ABSTRACT
Michel Foucault once stated: ‘It is surprising how long the problem of space took to emerge as a historico-political problem.’ The lack of interest in spatial analysis in history stems from the fact that historical discourse has too often concentrated on the essentially physical view of space, which is seen as imbued with a sense of primordiality and objectivity. The organization of space is a product of social translation, transformation, and experience. Space, along with time, is a cultural sub-text, that is, a fundamental cultural framework. Ideas about space have been of widespread concern to scholars of Old Norse culture, especially those interested in archaeological models. Command of space is a fundamental and all-pervasive source of social power, which is why the formation of heterotopias is such a fundamental element of the hegemonic discourse at any given location or period.
