Kurt describes the book as being about Scandinavia as a part of Europe but with an independent culture, economy and natural resources in a decisive and dynamic period when several important institutions were established, when Scandinavia became Scandinavia and when the Scandinavian kingdoms were assembled.

Kurt Villads Jensen

- The book tries to give a complete picture of politics, religion, economy and culture in a broad sense and to treat some important historiographical discussions. It covers Greenland to Finland, Sapmi to Slesvig-Holstein and the whole of Scandinavia surrounding the Baltic sea and the North Atlantic, the two oceans that were crucial for transport, cultural connections and economy, Kurt explains.

That the book came to be was somewhat of a coincidence. The authors were discussing other matters with the publisher Routledge at the international medieval conference in Leeds when someone asked what kinds of books they thought were missing for education and research. “A comprehensive overview in English of the Scandinavian Middle ages” they answered.

–There are several articles and anthologies in English about Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, but no comprehensive overview except for one by Sverre Bagge from 2014 which is excellent but relatively short Kurt explains. – So this was what we suggested to Routledge, he continues. Shortly thereafter the publisher emailed to ask if they did not want to write the book.

It has not been easy to give a comprehensive overview of Medieval Scandinavia. Kurt shares that the writing process involved difficult choices concerning what to include and exclude. Additionally, this was challenging due to the relatively wide audience the authors hope will read the book.

–We constantly had in mind that a student in America probably does not know anything about Scandinavia. But also, that a Swedish student does not know anything about Denmark, so it had to be written in an entirely different way than if it was in Swedish for Swedish students. We also wanted to have a balance between facts, research and reflections. That is, how many facts, how many examples from sources and research discussions and how many reflections about possible connections and causes? We also needed a balance between structural history and anecdotal argumentation (or narrative history or microhistory). When is an explanatory parallelism an anachronism, can we discuss fossil fuel, renewable energy or capitalism in the Middle Ages?

Kurt specifically highlights the challenge of not losing oneself in the source material. – One of the difficulties for me was to not lose myself in the sources. When I start writing about a certain topic I consult the sources again and one leads to another. It is very exciting but the danger is that it never ends. Then it is necessary to put a stop to the process and move on to the next topic.

A definitive stop to the process has been reached now that the book is published. The authors hope that it will be read by students at undergraduate and masters level but also reach a wider audience.

–Initially, we perhaps had American universities in mind since some colleagues actually have asked for such an overview through the years. But it could be used in every university in the world, in Scandinavia as well.

Kurt also wants to highlight the colleagues that contributed feedback during their writing. –We have had three good colleagues in Sweden, Denmark and Norway who have read through the manuscript, answered questions and provided criticism. It has been enormously helpful, Kurt points out.

Read more about the book at Routledge’s website
https://www.routledge.com/9780367558697