The Viking Phenomenon

The Viking Age (c.750-1050 CE) has long been a touchstone of identity in the Nordic countries, not least in Sweden. Today the Vikings enjoy a popular recognition common to few other ancient cultures, but their history has also been reinvented, used and abused by successive generations, in a process that continues today. It would be easy to believe that there's not much left to know about the Vikings, but in fact the opposite is the case - we've only just begun to scratch the surface of their lives. Despite an exciting expansion in research in the last few decades, one arena of Viking activity remains substantially unexplored, and it concerns the very beginnings of this historical trajectory.

Under the direction of Professor Neil Price, researchers at Uppsala University and the Swedish History Museum have worked for ten years to investigate the origins of what we call the Viking Age, looking at Swedish boat graves, Baltic raids, and many other aspects of the developing Norse diaspora. Please explore our site, where you can discover more about the background to the project, the people involved, and the outcomes of our research programmes. You can also find links to our publications, together with our outreach activities, and online resources for further study.