This book was first published in Swedish in 2009. During the last decade research on friendship has become much more firmly established than it was when I wrote the first edition. The state of research has therefore been updated and certain clarifications have been added to make this book more suitable for an international audience. When I was completing the first version, a number of people assisted with critical scrutiny of the manuscript and insightful comments to give the text greater logical clarity than it had initially. For this I am very grateful to Professor Thomas Lindkvist, Gothenburg University, Docent Samuel Edquist, Uppsala University, Professor Brian P. McGuire, Roskilde University, alas, now the late Professor Birgit Sawyer, Uppsala, Professor Eva Österberg, Lund University, the personnel at Lödöse Museum, and the members of the “State Team” of the Nordic Centre for Medieval Studies under the leadership of Professor Sverre Bagge. I must thank Docent Wojtek Jezierski, Gothenburg University, for encouraging me to publish an English translation, and for providing valuable hints and advice in the course of the work on this revised version. I would also like to thank the project leaders, Hans Jacob Orning and Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, for giving me the chance to work in the stimulating research environment at the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.
Alan Crozier has translated this text, and I owe him a great debt of thanks for his exceptional precision, valuable comments, and stimulating dialogue about the form of the text. The translation would not have been possible without financial support. My thanks go to the following foundations for generous grants: Konung Gustaf VI Adolfs fond för svensk kultur, Per Lindekrantz’ fond, Sven och Dagmar Saléns stiftelse, and Helge Ax:son Johnsons stiftelse.
Lars Hermanson
Gothenburg, January 2019