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Zusatztext thorough statistical coverage! backed up by a seventy page "Catalogue" ... her work puts the English-speaking reader for the frst time in possession of the basic information painstakingly recorded by Scandinavian scholars! as well as providing an entirely fresh and convincing explanation of the Viking Age corpus ... Birgit Sawyer [has] offered models of patient and dispassionate research in potentially exciting and contested areas. Klappentext This is the first historical study of the whole body of late Viking runic inscription stones in Scandinavia. The 2300 inscriptions yield unexpected information on a wide range of topics! including the conversion of Scandinavia to Christianity! the growth of royal power and! most important of all! the inheritance customs of the period. Zusammenfassung There are over 3,000 runic inscriptions on stone made in Scandinavia in the late Viking Age. This book is the first attempt by a historian to study the material as a whole. The analysis reveals significant regional variations that reflect the different stages in the process of conversion to Christianity and the growth of royal power. Many monuments were declarations of faith or manifestations of status; but virtually all reflect inheritance customs found in later Scandinavian law codes. The results of this analysis make a significant contribution to understanding developments in other parts of the Germanic world, as well as Scandinavia. The inclusion of a digest of the data-base on which this book is based will facilitate further study of this rich vein of evidence. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of Plates List of Figures List of Maps List of Tables Sources, Abbreviations, and Conventions Introduction Survey 1: Rune-stones, their Distribution and Historical Background 2: Presentation of the Corpus and its Subgroup; Bases of Analyses 3: Property and Inheritance 4: Inheritance: Customs and Laws 5: Society and Status 6: Conversion 7: Conclusion and Future Research Excursus: The Tug-of-War over Thyre Appendixes Catalogue Explanatory Notes References Index ...
