IMC 2026: Sessions
Session 1248: New Perspectives on the Viking Diaspora, III: North Sea
Wednesday 8 July 2026, 14:15-15:45
| Organisers: | Emma Horne, Centre for the Study of the Viking Age / School of English, University of Nottingham Jake Stattel, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Jake Stattel, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge |
| Paper 1248-a | Keeping Belief Close: A New Survey of Pagan Amulets from England (Language: English) Index terms: Archaeology - Artefacts, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions, Religious Life |
| Paper 1248-b | Whither the North: Changing Frankish Perspectives on the Norse World at the Close of the 9th Century (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Celtic, Politics and Diplomacy |
| Paper 1248-c | From Valhalla to Heaven in the Viking Diaspora: A Discussion of Religiosity (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions, Religious Life, Social History |
| Abstract | This series of four panels seeks to offer a window onto the current state of research on the ‘Viking Diaspora’. We are currently in a vibrant and dynamic moment of interdisciplinary scholarship on the ‘Vikings’ and the global network they established. Scandinavian settlement across much of Northern Europe and beyond is increasingly understood as a ‘Viking Diaspora’ of communities linked through shared elements of history, culture, and language. What was life like for Vikings outside of Scandinavia and how did they impact the many peoples and polities they interacted with, peacefully or otherwise? One panel will interrogate trends across the entire diaspora, while three others will focus geographically on a more specific maritime zone, showcasing the multi-disciplinarity of new perspectives. This panel addresses Viking interactions across the North Sea. Sam Elphick’s archaeological study compares pagan amulets in Scandinavia and England, providing insights into the influence of migration on religious practice. Daniel Melleno studies the shifting depiction of Vikings in Frankish sources as a way to understand the changing nature and place of the Carolingian world in the Norse Diaspora. Morgan Mumford adapts hybridisation theory to the study of Scandinavian religious conversion and admixture in the north of England. |