The most familiar literature produced in Medieval Scandinavia consists of sagas of adventure and myths about Norse gods and heroes. But the earliest texts, apart from inscribed runes, preserved from that time and place are in Latin. In the late 11th century, the German chronicler Adam of Bremen recorded some statements made by the Danish king Sven Estridsen about Danish history; next, an account of the life and death of Sven's son Canute IV ("king and martyr") was written, most likely in Denmark. In the 12th century, basic king-lists were composed, and then, the beginnings of Danish history-writing emerged in the anonymous Chronicles of Roskilde and Lejre, dealing with more recent and more ancient times respectively. As more extensive histories came to be composed in Latin, by Sven Aggeson and by the most famous medieval Danish author, Saxo Grammaticus, the vernacular oral tradition also began to be recorded in the celebrated Eddas and Sagas.
This website focuses on the early Latin texts from Denmark; it was produced for and by the LATIN 220 class (and a concurrent independent study project for two students) at Augustana College in the Spring term of 2019. The translations and annotations of the Chronicle of Roskilde and the Chronicle of Lejre were produced partly by students working independently, partly through classroom discussion, and partly by the instructor, Mischa Hooker. Compilation of material, including preparation of the Latin texts and website construction, was done by the instructor. Each student was also responsible for composing a brief interpretive / research essay. In the class: Sean Bennington, Shawn Geison, Kyler Gossett, Mia Lambert, Andre Morgan, Cassidy Potter, Jamie Suiter, Daniel Warren. The initial work was supplemented by some ongoing work by the instructor, including the addition of public-domain Danish translations to some of the texts; and in Spring 2021, another independent study project (Shawn Geison) produced a draft translation of the Passio Kanuti, which was reworked and revised by Mischa Hooker for a final draft.
For citation purposes, Mischa Hooker is the overall editor; the site's title is Documents of Early Danish and Viking History. Separable individual student contributions (e.g., the interpretive / research essays) have the individual author's initials listed at the foot of the page; see above for full names.