Myth or Fact: Investigating the Portrayal of Vikings in Contemporary Movies or TV Series
There has been a long-term fascination with Scandinavian Vikings. Recently, a fluorescence of movie and tv series focused on the Viking Age have been produced, along with a multitude of video games, which have been inspired, directly or indirectly, by Viking archaeology and historical sagas. For this assignment, please select a movie or an episode of a TV series from the list below:
Vikings (2013-2020)[1] – Netflix
Northmen: A Viking Saga (2014) – Amazon Prime (Starz)
Norsemen/Vikingane (2016-2020) – Netflix
Vinland Saga (2019-2023) – Amazon Prime (Crunchyroll) or Netflix
The Last Kingdom (2015-2022) – Netflix
The Northman (2022) – Amazon Prime (Starz)
Vikings: Valhalla (2022-) – Netflix
Describe the key elements of the plot for the particular movie or tv series episode you selected. Highlight one facet of Viking material culture you observed, which you found interesting. In other words, something an archaeologist might find in an excavation.
For example: longhouse or ship design, style of housing, types of settlements; a particular ceremony or mythological component; style or production of weaponry; types of animals and plants raised/used or food prepared, style or production of clothing; beadmaking, turtle or penannular brooches; runestones; burial customs.
Research the item of interest, and based on your research, describe the particular Viking artifact you selected. Discuss the evidence based on archaeological and/or historical, saga/prose accounts. If the depiction is accurate, discuss what evidence has been unearthed by archaeologists, or documented by literary historians or scholars of this topic. If the depiction is less than accurate (i.e., dramatic license was taken), discuss what evidence you found that refutes how the item of interest is/was portrayed in the movie or series.
A minimum of two academic sources (i.e., journals or books/book chapters) must be used to back up your argument. This does not mean you cannot use internet sources, but you must not rely solely on non-academic sources for your research. You will be graded on the quality of your research.
Here are some potential journals to search (and also as examples of what I mean by peer-reviewed “academic” sources). Internet sources like Wikipedia, History Channel, and Hurstwig are great starting points to look for information on a particular topic, but then search their references and seek out the original sources. Use Google Scholar or use the library’s search engines to aid in your search.
Antiquity
Arctic Anthropology
Danish Journal of Archaeology
Environmental Archaeology
Human Ecology
Journal of Field Archaeology
Journal of the North Atlantic
Medieval Archaeology
Norwegian Archaeological Review
Polar Record
Viking and Medieval Scandinavia
Part of your grade will be based on general organization, referencing/formatting, and style. This is not an English course, but you need to be able to communicate your ideas effectively.
Your title or heading must include the specific Movie or TV series season/episode, and the specific topic chosen.
e.g., The Northman, women’s brooches
Citing sources in Anthropology
Here is a really nice summary on how to cite sources following the AAA guide (which is also the Chicago Manual of Style): https://www.skidmore.edu/anthropology/writing/citing.phpLinks to an external site.
If you quote or closely paraphrase from a source (Author, Year, page number).
The total length of the assignment should be approximately 1000-1200 words, or 2-3 single-spaced pages maximum.
[1] do not select Season 1, episode 1 of Vikings because we watched it in class
