Description

What happens when scholars cross outside the perceived 'boundaries' of their discipline? What problems arise when a scholar trained in one field employs materials or methodologies from an adjacent subject area, engaging with new sources, research methodologies, and traditions, and how can such issues be resolved? Taking as its starting point the increasing shift towards interdisciplinarity seen within Viking-age studies, this collection of essays aims to explore the benefits and pitfalls that can arise from crossing disciplinary borders in this area, and to gain new knowledge about how to address issues that have occurred in previous examples of interdisciplinary combinations. The volume draws together contributions from authors in different disciplines, among them philology, history, archaeology, literary studies, folklore studies and history of religion, in order to hold a constructive and multi-perspective discussion on the benefits and issues arising from interdisciplinary research in studies of the Viking Age. Together, these chapters aim to bridge the gap that often exists between scholars from adjacent fields of research, and in doing so, to stimulate the trend in interdisciplinary approaches to research that can improve our understanding of the past.