Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia

The interdisciplinary study investigates the relationship between Norse and Saami peoples in the medieval period and focuses on the multifaceted portrayal of Saami peoples in medieval texts. The investigative analysis is anchored in postcolonial methodologies and argues for the inherent need to decolonize the medieval source material as well as recent historiography. This is achieved by presenting the historiographic and political background of research into Norse-Saami relations, before introducing an overview of textual sources discussing Saami peoples from the classical period to the late 1400s, an analysis of the textual motifs associated with the Saami in medieval literature, their relevance and prevalence, geopolitical affairs, trading relations, personal relations, and Saami presence in the south. By using decolonizing tools to read Norse-Saami relations in medieval texts, influenced by archaeological material and postcolonial frameworks, the study challenges lingering colonial assumptions about the role of the Saami in Norse society. The current research episteme is readjusted to offer alternative readings of Saami characters, with an emphasis on agency, fluidity, and the dynamic realities of the Saami medieval past.