Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries edited by Dawn M. Hadley and Julian D. Richards
Other books published
Many previous studies have described the Scandinavian settlement of England as involving a rapid assimilation of the settlers with native society and culture, and a swift process of integration. This volume challenges that view and shows that the process of assimilation, integration and accommodation were gradual and complex, displaying important regional variations. Where did the Scandinavians come from ? What type of society did they eventually settle into? What were the implications of the drawing of different cultures into contact, and how is this portrayed in the surviving material? Recent discussions in, for example, material culture and language have shown that these were active, constituent elements in creating and recreating social and cultural identities. Where the volume focuses on the creation of local and regional identities and affinities it moves on from the traditional depiction of the issues in terms of a simple dichotomy of 'Scandinavian' and 'English'.