Brad Marshall, Emma L. Thompson, Alexander Wilson and Marianne Hem Eriksen

Abstract

The Vikings have been characterised as one of the most stereotyped past cultures. This article challenges static representations of Viking bodies by exploring their diverse and referential body-worlds. We propose a more dynamic view where Viking bodies could be fluid, unbounded, and entangled with human and non-human entities. Using a more-than-representational approach and concepts of body-worlding, we move beyond conventional categorisations and dichotomies to reveal the complex network of bodies and beings populating this period. Through three case studies – body modification, portrayals of differently-abled bodies, and multitemporal burial practices – we argue that Viking bodies encompassed unique ontologies that differ profoundly from modern perspectives and invite readers to rethink the Viking past on terms closer to its own.

Keywords: Vikings, body-worldings, more-than-representationalism, body modification, differently-abled bodies, multitemporality

Full text: Picturing Bodies_2_Marshall-Thompson-Wilson-Eriksen

DOI: 10.5456/issn.2050-3679/2025w02

Biographical note 
Brad Marshall is a PhD Postgraduate Researcher on the BODY-POLITICS project at the University of Leicester. His research focuses on childhood and the life-course in Late Iron and Viking Age Scandinavia, taking a multistranded approach incorporating bio- and mortuary archaeology and social theory to explore past experiences, lifeways, and deathscapes.
Emma L. Thompson is a PhD Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Leicester, funded by the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership. Her research explores how migration and changing religions influenced the constructions of mortuary identities across England and Denmark in the Viking Age.
Alexander Wilson is a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the BODY-POLITICS project at the University of Leicester. His research focuses on the interaction of Old Norse texts with practices of violence and legality. He has published on saga narratology and the construction of desire and sexuality in medieval texts.
Marianne Hem Eriksen leads the ERC StG-funded BODY-POLITICS project. She is Research Professor at the National Museum of Denmark, an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker, and a Philip Leverhulme Prize winner. Her research interests include gender, politics, bodies, power, and architecture, as well as archaeological theory.