Memories of Viking Age Cultural Contact: England in the Íslendingasögur

English historical texts are clear on the Scandinavian presence in England during the Viking Age (ca.793–ca.1066), frequently characterising such cultural contact as defined by conflict. This is, however, a one-sided perspective. The Scandinavian cultures which contributed to the viking phenomenon left no written record of how they self-identified or perceived their own actions. This paper argues that some sense of a Scandinavian perception of Viking Age cultural contact with England can be constructed from the Íslendingasögur [sagas of Icelanders]. The corpus records around thirty journeys to England, all of which are here surveyed and the intent of the cultural contact they imply categorized: commonly as trade or settlement or royal service, only rarely as “viking”. The manner of these interactions illuminates Icelandic perceptions, and serves to create a more complete picture, of Anglo-Scandinavian cultural contact in the Viking Age.