Conference Presentations by Benjamin Harrison
During the thirteenth century, the Norwegian royal hirð underwent a meaningful change – transform... more During the thirteenth century, the Norwegian royal hirð underwent a meaningful change – transforming itself from an unruly band of bodyguards into a European-modelled court. This development was instigated by King Hákon Hákonarson, who wished to bring Norway closer to both its continental neighbours as well as the Papacy. This effort led to many great didactic works, such as the text Konungs skuggsjá (The King's Mirror). The text is pedagogical and advisory in nature, likely created for the tutelage of Hákon's future heir. It has been claimed that its secondary objective was to instil a change of values to the kings hirð through the dissemination of courtly culture. Current historiography has mainly focused on how the text sought to use courtly ideals to change the social attitudes of its audience. The aim of this paper is to support the idea that Hákon made use of Konungs skuggsjá as a didactic tool in a conscious attempt to develop his hirðmenn into a more sophisticated, devoted group, and then appraise how the text encouraged a further division between the commoners and the elite, promoting a coterie focused around the king. Through a focused study of Konungs skuggsjá, I will examine its pedagogic nature to analyse the didactic methods used to entice the king's men to more devotedly serve their monarch. Consequently, it will be assessed how the text sought to use courtly culture as a method to have aristocrats voluntarily segregate themselves further from the rest of society, centring themselves around the king. Ultimately, this paper intends to contribute knowledge to our understanding of how Konungs skuggsjá was applied to the royal hirð, and showcase how elements of courtly culture were introduced to encourage the hirðmenn to segregate themselves from other societal ranks on the premise of gaining closer relations to the king.
Papers by Benjamin Harrison
During the thirteenth century, the Norwegian royal hirð underwent a significant change – developi... more During the thirteenth century, the Norwegian royal hirð underwent a significant change – developing from an unruly band of bodyguards into a European-modelled court. This development was instigated by King Hákon IV Hákonarson, by introducing courtly culture to his hirð. This article focuses on two texts that were used as tools in this process: Konungs skuggsjá, an educational text that dealt with politics and morality, and Hirðskrá, a legal codex that concerned the laws and actions of the hirð. The aim of this article is to support the idea of the Norwegian kings making use of these texts as didactic tools in a conscious attempt to develop their hirðmenn into a more sophisticated, devoted group. The article examines the texts’ pedagogic natures in order to analyse the didactic methods used to entice the king’s men to more devotedly serve their monarch, and subsequently assesses how the texts sought to use courtly culture as a method to make aristocrats voluntarily segregate themselves further from the rest of society, centring themselves around the king. Ultimately, this article intends to contribute further knowledge to our understanding of how both these texts were aimed at and applied to the royal hirð, and showcase how the hirðmenn were encouraged to voluntarily alter their attitudes and isolate themselves on the premise of gaining closer relations to the king.
Book Reviews by Benjamin Harrison
Outreach and Engagement by Benjamin Harrison
With his penchant for cutting the lives of his characters short, George R. R. Martin’s Game of Th... more With his penchant for cutting the lives of his characters short, George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series provides readers and viewers with the opportunity to use his fantasy world to reflect on the complicated and entangled spheres of life and death, nuancing their understandings of real-world histories. This short interactive talk used the characterisations of several of the powerful women of Westeros to demonstrate and explore the complexity of Viking-Age archaeology and the medieval period more broadly. The event, hosted by award-winning author and comedian Helen Keen, was one of the University of Aberdeen's flagship events for Explorathon 2017 and brought together researchers from across the sciences and humanities.
Uploads
Conference Presentations by Benjamin Harrison
Papers by Benjamin Harrison
Book Reviews by Benjamin Harrison
Outreach and Engagement by Benjamin Harrison