Guides: Alumni Travel Reading 2018-2019: Scottish Isles & Norwegian Fjords

Scotland: History & Culture

Scotland by Magnus Magnusson
Call Number: DA760 .M24 2000
ISBN: 0871137984
Publication Date: 2001
Very readable one volume history of a “nation of storytellers”, a people who hold their literary and oral traditions close to their hearts. Magnusson begins the story in ancient Scotland (before there were any "Scots" in it), moves into semimythic figures like Macbeth and Wallace, and then to the modern era of union with England and revived Scottish nationalism. By starting each chapter with a lively excerpt from an earlier Scottish history, Sir Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, the author gives his work a charming storybook feel.
The Invention of Scotland: Myth and History by Hugh R. Trevor-Roper
Call Number: DA759 .T74 2008
ISBN: 9780300136869
Publication Date: 2008
Fascinating analysis of three myths that have played a central role in the historical development of Scottish identity: the political myth of the “ancient constitution” of Scotland; the literary myth, including Walter Scott as well as Ossian and ancient poetry; and the sartorial myth of tartan and the kilt, invented—ironically, by Englishmen—in quite modern times.
Scotland: A Graphic History by Jeff Fallow
Call Number: DA760 .F34 2013
ISBN: 1908373121
Publication Date: 2014
Yes, a comic book history of Scotland! And yes, as a quick pimer it does a remarkable job covering the political history of Scotland. The author is clearly a Scottish nationalist but that is no handicap for a book like this.

Orkney

Callanish Stones, Orkney. Courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.

Viking History & Culture

Vikings by Neil Oliver
Call Number: DL65 .O45 2012
Publication Date: 2012
This is a very accessible general history of the Vikings by the creator of a BBC documentary also called Vikings. Oliver covers the whole sweep of Viking history, beginning with the prehistoric ancestors of the Scandinavian peoples, and builds up a picture of a society through archaeological evidence, grave goods and wall paintings. He also includes the less familiar side of the Vikings as merchants, traders and settlers. Drawing on monastic chronicles and sagas alongside more archaeology, he is able to create a very vivid picture of the Vikings both in their Scandinavian homeland and in their diaspora - Iceland, Greenland, the Scottish isles and Ireland, but also more unexpected places such as Russia and Constantinople.
Exploring the World of the Vikings by Richard Hall
Call Number: DL65 .H35 2007
ISBN: 0500051445
Publication Date: 2007
Another nice, very recent survey of Viking history, this one with many great illustrations. The author is one of the foremost archaeologists of Viking culture. He does a good job covering the latest archaeological discoveries, from burials to hoards to settlements with plenty of photographs, drawings, site plans, reconstructions and maps.

BBC Documentary: Vikings

Still from BBC Documentary with viking boat recreation

To view the full documentary please visit YouTube at the following link: The Vikings: Who Were They?

Scottish Isles & Norwegian Fjords

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland. Courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org.

Bibliographer

Selected and Annotated by:
Robert Walther
Penn Libraries Literature Bibliographer, Retired.

Revised and updated by Kelsey LeClair
Penn Dental Library

For more information about this and other Penn excursions, please visit the Penn Alumni Travel webpage.

Glasgow

Glasgow Cathedral. Image by Harry McGregor. Obtained on flickr with a Creative Commons license.

Glasgow in 1901 by James Hamilton Muir (Illustrator)
Call Number: DA890.G5 M96 2001
ISBN: 1873487096
Publication Date: 2002
Originally published 100 years ago, this book celebrates Glasgow at the dawn of the 20th century. Richly illustrated with accompanying anecdotes about the city.

Scotland in Fiction

Beside the Ocean of Time by George MacKay Brown
Call Number: PR6052.R59 B76 1994
ISBN: 0719553687
Publication Date: 1994-06-01
The plot follows Thorfinn Ragnarson from Norday in the Orkney Islands of the 1930s. A son of a tenant farmer, Thorfinn regularly daydreams about historical fantasies. In a series of intriguing chapters, George Mackay Brown transforms Thorfinn into a Viking traveller, a freedom-fighter for Bonnie Prince Charlie and the colleague of a Falstaffian knight who participates in the Battle of Bannockburn. He is then hurled into the future as Thor, who returns to the Orkneys as an adult. Brown's lyrical descriptions and gift for local color are good at capturing the magic of the Orkneys.
The Lairds of Cromarty by Jean-Pierre Ohl; Mike Mitchell (Translator)
Call Number: PQ2715.H54 M34713 2012
ISBN: 1907650741
Publication Date: 2013
Mary Guthrie, a student of English at Edinburgh University becomes fascinated by the fantastical 17th century writer, Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty and sets out to write a thesis on him. She pursues her research in his ancestral home, Cromarty House, now a crumbling ruin. There under the current laird, Sir James she is drawn into an increasingly Gothic exploration of the history of the eccentric Urquharts and the maze of tunnels beneath the House. (Goodreads)

