Cultural Encounters Between the Vikings and the Insular West: Foreign Artefacts in the Hands of Vikings

Encounters between the Scandinavian Vikings (c. 750 to 1050 ad) and the rest of Europe are known from written sources, but an increasing number of archaeological finds are being recovered today, providing material evidence of these encounters. This chapter deals with metal objects imported from the Irish-Anglo-Saxon (insular) area to Southern Scandinavia in the Viking Age. This type of archaeological material documents intercultural connections between the two areas more than a thousand years ago. The chapter argues that the import could have formed an active part of social strategies, and that it could indicate that Scandinavian magnates had knowledge of areas outside the local area and could operate successfully abroad. This was important for magnates who needed to demonstrate their transcultural skills and high level of sophistication when dealing with people from foreign areas. The elite's access to imports is well documented at the Viking Age magnates' residences at Tissø, Lejre, Gudme and Toftegård in Denmark. The location of finds suggests that the elite amassed insular material for their own use and had no interest in distributing them further. This chapter suggests that some of the objects from the Irish area were reused in pre-Christian cultic activities after they arrived in Southern Scandinavia.