Western Silver from the East : Hiberno-Norse and Gotlandic contacts in the Viking Age

Sammanfattning: In my previous thesis I wrote about what features that characterize the Hiberno-Norse identity in Ireland during the Viking Age/Early Medieval period and the origin of these features. I also discussed whether they are to be viewed as a creolized Scandinavian society or as a hybrid culture with focus on said features. In this thesis I will attempt to shift the focus towards 9th and 10th century Gotland. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if there were some connections between the Hiberno-Norse world and Gotland. I will focus on one particular hypothesis regarding the early import of Islamic dirhams, particularly Samanid silver to Ireland. The idea is to examine if a trading network might have existed and, in essence, to establish that there were connections between the Hiberno-Norse world and Gotland.