Sources

We mention a fair few sources in our episodes, but there are always a lot more we have read during our research. We don’t do have time to name check because otherwise it would take up the whole episode, so we thought we would list them here.

Here is the vast majority of the sources we have used so far. This isn’t a full list, some from the very first few episodes aren’t noted down as we changed our writing process and didn’t keep as many records then, but as you can see, there is still a fair amount here!

In English

(Swedish and Danish sources below)

General Swedish history

  • A History of Scandinavia, by T K Derry
  • Swedish History in Outline, by Jörgen Weibull
  • A Concise History of Sweden from the Viking Age to the Present by Lindkvist, Sjöberg, Hedenborg and Kvarnström
  • The History of Sweden by Byron J Nordstrom

Stone Age

  • Yet Another Revolution? Weapon Technology and Use Wear in Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Southern Scandinavia by Christian Horn in “Appropriating Innovations”
  • Rock art and seascapes in South Scandinavia by Johan Ling in “Elevated Rock Art”
  • The Ship as Symbol in the Prehistory of Scandinavia and Southeast Asia by Chris Ballard, Richard Bradley, Lise Nordenborg Myhre and Meredith Wilson
  • The Long-House As A Transforming Agent. Emergent Complexity In Late Neolithic And Early Bronze Age Southern Scandinavia 2300–1300 BC by Magnus Artursson in The Bell Beaker Transition in Europe
  • The Stone Age of Northern Scandinavia: A Review by “Signe E. Nygaard”
  • The Mesolithic of Southern Scandinavia by Lars Larsson
  • The Ever-Changing Barum Grave by Conleth Hanlon
  • The Fisherman From Barum-Mother Of Several Children! : Palaeo-Anatomic Finds In The Skeleton From Bäckaskog by Nils-Gustaf Gejvall
  • Early Domestic Cattle in Southern Scandinavia and the Spread of the
  • Neolithic in Europe by Douglas Price and Nanna Noe-Nygaard in “From Bann Flakes to Bushmills”

