Ideology and Power in the Viking and Middle Ages : Scandinavia Iceland Ireland Orkney and the Faeroes Introduction: Ideology and power in the Viking and Middle Ages : Scandinavia Iceland Ireland Orkney and the Faeroes Gro Steinsland Origin myths and rulership : from the Viking Age ruler to the ruler of medieval historiography : continuity transformations and innovations Gro Steinsland Kings earls and chieftains : rulers in Norway Orkney and Iceland c. 900 1300 Jón Viðar Sigurðsson Jarla sögur Orkneyja : status and power of the earls of Orkney according to their sagas Ian Beuermann An arena for higher powers : cult buildings and rulers in the late Iron Age and the early medieval period in the Malar region Olof Sundqvist From wine in a goblet to milk in cowdung : the transformation of early Christian kings in three post Viking tales from Ireland Jan Erik Rekdal The warrior in Old Norse religion Jens Peter Schjodt Oðinn Valhöll and the Einherjar : eschatological myth and ideology in the late Viking period Anders Hultgard Family matters : the cultus of the Scandinavian royal martyrs Joanna A. Skorzewska Conclusions: The long adaptation of pagan and Christian ideologies of rulership Ian Beuermann