Viking Migration and Settlement in East Anglia

Viking Migration and Settlement in East Anglia
Author: David Boulton
Publisher: Windgather Press
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2023-09-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1914427262

This book shows how analysis of Scandinavian-influenced place-names in their landscape contexts can provide crucial new evidence of differing processes of Viking migration and settlement in East Anglia between the late ninth and eleventh centuries. The place-names of East Anglia have until now received little attention in the academic study of Viking settlement. Similarly, the question of a possible migration of settlers from Scandinavia during the Viking period was for many years dismissed by historians and archaeologists – until the recent discovery by metal-detectorists of abundant Scandinavian metalwork and jewellery in many parts of East Anglia. David Boulton has synthesised these two previously neglected elements to offer new insights into the processes of Viking settlement. This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of Scandinavian-influenced place-names in East Anglia. It examines their different categories linguistically and explores the landscape and archaeological contexts of the settlements associated with them, with the aid of GIS-generated maps. Dr Boulton shows how the process of Viking settlement was influenced by changes in rural society and agriculture which were then already occurring in East Anglia, such as the late Anglo-Saxon expansion of arable farming and the associated recolonisation of the inland clay plateau. These developments resulted in patterns of place-name formation which differ significantly from some of the previously accepted, orthodox interpretations of how Scandinavian-influenced place-names (especially those containing the bý and thorp elements, and the ‘Grimston-hybrids’) came into being in the Danelaw. In view of these discrepancies, David Boulton proposes an innovative, hypothetical model for the formation of the Scandinavian-influenced place-names in East Anglia, which explores differing patterns and phases of Viking settlement in the region and the possible pathways of migration that preceded them.

A Dictionary of British Place-Names

A Dictionary of British Place-Names
Author: David Mills
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 574
Release: 2011-10-20
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 019960908X

From Abbas Combe to Zennor, this dictionary gives the meaning and origin of place names in the British Isles, tracing their development from earliest times to the present day.

Place-names, Language and the Anglo-Saxon Landscape

Place-names, Language and the Anglo-Saxon Landscape
Author: N. J. Higham
Publisher: Boydell Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2011
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1843836033

An exploration of the landscape of Anglo-Saxon England, particularly through the prism of place-names and what they can reveal.

The Grass Roots of English History

The Grass Roots of English History
Author: David Hey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2016-05-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 147426252X

In medieval and early modern Britain, people would refer to their local district as their 'country', a term now largely forgotten but still used up until the First World War. Core groups of families that remained rooted in these 'countries', often bearing distinctive surnames still in use today, shaped local culture and passed on their traditions. In The Grass Roots of English History, David Hey examines the differing nature of the various local societies that were found throughout England in these periods. The book provides an update on the progress that has been made in recent years in our understanding of the history of ordinary people living in different types of local societies throughout England, and demonstrates the value of studying the varied landscapes of England, from towns to villages, farmsteads, fields and woods to highways and lanes, and historic buildings from cathedrals to cottages. With its broad coverage from the medieval period up to the Industrial Revolution, the book shows how England's socio-economic landscape had changed over time, employing evidence provided by archaeology, architecture, botany, cultural studies, linguistics and historical demography. The Grass Roots of English History provides an up-to-date account of the present state of knowledge about ordinary people in local societies throughout England written by an authority in the field, and as such will be of great value to all scholars of local and family history.

The Viking World

The Viking World
Author: Stefan Brink
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 742
Release: 2008-10-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 113431826X

Filling a gap in the literature for an academically oriented volume on the Viking period, this unique book is a one-stop authoritative introduction to all the latest research in the field, and the most comprehensive book of its kind ever attempted.

Beyond the Burghal Hidage

Beyond the Burghal Hidage
Author: John Baker
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2013-03-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004246053

As the title suggests, Beyond the Burghal Hidage takes the study of Anglo-Saxon civil defence away from traditional historical and archaeological fields, and uses a groundbreaking interdisciplinary approach to examine warfare and public responses to organised violence through their impact on the landscape. By bringing together the evidence from a wide range of archaeological, onomastic and historical sources, the authors are able to reconstruct complex strategic and military landscapes, and to show how important detailed knowledge of early medieval infrastructure and communications is to our understanding of Anglo-Saxon preparedness for war, and to the situating of major defensive works within their wider strategic context. The result is a significant and far-reaching re-evaluation of the evolution of late Anglo-Saxon defensive arrangements. Winner of the 2013 Verbruggen prize, given annually by De Re Militari society for the best book on medieval military history.

Language Contact and Development around the North Sea

Language Contact and Development around the North Sea
Author: Merja Stenroos
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2012-04-18
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027274665

This volume brings together eleven studies on the history of language and writing in the North Sea area, with focus on contacts and interchanges through time. Its range spans from the investigation of pre-Germanic place-names to present-day Shetland; the materials studied include glosses, legal and trade documents as well as place names and modern dialects. The volume is unique in its combination of linguistics and place-name studies with literacy studies, which allows for a very dynamic picture of the history of language contact and texts in the North Sea area. Different approaches come together to illuminate a major insight: the omnipresence of multilingualism as a context for language development and a formative characteristic of literacy. Among the contributors are experts on English, Nordic and German language history. The book will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students working on the history of Northern European languages, literacy studies and language contact