Bronze and Iron Ages

  • A general picture of the Bronze Age in Bohuslän by Johan Ling, in “Elevated Rock Art”
  • Axes and Long-distance Trade – Scania and Wessex in the Early Second Millennium BC by Peter Skoglund, in “North Meets South: Theoretical Aspects on the Northern and Southern Rock Art Traditions in Scandinavia”
  • Bridging India and Scandinavia: Institutional Transmission and Elite Conquest during the Bronze Age by Kristian Kristiansen in “Interweaving Worlds, Systemic Interactions in Eurasia, 7th to the 1st Millennia BC”
  • Connected Histories: the Dynamics of Bronze Age, Interaction and Trade 1500–1100 BC By Kristian Kristiansen And Paulina Suchowska-Ducke
  • Encompassing the Sea: ‘Maritories’ and Bronze Age maritime interactions by Stuart Needham in “Bronze Age Connections”
  • From terrestrial ships to war canoes by Johan Ling in “Elevated Rock Art”
  • Hyper-masculinity and the construction of gender identities in the BronzeAge rock carvings of southern Sweden by Lynne Bevan in “Picturing the Bronze Age”
  • Iconography and Costume from the Late Iron Age in Scandinavia by Ulla Mannering in “Dressing the Past”
  • A Life Aquatic? Looking at the relationships between settlements, rock artand sea levels in the Himmelstalund region of eastern Sweden by Per Nilsson in “Representations and Communications”
  • Modern Perceptions of Roman–Scandinavian Relations: Research History and Interpretations by Thomas Grane in “Romans and Barbarians Beyond the Frontiers”
  • Law, Society and Landscape in early Scandinavia, by Stefan Brink
  • The creation of a Scandinavian provincial law: How was it done?,by Stefan Brink
  • English and Danish Iron Ages – a comparison through houses, burials and hoards by M. Sørensen in “The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent”
  • Roman Britain from the Outside: Comparing Western and NorthernFrontier Cultures by Andrew Gardner in “Romans and Barbarians Beyond the Frontiers”
  • Sea faring voyages and rock art ships by Kristian Kristiansen in “The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context”
  • Some thoughts on boats as Bronze Age artefacts by Francis Pryor in “The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context”
  • Self-Organization of Production in Early Sweden by T. L. Thurston in “Surplus: The Politics of Production and the Strategies of Everyday Life”
  • Sword-wielders and manslaughter. Recently discovered images on the rockcarvings of Brastad, western Sweden by Andreas Toreld in “Picturing the Bronze Age”
  • The Old Iron Age, 500 B.C.–A.D. 780 by Karen Larsen in “History of Norway”
  • The Shipping News: Land And Water In Bronze Age Scandinavia By Richard Bradley in “Cult in Context”
  • A World of Warcraft: Warrior Identities in Roman Iron Age Scandinavia by Xenia Pauli Jensen in “Romans and Barbarians Beyond the Frontiers”
  • Weapons, ritual, and communication in Late Iron Age Northern Europe by Peter S. Wells in “The Later Iron Age in Britain and Beyond”
  • Taking the Stranger on Board – The Two Maritime Legacies of Bronze Age Rock by Lene Melheim and Johan Ling in “North Meets South”
  • Continuity and Change in Scandinavian Prehistory by Peter Skoglund
  • Some thoughts on boats as Bronze Age artefacts by Francis Pryor in “The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context”
  • Sea faring voyages and rock art ships by Kristian Kristiansen in “The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context”
  • Introduction – the rock art phenomenon in northern Bohuslän by Johan Ling in  “Elevated Rock Art”
  • Rock art and society by Johan Ling in “Elevated Rock Art”
  • Facing the sea in Bronze Age Norway: the ship, the sea and society by Frode Kvalø in “The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context”
  • Theorising exchange and interaction in the Bronze Age by Kristian Kristiansen in Exchange Networks and Local Transformations
  • The Bronze Age by Viggo Starcke in “Denmark in World History”
  • Surplus from Below: Self-Organization of Production in Early Sweden by T. L. Thurston in “Surplus: The Politics of Production and the Strategies of Everyday Life”
  • Social and religious perceptions of the ship in Bronze Age Northern Europe by Flemming Kaul in “The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context”
  • Seafaring In The Bronze Age Aegean: Evidence And Speculation by Cheryl Ward in “Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age”
  • North-west European seagoing boats before AD 400 by Seán McGrail in “The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context”
  • Mixed media, mixed messages: religious transmission in Bronze Age Scandinavia by Richard Bradley in “”Picturing the Bronze Age”
  • Exploring the ritual of travel in prehistoric Europe: the Bronze Age sewn-plank boats in context by Robert Van de Noort in “Bronze Age Connections”
  • Bronze Age Pastoralism, Landscape, And Social Interaction by Michael Frachetti in “Pastoralist Landscapes and Social Interaction in Bronze Age Eurasia”
  • The Xenia Concept of Guest-friendship – Providing an Elucidatory Model for Bronze Age Communication by Flemming Kaul in “North Meets South”
  • Life In Mycenaean Greece by John Chadwick
  • Crafts, Specialists, and Markets in Mycenaean Greece. Exchanging the Mycenaean Economy by Daniel Pullen
  • Bright as the sun: The appropriation of amber objects in Mycenaean Greece by Joseph Maran in “Mobility, Meaning and Transformations of Things”
  • Alpine and Scandinavian rock art in the Bronze Age: a common cultural
  • matrix in a web of continental influences by Umberto Sansoni in “Picturing the Bronze Age”
  • English and Danish Iron Ages – a comparison through houses, burials and
  • Hoards by M Sørensen in “The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent”
  • Boundaries and identity in Early Iron Age Europe by Peter S. Wells in “The Earlier Iron Age in Britain and the Near Continent”

Vikings

  • Who were the Eruli? By Alvar Ellegård
  • Enduring Nations and Emergent States: Rulership, Subjecthood, and Power in Early Scandinavia By T. Thurston in “Alternative Pathways to Complexity”
  • Birka’s Fall and Hedeby’s Transformation Rewriting the Final Chapters of Viking Town Bibliographies, by Sven Kalmring
  • Textile Production and Society in Viking Age Birka by Eva B. Andersson in “Dressing the Past”
  • Powerful space. The Iron-Age hall and its development during the Viking Age by Lydia Carstens in “Viking Worlds”
  • The Annals of St. Bertin (839) and Chacanus of the Rhos by Ildar Garipzanov
  • Trade and Settlement in Central and Northern Europe up to and during the Viking Period by Herbert Jankuhn
  • From Chieftains To Kings by Anders Winroth in “The Age of the Vikings”
  • Concise History of Sweden by Lindkvist, Sjoberg, Hedenborg, Kvarnstrom
  • King Gorm by Viggo Starcke in “Denmark in World History”
  • Princely Burial in Scandinavia at the Time of the Conversion by Else Roesdahl in “Voyage to the Other World”
  • The Raids of the Vikings by Anders Winroth in “The Conversion of Scandinavia”
  • Powerful space. The Iron-Age hall and its development during the Viking
  • Age by Lydia Carstens in “Viking Worlds”
  • Split Bodies in the Late Iron Age/Viking Age of Scandinavia by Lotte Hedeager in “Body Parts and Bodies Whole”
  • Coins, Silk, And Herring: Viking Age Trade in Northern Europe by Anders Winroth in “The Age of the Vikings”
  • Textile Production at Birka: Household Needs or Organised Workshops? by Eva Andersson Strand in “Northern Archaeological Textiles”
  • Northerners: Global travellers in the Viking Age by Eva Andersson Strand in “Northern Archaeological Textiles”
  • Trade to Scandinavia in the Viking Age by Marianne Vedeler in “Textiles and the Medieval Economy”
  • Beyond the Northlands, by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough
  • Book of Viking Myths by Peter Archer
  • The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings by John Haywood
  • The Northmen’s Fury, A History of the Viking World, by Philip Parker
  • The Vikings, by Magnus Magnusson
  • Women in the Viking Age, by Judith Jesch
  • Valkyrie, The Women of the Viking World, by Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir

