Introduction
Abstract The Introduction acquaints the reader with medieval Iceland and sketches the two key problems with which this book engages: how violence in history is to be understood, and how the history of medieval Iceland is to be reconstructed. It introduces the sources and acquaints readers with the a...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | unknown |
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Oxford University PressOxford
2021
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198866046.003.0001 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/46891502/oso-9780198866046-chapter-1.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract The Introduction acquaints the reader with medieval Iceland and sketches the two key problems with which this book engages: how violence in history is to be understood, and how the history of medieval Iceland is to be reconstructed. It introduces the sources and acquaints readers with the accepted portrait of medieval Iceland, outlines the importance of risk and uncertainty for analysing violence, and lays out the structure of the book. By comparing the practice of violence to religion and education, the Introduction suggests that violence performs a critical function in imposing a tidy ethical order on chaotic reality |
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