Viking Age: A Historiographical Analysis

Historiography can be defined as the study and interpretation of historical writing. It is “understanding how historians of the past conceived of their projects and the methods they used.” A historiographical analysis studies the history of historical writing on a variety of topics such as the Vikings. When mankind usually thinks about the Vikings, they think of strong male warriors raiding villages and sailing the seas on their long ships. In fact, “Vikings are irredeemably male in the popular imagination.” Nevertheless, Norse women were part of the Viking Age and they had their own influences. Judith Jesch and Jenny Jochens both would argue that Norse women also had their own impact on the Viking Age. With their arguments, theoretical …show more content…
One thing that is commonly praised about the book is that it is the first book to be written that conducts an in-depth analysis on women in the Viking Age. German historians claim that “in the individual chapters, the author is well aware of the danger of over interpretation or circular loops and treats the respective material accordingly.” It appears that Jesch’s book is mostly praised for its organization and for its wide use of sources. Jenny Jochens herself praised Jesch’s book on Viking women. In a review, Jochens says that “the book is a fine example of the interdisciplinary nature of both viking and women's studies.” Jochens then goes on to say “more descriptive than analytical, this is, nonetheless, a sober and level-headed work that deserves a wide readership.” Similar to Jesch, Jochens’ book, Women in Old Norse Society, has also been praised by other historians. For example, historians praise Jochens for being “the only historian in the United States to use gender analysis to study the society represented in that literature.” According to Christine L. Hanson, she claims that “Jochens has culled mundane descriptions by thirteenth-writers to piece together not only an account of the various roles played by the nearly invisible women of that society.” One common criticism historians have with Jochens’ book is her chapter on leisure. It is also one of the shortest chapters in her book. Christine L. Hanson says that Jochens’ chapter on leisure “added little to the overall picture of women's behavior and their roles in society.” This part of the book can be seen as its weakest point because it lacks and offers little new information about women in Old Norse