All the below in The Viking World, edited by Stefan Brink (Seriously, this book is 700 pages long…)

  • Who were the Vikings, by Stefan Brink
  • Scandinavia before the Viking Age, by Lotte Hedeager
  • Women and sexual politics, by Audur Magnusdottir
  • Slavery in the Viking Age, by Stefan Brink
  • Naming the Land, by Stefan Brink
  • Farm and Village in the Viking Age, by Jan-Henrikk Fallgren
  • The development of Urbanism in Scandinavia, by Dagfinn Skre
  • Birka, by Björn Ambrosiani
  • Ridanäs, a Viking Age Port of Trade at Fröjel, Gotland, by Dan Carlsson
  • Sigtuna, by Jonas Ros
  • Local and long-distance exchange by Sören Michael Sindbaek
  • Coinage and monetary economies by Svein Gullbekk
  • Viking Ships and the Sea, by Jan Bill
  • Viking Age textiles, by Annika Larsson
  • Raiding and Warfare, by Gareth Williams
  • Viking weaponry by Anne Pedersen
  • The religion of the Vikings by Anders Hultgård
  • The Old Norse Gods, by Jens Peter Schjodt
  • Popular Religion in the Viking Age, by Catharina Raudvere
  • The Scandinavian Languages in the Viking Age, by Michael Barnes
  • Runes, by Henrik Williams
  • The Icelandic Sagas by Lars Lönnroth
  • Snorri Sturluson: His Life and Work, by Anthony Faulkes
  • The Heroic and Legendary Sagas, by Stephen Mitchell
  • Vikings in England, by Clare Downham
  • Scandinavia and the Continent in the Viking Age, by Johan Callmer
  • The Vikings in Spain, North Africa and the Mediterranean, by Neil Price
  • The Viking Age in Finland, by Torsten Edgren
  • The Vikings and the Eastern Baltic by Heiki Valk
  • The Viking Rus and Byzantium, by Jonathan Shepard
  • The Vikings in the East by Fjodor Androshchuk
  • The Vikings and Islam by Egil Mikkelsen
  • Arabic Sources on the Vikings by J.E. Montgomery
  • Christianisation and the Emergence of the Early Church in Scandinavia, by Stefan Brink
  • Runestones and the Christian Missions, by Anne-Sofie Gräslund and Linn Lager
  • The Creation of Norway, by Claus Krag
  • The Emergence of Denmark and the Reign of Harald Bluetooth, by Else Roesdahl
  • Knut the Great and his Empire, by Niels Lund
  • The Emergence of Sweden, by Thomas Lindkvist

