Historia kan i grunden sägas vara ett återberättat urval av förflutenhet. Det innebär att historia aldrig är detsamma som förflutenhet utan en bearbetning av densamma. Syftet med studien är att undersöka de spänningsfyllda gränsytorna mellan historia, sanning och fiktion. Detta görs genom att undersöka ett publikhistoriskt konstprojekt i gränslandet mellan hantverk, konstnärskap, berättarkonst, historia och myt.

Konstprojektet handlade om sökandet efter en fantastisk skatt, Grendels skatt, såsom den omnämns i det tidigmedeltida Beowulfkvädet. Det handlade med om att hitta (på) en skatt från sagans värld genom att återskapa utvalda föremål som om de var verkliga artefakter från den forntid där hjälte- berättelsen om Beowulf utspelar sig.

Beowulfkvädet uttolkats i mängder av sammanhang alltsedan medel- tidens slut. Det finns en lång rad nya uttolkningar bara i det sena 1900-talet och det tidiga 2000-talet. Bland annat har kvädet genom Beowulfkännaren J. R. R. Tolkiens litterära verk kommit att influera den moderna fantastiken på ett högst påtagligt sätt. Som ett nutida kulturfenomen är Beowulfkvädet i allra högsta grad någonting levande.

Grendels skatt-projektets uttolkning av Beowulf utgör den analytiska ingång varifrån gränsytorna mellan historia, sanning och fiktion ska undersökas i denna studie. Utöver detta studeras även historiska återskapanden av den slags tidigmedeltida europeiska germanska elitkultur där Beowulf en gång framförts. Här undersöks återskapanden och deras sanningsanspråk i mötet mellan nuet och det förflutna. Boken berör framför allt tidigmedeltida germansk elitkultur i norra Europa under tidsperioden 500- 700-tal, samt olika uttryck av dess (åter)skapanden i tidigt 2000-tal.

Teoretiskt används i boken en kulturanalytisk ansats där kultur definieras som de praktiker och system i kommunikationen människor emellan där mening skapas. Kvädet är inte bara en levande kulturskatt, det kan även sägas ha samhällsrelevans. Den bär således fortfarande på mening idag kring olika slags beständiga dilemman, såsom kärlek, död, hjältemod, maktmissbruk, offervilja, krig, vänskap och girighet.

This chapter explores how the two contemporary political parties, the Sweden Democrats and the Danish People’s Party, use the Vikings and the Viking Age as symbols in their national mythmaking. It examines the political dimensions of public history and the way in which these parties draw historical parallels between the Viking Age and the present in order to call for action. The relationship between cultural heritage and the creation and upholding of national identities in the two parties’ use of history is given special attention. The comparison between the parties shows that the Sweden Democrats are affected by their ties to Swedish National Socialism in their early years and that when they later tried to appeal to a wider public, they adopted a more subtle strategy in their depiction of the Vikings. On the other hand, The Danish People’s Party continuously use the Vikings and the Viking Age to establish a national identity in the same manner as in the wider Danish community, meaning that a need for changes in their history writing did not occur. 

Vikings and the Viking Age have never been more popular than in the 21st century. Vikings can be found around every corner: in museums, computer games, politics, comics, ancestry claims via DNA tests, and environmental narratives. Their representation is also found throughout Europe and can be considered part of its cultural heritage. The pervasiveness and malleability of the Vikings as an idea mean that they have been used in multiple ways. Therefore, it is an important responsibility for researchers to critically discuss how the Vikings and Viking Age are activated as a key aspect of European cultural heritage in many different contexts. It is also vital to investigate this phenomenon from different perspectives. Consequently, this volume reflects the multidisciplinary nature of Viking studies and includes research in the fields of history, archaeology, museology, and religious and medieval studies. The aim of this volume is to present new research and critical perspectives on the Vikings and Viking Age as a part of a (white) European, and even global, cultural heritage context, especially with regards to public history in museums, re-creation, and re-enactment. 1 

Viking Heritage and History in Europe presents new research and perspectives on the use of the Vikings in public history, especially in relation to museums, re-creation, and re-enactment in a European context.

