ABSTRACT
This introduction sets the stage for the book, Franks and Northmen: From Strangers to Neighbors, highlighting the growth in knowledge and familiarity between the Frankish and Scandinavian peoples from the eighth to the tenth century. In addition to a brief description of the book’s chapters, this introduction puts forth the work’s central argument: that the transformation of the Northmen into Normans took place as the result of over a century of cross-cultural encounter rooted not just in Viking activity but also a host of other forms of communication and contact including trade, diplomacy, missionary work, and cooperative political endeavors.