Middle Ages

  • Early Agrarian Landscapes in Finland by Birgitta Roeck Hansen
  • Medieval and Early Modern Towns in Sweden in a long-term perspective, by Lars Ersgård
  • Nordic Colonialisms and Scandinavian Studies by Johan Höglund and Linda Andersson Burnett
  • Sámi Histories, Colonialism, and Finland by Veli-Pekka Lehtola
  • Scandinavia in the Middle Ages by Gøran Dahlbäck
  • Shoreline development and Swedish colonisation of north-west Estonia during the Middle Ages by Göran Hoppe, Ingrid Nõulik and Jaan-Mati Punning
  • State and Towns in the Middle Ages: The Scandinavian Experience by Anders Andrén
  • Welsh Law in Thirteenth-Century Sweden: Women, Beasts, and Players by Lisa Collinson
  • What did the blacksmiths do in Swedish towns? Some new results by Hans Andersson in “Everyday Products in the Middle Ages”
  • A companion to the Hanseatic League by Donald Harreld
  • The German Hansa and Bergen 1100-1600, by Arnved Nedkvitne
  • A History of Finland by Henrik Meinander
  • A History of Finland by Eino Jutikkala and Kauko Pirinen
  • Against Tithe and Taxes, for King and Province; Peasant Unrest and Medieval Scandinavian Political Culture by Kimmo Katajala.
  • The European Frontier, Clashes and compromise in the Middle Ages by Jörn Staecker
  • Medieval Gotland – Churches, Chronologies and Crusades by Jes Wienber
  • Queenship and Voice in Medieval Northern Europe by William Layher
  • The Medieval Demographic System of the Nordic Countries by Ole Jörgen Benedictow
  • Technology and Religion in Medieval Sweden by Anna Götlind
  • Population Decline and Plague in Late Medieval Norway, by James A. Brothen
  • The Clash of Cultures on the Medieval Baltic Frontier / Edited by Alan V. Murray.
  • Northern revolts: Medieval and Early Modern Peasant Unrest in the Nordic countries, by Stefan Persson
  • St Birgitta of Sweden / by Bridget Morris
  • The European Frontier, Clashes and compromise in the Middle Ages, by Jörn Staecker
  • Crusades, pilgrimages and European Policy, The King as traveller, by Vivian Etting
  • The Making of Sweden / by Peter Sawyer.
  • The Medieval Household : Daily Life in Castles and Farmsteads : Scandinavian examples in their European context / by Eva Svensson
  • The Companion to Medieval Society / Franco Cardini
  • A Punishment for Each Criminal : Gender and Crime in Swedish Medieval Law / by Christine Ekholst
  • Environment, Society and the Black Death : an Interdisciplinary Approach to the Late-Medieval Crisis in Sweden, edited by Per Lagerås
  • Societal Crisis And Environmental Change, by Per Lagerås
  • Saints and sainthood around the Baltic Sea, by CS Jensen
  • Birgitta of Sweden, Bridget Morris
  • The Forgotten Union: Scandinavian Dynastic and Territorial Politics in the 14th century and the Norwegian-Swedish connection, by Harald Gustafsson
  • French Romance, Medieval Sweden and the Europeanisation of Culture, by Sofia Lodén
  • Living Conditions in the Time of the Plague, by Arincini et al
  • The medieval democratic system of the Nordic countries, by Ole Jørgen Benedictow
  • Change, Desertion And Survival – An Archaeology Of The Late-Medieval Crisis, by Lars Ersgård
  • The Cambridge History of Scandinavia
    • Sweden Under The Dynasty Of The Folkungs, Herman Schuck
    • Demographic Conditions, By Ole Jørgen Benedictow
    • Growing Inter-Scandinavian Entanglement, by Knut Helle
    • Church and Society, by Eljas Orrman
    • Kings And Provinces In Sweden, by Thomas Lindkvist
    • Medieval And Early Modern Towns In Sweden In A Long-Term Perspective, Ersgård, Lars
    • Rural Conditions, Eljas Orrman
  • Queen Margarete and founding of the union, by Vivian Etting
  • The Hanseatic League and Hanse Towns in the Early Penetration of the North, by Klaus Friedland
  • Saints and Political Identities in Late Medieval Lund and Uppsala, by Tracey R. Sands
  • Population Decline and Plague in late medieval Norway, by James A. Brothen
  • Living conditions in times of plague, by Aricin, Price, et al.
  • Sweden under the dynasty of the Folkungs, by Herman Schuck
  • Denmark and the Crusades, by J.M. Jensen
  • A Parallel History: The Archaeology of Hanseatic Urban Culture in the Baltic c.1200-1600, by David Gaimster
  • Seafarers, Merchants and Pirates in the Middle Ages, by Dirk Meier
  • Growing inter-Scandinavian entanglement, by Knut Helle
  • These Stones Bear Witness, by Richard White

Special episodes

  • Sheltered Society, Civilian Air raid shelters in Sweden – from idea to materiality, 1918–1940 and beyond by Peter Bennesved

