10 February 2007

Erling & Magnus

Gabriele, I've gone through my bookshelf, but there's not much there about Erling and Magnus. My mum has a book though, Norges konger og dronninger (Kunnskapsforlaget, Aschehoug & Gyldendal, 2005). It contains an article about Magnus Erlingsson (written by Knut Helle), and also a list of other books with information about him:

Fagrskinna
Heimskringla
Sverres saga
Boglunga Sogur
Norske middelalderdokumenter, nr.7, 8 & 10, published and translated by S. Bagge and others, 1973
A biography of Magnus Erlingsson from Dansk biografisk leksikon 1, volume 9, by H. Koht, 1940
Konge og gode menn i norsk riksstyring ca. 1150-1319, by K. Helle, 1972
Norge blir en stat 1130-1319, by K. Helle, from Handbok i Norges historie, volume 3, 1974


There is some information about this period in my history book as well, but not much (we only have history three hours a week, and this year we have to cover everything from the first humans to 1850, so there isn't much time for detail). However, my schoolbook about Norwegian history does have a list of "recommended books" after each chapter. For the chapter about the vikings, early christianity in Norway and the civil wars, the list is as follows:

Gunnes, Erik: Rikssamling og kristning ca. 800-1177. Cappelens norgeshistorie, volume 2, Oslo 1976
Andersen, Per Sveaas: Samlingen av Norge og kristningen av landet. Håndbok i Norges historie, volume 2, Oslo 1977
Krag, Claus: Vikingtid og rikssamling 800-1130. Aschehougs norgeshistorie, volume 2, Oslo 1995
Alnæs, Karsten: Det ligger et land. Historien om Norge, volume 2, Oslo 1996
Sigurdsson, Jon Vidar: Frå høvdingmakt til konge- og kyrkjemakt. Norsk historie 800-1300, volume 1, Oslo 1999
Moseng, Ole Georg and others: Norsk historie I: 750-1537, Oslo 1999
Krag, Claus: Norges historie fram til 1319, Oslo 2000

The last three are written for university students, while the others are meant for a broader audience. They're not specifically about Magnus and Erling though.

Also, I'm going to Vitenskapsmuseet in Trondheim on Monday, for some sort of career's advice thingy. I'm supposed to be finding out more about being an archaeologist (what sort of education you need, wages, employment possibilities, etc.) but I doubt they'll mind if I ask questions about history. I'll ask if they know any good websites or books about Erling and Magnus.

If you need any other information about Norwegian history (especially stuff related to Trondheim), or want a Trondheim plotbunny, just say so, and I'll do my best on Monday :)

6 comments:

Gabriele Campbell said...

Wow, that was fast. Thank you very much.

Do you have the editors of the first book? The online search system of our University library is supposed to have a title search but if often fails while author names work. I can get some of the other books, and I have an exemplar of the Sverres saga hiding among the 3000 books on my shelves. One of these days I should start catalogising them. :)

It's for my first novel, a plot-less mess with badly researched historical background I wrote in 2001-02, and it sucketh. Most of the time the horror lurks in my files, but since I like the characters and some scenes, I keep getting back to it, esp. when my interest is triggered by something - like an essay. And this time it looks like I've found a solution: add some magic stones and call it Historical Fantasy. But I still prefer to get the background somewhat correct.

Archaelogy sounds fascinating though I'm not sure about the job chances. Knowing German would prove an advantage after what I've heard from people on the Roman Army Talk forum and other places. Might not be difficult to learn for you; it's closely enough to Norse and Dutch. Latin is still required at least in Germany, tough I'm not sure whether Greek is - it was back in the 1980ies.

Smarty said...

The editor of Norges konger og dronninger is called Jon Gunnar Arntzen.

3000 books? *drools* Catalogising them is probably a good idea ;) I've got one shelf for history books, mythology & the like, one for "classics", one for schoolbooks and dictionaries, and one shelf for the rest. Plus another twenty or so books on my bedside table. Though I'm still not sure whether I should put them in alphabetical or chronological order, or just after size...

Here in Norway there aren't any specific requirements for studying archaeology. You just have to finish high school and have ca 51 points (unless my grades suddenly plummet I'll have about 65 points). Very few schools in Norway offer Latin, so that's not required.
But I'm probably not going to study here, I want to live someplace near Roman ruins ;)

I've thought about teaching myself German next year. I won't have French anymore then, and a whole year without learning languages will be terrible...

Gabriele Campbell said...

German or Latin. German may prove more useful, but Latin is easier if you don't have a way to learn the pronounciation.

Wanting to live near Roman ruins - well that would leave the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy ... You could come to Göttingen, lol.

Smarty said...

Oh, German pronounciation won't be a problem - just about everyone in my family speaks German, and my grandmother is from Germany. I'll have plenty of people to talk to:P

I've thought about studying in the Netherlands. Utrecht would be absolutely wonderful, but there's no archaeology study there :(

Mikaela said...

You do know that the University of Stockholm has an online internet Latin Course?
Oh, Gabrielle, I did a search on Magnus Erlingsson, and I found this book:
Magnus Erlingssons privilegiebrev og kongevigsle.
It is pretty old though, so I am not sure if it is availble in the shops.

Smarty said...

Thanks booklover, I'll check out Stockholm Uni :)