in the East according to the literary records of travel literature, focusing in particular on the “Saga of Yngvar the Far-Travelled” (that through close reading will be partly read in the original language), as well as other kinds of sources like runic inscriptions – the so called Yngvar stones – and further archaeological records.