Tom Christensen, John Ljungkvist & Neil Price, Viking Dynasties – The Royal Families of Lejre and Uppsala Between Archaeology and Text, Jutland Archaeological Society, 2025. 622 pp., illustrated, hardcover. ISBN: 978-87-93423-10-7.
With contributions by Julie Nielsen, Rudolf Gustavsson, Daniel Sävborg, Niels Lund,
Ole Thirup Kastholm, Sandie Holst, Per Frölund, Daniel Löwenborg & Emma Sjöling.
Major publication sheds new light on Scandinavia’s earliest kingdoms. A unique Danish-Swedish collaboration uncovers the traces of two legendary Viking Age dynasties.
The royal sites of Lejre and Gamla Uppsala loom large in Nordic history and folklore, as aristocratic power centres founded by descendants of the gods. This book, and the six-year project of which it is the result, presents a unique Danish-Swedish interdisciplinary collaboration between historians, saga scholars, and archaeologists to explore these iconic sites and the roots of Scandinavia’s earliest kingdoms.
With almost no contemporary records from within Scandinavia, the histories of the early Viking Age kings of Denmark and Sweden have largely been shaped by foreign chroniclers and medieval legends – each adding layers of myth and bias. The team of authors examines these elusive records alongside striking new archaeological discoveries at both sites, revealing high-status environments.
Deliberately embracing debate without necessarily reaching consensus, the authors present the state of the art in our understanding of the dynasties that would reshape the
Northern world.
Viking Dynasties – The Royal Families of Lejre and Uppsala Between Archaeology and Text is published in collaboration with the National Museum of Denmark and Uppsala University. The publication initiated and funded by the Krogager Foundation.
