Module HIST30I3: Medieval Iceland: Settlement, Saga, Civil War

Department: History

HIST30I3: Medieval Iceland: Settlement, Saga, Civil War

Prerequisites

• A pass mark in at least TWO level two modules in History.

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To introduce students to a transitional and transformative period in the history of Iceland, from 9th century settlement to 13th century civil war;
• To lead students towards a deep familiarity and understanding of a variety of complex historical sources, and the ways in which they have been interpreted;
• To train students in the advanced independent analysis of these sources;
• To train students to ask complex questions about cultural identity, collective memory, the interplay between orality and literacy, political affiliation, and religious belief in the past.

Content

• Iceland is a country born of the Viking Age. For millennia it remained uninhabited by humans, a little volcanic island in the middle of the North Atlantic hanging just below the Arctic Circle. It was only at the end of the ninth century that the first ships began to arrive, containing Norse settlers looking for a new life. By around 930 AD, Iceland seems to have been fully settled, and in this year the national assembly was established. The young country entered a period known as the Free State or Commonwealth. The settlers arrived as pagans, but around the year 1000 AD, Christianity officially reached Iceland. With it came the tools of literacy, and over time the Icelanders gained a reputation as the history keepers of northern Europe. Today, two sorts of medieval Icelandic writings are particularly well known. The first are poems and tales of pagan gods and legendary heroes. The second are the Old Norse sagas: Iceland’s unparalleled storytelling legacy to the world. Written down in the later medieval period, from the 13th century onwards, many sagas look back to the time of the settlement and tell stories of early Icelanders, blending facts with fantasy, oral tales with literary influences. The 13th century was an era of great literary production, but it was also around this time when the Free State imploded, bloodily and dramatically. The result was 40 years of brutal civil war, an era that became known as the Sturlung Age. By 1264, the Norwegian crown had taken control of Iceland. The Free State was over, and the stage was set for a new act.
• The chronological parameters of this module stretch from around 871, the traditional starting point for the settlement of the Iceland, to 1264, which saw the fall of the Icelandic Free State and the ascendancy of the Norwegian crown.
• The geographical focus will be on Iceland, in part reflecting the volume and variety of sources that survive from this culture, but it will also encompass the wider medieval Nordic world, to set the early history of Iceland in a broader context.
• The module will deal with a rich and challenging variety of translated historical and literary sources, including sagas, poems, genealogies, historical accounts, annals, and law codes, all of which provide insight into a unique culture located on the edge of medieval Europe.
• These changes will be considered in their various aspects: legal, cultural, economic, spiritual, and political.

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of the module students should have:
• A detailed factual knowledge of medieval Iceland from the settlement to the end of the Free State;
• An ability to analyse and interpret a variety of challenging historical sources, and to relate these sources to specific historical questions;
• A deep knowledge of the oral-literary context in which many of the great Icelandic sources came into being, and an understanding of manuscript culture;
• Insight into how different groups and individuals responded to processes of profound cultural and political change over this period.

• Subject specific skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

• Key skills for this module can be viewed at: http://www.dur.ac.uk/History/ugrads/ModuleProformaMap/

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Student learning is facilitated by a combination of the following teaching methods:
• seminars to allow students to present and critically reflect upon the acquired subject-specific knowledge, methodologies and theories, and to identify and debate a range of issues and differing opinions. The seminar is the forum in which students are given the opportunity to communicate ideas, jointly exploring themes and arguments. Seminars are structured to develop understanding and designed to maximise student participation related to prior independent preparation. Seminars give students the opportunity to develop oral communication skills, encourage critical and tolerant approaches to reasoned argument and historical discussion, build the students' ability to marshal historical evidence, and facilitate the development of the ability to summarise historical arguments, think in a rapidly changing environment and communicate in a persuasive and articulate manner, whilst recognising the value of working with others and, occasionally, towards shared goals;
• tutorials either individually or in groups to discuss topics arising from prepared work, allowing students the opportunity to reflect upon their personal learning with the tutor.
• Assessment:
• Unseen Examinations test students' ability to work under pressure under timed conditions, to prepare for examinations and direct their own programme of revision and learning, and develop key time management skills. The unseen examination gives students the opportunity to develop relevant life skills such as the ability to produce coherent, reasoned and supported arguments under pressure.
• Students will be examined on subject specific knowledge;
• Summative essays remain a central component of assessment in history, due to the integrative high-order skills they develop. Essays allow students the opportunity to recognise, represent and critically reflect upon ideas, concepts and problems; students can demonstrate awareness of, and the ability to use and evaluate, a diverse range of resources and identify, represent and debate a range of subject-specific issues and opinions. Through the essay, students can synthesise information, adopt critical appraisals and develop reasoned argument based on individual research; they should be able to communicate ideas in writing, with clarity and coherence; and to show the ability to integrate and critically assess material from a wide range of sources;
• Assessment of Primary Source Handling Students are assessed on their understanding of original primary sources, usually in print, their character varying according to the nature of the subject, and the students' ability to bring that knowledge to bear on 'cutting edge' research-based monographs and articles. Students are given the opportunity to discuss and articulate an understanding of changing interpretations and approaches to historical problems, drawing evidence from a body of primary source materials. Students are required to demonstrate skills associated with the evaluation of a variety of primary source materials, using documentary analysis for a critical assessment of existing historical interpretations.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One formative essay of not more than 2500 words (not including footnotes and bibliography), submitted in Term 1. This will be returned with written comments and a standard departmental feedback sheet. Coursework essays are formative as well as summative. They are to be submitted in two copies, of which one will be returned with written comments and a standard departmental feedback sheet. Preparation to participate in seminars and tutorials. At least one oral presentation in each term, and at least two practice gobbets in each term.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University