Primary Sources

  • De Administrando Imperio (On the Governance of the Empire) Emperor Constantine VII of Byzantium; Translated by R J H Jenkins (1967)
  • The Russian Primary Chronicle, translated by Samuel Cross and Olgerd Sherbowitz-Wetzor, (1953)
  • The Chronicle of Novgorod, translated by Robert Michell and Nevill Forbes (1914)
  • The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise, translated by Christopher Tolkein (1960)
  • The Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Lee Hollander (2018)
  • History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen by Adam of Bremen, translated by Francis Tschan (2002)
  • Medieval Sourcebook, Rimbert: Life of Anskar, the Apostle of the North, 801-865 by Bishop Rimbert, translated by Charles. H. Robinson (1921)
  • An Edition of Guta Saga with Introduction, Translation, Commentary and Glossary edited by Christine Ingegerd Peel (1998)
  • The Chronicle of Duke Erik: A Verse Epic From Medieval Sweden

In Swedish

Middle Ages

  • Den långa Medeltiden by Fredrik Charpentier-Ljungqvist
  • Birger Magnusson – den siste Jarlen by Västergötlands museum (collection of texts)
  • Jarlens sekel by Dick Harrison
  • Medeltidens svenska krig by Ulf Sundberg
  • Sveriges historia Medeltiden by Dick Harrison
  • Svitjods Undergång Och Sveriges Födelse, by Henrik Lindström & Fredrik Lindström
  • Birger Magnusson – Den Siste Jarlen, Texts Collected By Västergötlands Museum
  • 1000 År Vid Stora Kopparberget, by Sven Rydberg
  • Stora Döden, by Dick Harrison
  • Digerdöden, by Dick Harrison
  • Digerdödens Härjningar, in Populär Historia – No 10/2021 by Janken Myrdal
  • Borgar Och Befästningar I Det Medeltida Sverige, by Christian Lovén
  • Visby Brandskattning, by Dick Harrison
  • Drottning Margaretas historia, by Margareta Skantze
  • I Kung Magnus Tid, by Michael Nordberg
  • Sveriges Historia, 1350-1600, by Dick Harrison and Bo Eriksson
  • Visby 1361; Invsionen, by Gun Westholm
  • Kalmarunionens tid : från drottning Margareta till Kristian II, by Lars-Olof Larsson
  • Filippa : engelsk prinsessa och nordisk unionsdrottning,by Marie-Louise Flemberg
  • I kung Magnus tid: Norden under Magnus Eriksson 1317-1374, by Michael Nordberg
  • Heliga Birgitta åttabarnsmor och profet, by Birger Bergh
  • Heliga Birgitta, by Dick Harrison

Vikings

  • Manskris bakom Vikingamyt by Ted Hesslebom och Anna Lihammer (article in Populär Historia no 11/2019
  • En ny tro erövrade Norden by Kristina Ekerö Eriksson (article in Populär Historia no 5/2020)
  • Lag och rätt på Vikingatiden och tidig Medeltid by Fotevikens museum (pamflet)
  • Knut den store och sveariket, Slaget vid Helgeå i ny belysning by Bo Gräslund
  • Lag och rätt på vikingatiden och tidig medeltid by Karl-Fredrik Wasén

Finland

  • Svenskhatet – och Finlands två verkligheter by Jan Cederholm
  • Finlands historia by Fredrik Meinander

Stockholm

  • Stockholms historia by Lars Ericsson-Wolke
  • Stockholm – en historia i kartor och bilder by Helena Friman och Göran Söderström
  • I Medeltidens Stockholm by Göran Dahlbäck

Early history

  • Svitjods undergång och Sveriges födelse by Henrik Lindström och Fredrik Lindström
  • Historien om Sverige – från islossning till vikingatid by Herman Lindquist

The Chernobyl disaster

  • P3 Dokumentär – Tjernobylolyckan (Swedish national radio documentary)
  • 35 år efter Tjernobylolyckan – Strålsäkerhetsmyndigheten (Swedish government official report)

Miscellaneous

  • Sveriges historia i årtal by Lars M Andersson and Lena Amurén
  • Svenska traditioner by Ebbe Schön
  • Sveriges regenter by Lars O Lagerquist
  • Stockholms Sommarolympier 1896-2008, by Stockholms Sports History Association
  • Stockholm 1912 – Första Moderna Olympiska Spelen, by Christer Isaksson

In Danish

Middle Ages

  • Ufredens hav : en 600 år gammel sørøverhistorie fra Østersøen, by Olaf Olsen
  • Danmark, Slesvig og Holsten 1404-1448 : konflikt og konsekvens, by Markus Hedemann
  • Kalmarunionen og nordisk politik 1319-1439, by Aksel E. Christensen