The description of the North in the "Old English Orosius" in the form of the travel accounts by Ohthere and Wulfstan and a catalogue of northern peoples are examined in this study in the context of ancient and early medieval textual and cartographic descriptions of the North, with special emphasis on Anglo-Saxon sources and the reign of King Alfred. The narrative contains unparalleled information about ninth-century peoples, places and voyages in northern Europe. It is discussed in relation to geographical perceptions of northern lands, archaeological theories of the Viking Age and Anglo-Saxon culture and geographical imagination.
Author(s): Irmeli Valtonen
Series: Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique de Helsinki, 73
Publisher: Société Néophilologique
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: XVI+672
City: Helsinki
Preface v
List of figures and maps xi
Abbreviations xii
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Aim and outline 1
1.2. Earlier research 6
1.3. Method 19
1.4. Definition of terms 35
2. THE NORTH IN ANCIENT AND EARLY MEDIEVAL GEOGRAPHY
2.1. Greek sources 42
2.2. Roman sources 55
2.3. Late antique and early medieval sources 84
2.4. Conclusions: local perceptions, images, and settings 139
3. THE NORTH IN ANGLO-SAXON GEOGRAPHY
3.1. Between north and south 151
3.2. Ancestral geography 161
3.3. Sources for King Alfred's reign 179
3.4. Late Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman sources 190
3.5. Old English poetry 200
3.6. The Anglo-Saxon "mappa mundi" 221
3.7. Conclusions: the inherited, mythological, and observed North 251
4. THE NORTH IN THE "OLD ENGLISH OROSIUS"
4.1. Literary history 259
4.2. Ohthere: his life and wealth 281
4.3. The geography of the North: from the White Sea to Hedeby 320
4.4. "Finnas", "Terfinnas", and "Scridefinnas" 373
4.5. "Cwenas" on the northern border of Germania 386
4.6. Estland: waterways and rituals 402
4.7. Space at sea: voyages and maritime perspectives 447
4.8. Conclusions: the geography of lands, peoples, and resources 469
5. GEOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE OF THE NORTH AND THE ALFREDIAN CONTEXT
5.1. The North as a geographical narrative 480
5.2. Northern geography in the Alfredian context 506
5.3. Conclusions: geographical realities, identities, and histories 555
6. CONCLUSION 565
APPENDIX: PERIODICITY 575
BIBLIOGRAPHY 576
INDEX OF MANUSCRIPTS 656
INDEX OF PEOPLE 657
INDEX OF PLACES 664