Norse & Scottish Art

Scottish Art by Murdo MacDonald
Call Number: N6772 .M23 2000
ISBN: 0500203334
Publication Date: 2000
Overview of Scottish art from prehistory to the present. Includes numerous black-and-white and color reproductions.
Gods and Settlers: The Iconography of Norse Mythology in Anglo-Scandinavian Sculpture by Lilla Kopar
Call Number: NB463 .K67 2012
ISBN: 9782503528540
Publication Date: 2013
Interdisciplinary study of Norse iconography in sculpture produced by Scandinavian settlers of Northern England.
100 Days of Hope and Fear: How Scotland's Referendum was Lost and Won by David Torrance
Call Number: Van Pelt Library JF497.G7 T67 2014
ISBN: 9781910021316
Publication Date: 2017
Scotland's independence referendum on 18 September 2014 was the most significant ballot in Scotland's history. The 100 days up to 18 September was the official campaign period. In this book, David Torrance presents his reporting throughout the campaign period leading up to the referendum.

Isle of Skye

Lime Stone Cottage in Bradford, IIse of Skye, Schottland. Image by Ingo Melronke. Obtained on flickr with Creative Commons license.

Auf dem Weg von Broadford nach Portree, Schottland. Image by Ingo Melronke. Obtained on flickr with Creative Commons license.

The Old Norse Sagas

These are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, in prose, mainly in Iceland. They represent one of the major contributions of Scandinavian culture to world literature. Most have been translated into English and they often read much like modern novels.

Njal's Saga by Leifur Eiricksson; Robert Cook
Call Number: PT7269.N4 E54 2002
ISBN: 0140447695
Publication Date: 2002
One of the longest and most famous sagas, this tells the story of a beautiful yet spiteful woman, Hallgerd, who begins a blood feud that burns for several decades between the Sigfussons and Njalssons. Njal himself being a man of law who has a close friendship with Gunnar (Hallgerd's husband) and finds himself caught up in the chain of events as they develop.
Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas by Gwyn Jones
Call Number: PT7262.E5 J6 1999
ISBN: 0192835300
Publication Date: 1999
The title saga chronicles the events that led to Eirik the Red's banishment to Greenland as well as Leif Ericson's discovery of Vinland the Good (present day Newfoundland?) after his longship was blown off course. The book also contains eight shorter sagas: "Hen-Thorir," "The Vapnfjord Men," "Thorstein Staff-Struck," "Hrafnkel the Priest of Frey," "Thidrandi whom the Goddesses Slew," "Authun and the Bear," "Gunnlaug Wormtongue," "King Hrolf and his Champions."
Grettir's Saga by Jesse Byock et al.
Call Number: PT7269.G7 E54 2009
ISBN: 9780192801524
Publication Date: 2009
This is the story of the life and death of Grettir, a great rebel, individualist, and outlaw. As a youth of sixteen Grettir kills a man and is outlawed; all the rest of his life he devotes, with remarkable composure, to fighting more and more formidable enemies. He becomes increasingly isolated, although he wishes to live in society, and indeed can hardly bear solitude. Driven back and forth from Iceland to Norway, harried around Iceland, he continually flees subjection and confinement only to find a perilous freedom beset both by the external hazards as well as loneliness and pride.

The Scottish Countryside

No Stone Unturned by Robert A. Dodgshon
Call Number: S460.H64 D63 2015
ISBN: 1474400744
Publication Date: 2015
Informative and thorough history of the Scottish countryside. Exploration from prehistory to present of how Highland society formed its farming communities.

The Referendum for an Independent Scotland

Scotland's Referendum and the Media by Neil Blain, editor
Call Number: Van Pelt Library JN1341 .S3853 2016
ISBN: 9780748696598
Publication Date: 2016
This book looks at how the Referendum campaign was reported in the Scottish media. Essays are written by scholars and journalists.
Yes: The Radical Case for Scottish Independence by Raman and Foley
Call Number: Van Pelt Library DA828 .R363 2014
ISBN: 9780745334752
Publication Date: 2014
A 'Yes' vote in the referendum on Scottish independence would have seen the break-up of the 300-year-old British union, This book is "an accessible polemic" written for progressives both north and south of the border. It argues that independence would reinvigorate liberal efforts in a neoliberal, post-Thatcher Britain.