Taking a critical heritage approach, the volume provides new insights into the re-creation of history, imagining the past, interpretation, ambivalence of authenticity, authority of History, remembrance and memory, medievalism, and public history. Highlighting the complexity of the field of public history today, the fourteen chapters all engage with questions of historical authenticity and authority. The volume also critically examines the public’s reception, engagement with, and interpretation of the Viking Age and the concepts of who these individuals were. Each chapter illuminates an aspect of these themes in relation to museums, leisure activities, politics, tourism, re-enactment, and popular culture – all from the vantage point of Viking cultural heritage.

Viking Heritage and History in Europe is one of the first volumes to examine the use and role of the Vikings within the field of public history, both past and present. The book will be of interest to those engaged in the study of heritage, public history, history, the Vikings, vikingism, medievalism, and media history.

This chapter discusses Viking re-enactment within the domain of public history in present-day Europe. Defining re-enactment as an attempt to re-create some aspect of the past in a performance set in the present within a realistic-fantastic spectrum, the chapter goes on to discuss two distinct but overlapping sub-genres of Viking re-enactment: (a) the top-down re-enactments initiated by professionals at universities or institutions such as museums and (b) the bottom-up re-enactments initiated within the re-enactment scene itself. Lastly, it identifies and discusses new trends and suggested directions within the European Viking re-enactment scene in the early 21st century. 

On May 14, 1931, Swedish military forces opened fire and killed four striking pulp factory workers and one bystander during a demonstration in the municipality of Lunde, in the Ådalen district outside of Kramfors in northern Sweden. The killings sent shock waves through the Swedish labor movement and significantly contributed to the Social democratic win in the general elections the next year.

Den föreställde vikingen återfinns således i alltifrån blodigaste allvar till lättsammaste nöje. Syftet med denna artikel är att introducera läsaren till forskningen om de många olika sätt på vilka vikingen och vikingatiden uttolkats och använts, från 1800-talet fram till 2000-talet. Det är forskning som återfinns i skärningspunkten mellan två internationella fält på starkframmarsch i det tidiga 2000-talet: medievalism studies samt reenactment studies. Det handlar om hur vikingen och vikingatiden skapats och återskapats i en postmedeltida era. 

Scandia introducerar: (Re-)Creation of the Viking Age

The imagined ”Viking” can be found in contexts from the serious to the absurd. The concept has even become almost global in scope. In order to introduce this multifaceted phenomenon, this article presents research on and investigates the many ways in which the ”Viking” and the Viking Age have been interpreted and used from the 19th century to the present day. It presents the different definitions inherent in the concept of ”Viking”, from representing a warrior to referring to the inhabitants of Scandinavia who migrated to areas to the north, west, south and east. The article then delves into two growing international fields of research: medievalism studies and re-enactment studies. In doing so, the article discusses how the Viking and the Viking Age have been created and re-created throughout this period. It shows the links between the study of medievalism and how re-creating and activating the Viking Age fits into this area. Many different interest groups invoke the past in their efforts to justify actions or find answers to present-day circumstances. The Viking Age is no exception, and these groups include both extremists and those simply interested in history. The article also discusses the link between the Viking Age and the rise of the fantasy genre before exploring how re-enactment groups approach the Viking Age. This involves both re-creating objects (clothes, personal items, weapons, etc.) as well as re-enacting scenes from the past, such as battles or domestic tasks. Questions on the importance of authenticity are raised throughout the article, and connected to this aspect, the relationship between experimental archaeology and the re-creation of objects is addressed. Viking Age re-enactment officially organized by cultural heritage institutions or larger groups is presented, as well as a discussion of what exists at the grassroots level. The article also presents an overview of the challenges facing Viking re-enactment groups in terms of available sources, racism and sexism. The article concludes with a discussion on the positive impact of re-enactment and its place in the interpretation of the Viking Age.