Browsing by Author "Kulovesi, Erkki"

My master’s thesis examines the meeting of Vikings and Irish in Ireland during the early Viking age, between years 800 and 1000AD. In my thesis, I answer to the question about how the process of hybridization between these two cultures happened: How did the two different cultures react to each other, what kind of interaction was there between the two, and what was the nature of the hybrid identities developed. I use as theoretical framework Mary Pratt’s concept of contact zone, as well as Richard Roger’s theory of levels of cultural appropriation. As primary sources, I use the annals of Irish monasteries, most importantly Annals of Ulster. In research literature, I have a strong focus on archaeological studies of the era. The work is divided into two main chapters. Chapter two analyzes the interaction between the two cultures through the literary evidence and rhetoric of chronicles, as well as the alliances and marriages between the two. It also examines the conversion of Vikings to Christianity, and their relation to the Irish church. The third chapter focuses on the settlements, the Viking longports, some of which eventually developed into towns. Ireland before the Vikings was completely lacking urbanity and thus the Hiberno-Scandinavian towns that developed were a new phenomenon and focal points of hybridization. As a case study, I analyze Dublin, as it is the one with most archaeological data left, and finally I discuss in larger context the sociocultural meaning of these towns. I reach the conclusion that while there remained permanent differences between the Irish and the Vikings, the contact zones of Hiberno-Scandinavian towns developed hybrid identities that did not represent purely any of the ethnicities or cultures that they were derived from. Vikings were seen as foreigners in the eyes of the clergymen, but they were entangled in the local politics and warfare like any Irish petty kingdom. The towns, however, were independent realms and transcultural environments, where new cultural identities developed, shifted and flourished.