Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia: An Interdisciplinary Study of Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period (Religious Minorities in the North, 5)

Open Access The interdisciplinary study investigates the relationship between Norse and Saami peoples in the medieval period and focuses on the multifaceted portrayal of Saami peoples in medieval texts. The investigative analysis is anchored in postcolonial methodologies and argues for the inherent need to decolonise the medieval source-material as well as recent historiography. This is achieved by presenting the historiographic and political background of research into Norse-Saami relations, before introducing an overview of textual sources discussing Saami peoples from the classical period to the late 1400s, an analysis of the textual motifs associated with the Saami in medieval literature (their relevance and prevalence), geo-political affairs, trading relations, personal relations and Saami presence in the south. By using decolonising tools to read Norse-Saami relations in medieval texts, influenced by archaeological material and postcolonial frameworks, the study challenges lingering colonial assumptions about the role of the Saami in Norse society. The current research episteme is re-adjusted to offer alternative readings of Saami characters and emphasis is put on agency, fluidity and the dynamic realities of the Saami medieval pasts. Preface 5 Contents 7 List of Figures 11 List of Abbreviations 13 Acknowledgements 17 Conventions 19 Chapter 1: Introduction 21 Chapter 2: Classical and Medieval Written Sources on the Saami 54 Chapter 3: The Saami Motif-Cluster 93 Chapter 4: Northern Fennoscandian Politics and Spatial Belonging 139 Chapter 5: The Saami Trade 171 Chapter 6: Liminal Identities and Fluid Spaces? Norse-Saami Personal Relationships 198 Chapter 7: Saami in the South: Sources and Societies 232 Reassessing Norse-Saami Relations in the Medieval Period: Conclusion 267 List of References 273 Index 293