Research Days 2021: Conflict resolution for Vikings

Peace and conflict are the theme of this year's research days. From the first people settled, conflicts have been an important part of history. Here in Scandinavia, the Viking Age is often cited as a particularly violent period. But does this picture agree with what the research tells us? We examine what we really know about conflicts and conflict resolution in this period and what consequences an uncritical romanticization of past violence can have in our own time.

The event is a collaboration between the Vestfold Museums and the University of Southeast Norway, and is part of the Research Days. All lectures are also streamed free of charge, a link to each lecture is posted here in advance.

Lectures:

12:00 - Dark clouds over Borre: use and misuse of history by advisor Fredrik Bjønnes (Vestfold Museums). Streamed here.

13:00 - The brutal religious conflicts of the Viking Age on Norwegian things by Professor Anne Irene Risøy (University of Southeast Norway). Streamed here.

14:00 - Calls, hostages and sex: peace and strategies for peacekeeping in the Late Iron Age by Associate Professor Karl Christian Alvestad (University of Southeast Norway). Streamed here.

15:00 - How to kill oneself to wealth - Holmgang and dueling in the Viking Age by Knut Roger Brekke (Master student at UiO). Streamed here.

The doors open at 11.45.

Welcome!