The Vikings and the Victorians: Inventing the Old North in Nineteenth-Century Britain

by Andrew Wawn

In many ways the Victorians invented the the term `viking', in its modern incarnation, is first recorded just thirty years before the young Princess Victoria's coronation, yet within fifty years it featured in the titlesof dozens of poems, plays, prize essays, published lectures, and parlour songs. Old Icelandic Edda and saga were used to legitimise everything from buccaneering Victorian mercantilism and imperial expansion to jury trial and women's rights, and regional consciousness flourished with the rediscovery of the viking contribution to local legend and place names. This is the first book-length treatment of the Victorians' fascination with the Old North. Walter Scott, William Morris, Edward Elgar and Rudyard Kipling appear alongside amateur enthusiasts from Lerwick to the Isle of Wight; the material examined, published and unpublished, includes novels, poems, lectures, periodicals, saga-stead travel, philology, art and music. Andrew Wawn draws this wide range of source material together to give a comprehensive account of the construction and translation of the viking age in nineteenth-century Britain.ANDREW WAWN is Professor of Anglo-Icelandic Studies at the University of Leeds. Fascinating and impressively scholarly... As Wawn points out, the Victorians not only more or less invented the Vikings as we know them, but also developed this creation into what amounted to a national obsession. TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

Genres: History, Medievalism

434 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Lynne Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an academic literature review that is surprisingly witty and enjoyable to read. While I knew that Norse mythology had its place in Britain's cultural history, I was unaware of how deeply involved were cultured Victorians into all things Norse, on both sides of the Atlantic, no less. Writers you have heard of, like Sir Walter Scott and Rudyard Kipling, and many others popular back in the day but unheard of now, were inspired by Scandinavian tales, and serious scholarship and new translations of Northern literature were being produced and read.

Although Norse mythology has never replaced, or surpassed, the Greeks and Romans, it was not for lack of trying during the Victorian era. Although this is an overlooked area of cultural studies, we have the Victorians to thank for our continued interest in the Vikings. I doubt we would have had our Marvel movies without their indefatigable work.

[Abi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent, ground-breaking work. Andrew Wawn has built an extremely solid, comprehensive and well-researched platform in this field which was previously somewhat ignored. The Vikings and the Victorians is indispensable for anyone interested in the 19th century's relationship with the Old North.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Wawn’s discussion of the relationship between the Vikings and Victorians covers how the Victorians considered the Vikings in history, relevance to their own society, and adaptation in culture.

[Peter Panico · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very hard to rate this book as I did enjoy it but it is basically a reference book. Not really a leisure read, seems to me only doctoral candidates studying Victorian era literature would need this book. A well-written and researched book, but definitely not for the faint of heart