Medieval Scandinavia at SASS and the Medieval Academy
Part II of our series of summer 2009 Conference Previews.
It didn’t take very long to find the Scandinavian content in the programme for the 2009 Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, which will be in Chicago from 26-29 March. It looks like there’s just one paper:
16.15 on Friday: Marianne Kalinke, ‘The Arthurian Legend in Breta sögur: Historiography on the Cusp of Romance’
The Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Studies’ meeting in Madison, Wisconsin (30 April-2 May) unsurprisingly has a stronger medieval Scandinavian component. It looks like being a strong strand in the programme this year:
Old Norse: Philology (Friday, 08.30)
Chair: Jackson Crawford
1) Collin Olson, “Beowulf: The Value of the Scandinavian Analogues”
2) Valentine Pakis, “Centaurs, Aurochs, and the Names of the U-Rune”
3) Molly Jacobs, “Lokasenna and Old French fabliaux”
4) Thor Templin, “Snorri’s ‘Republic’: Comparing the Rigsthula with Plato’s Republic and Indo-European Class Structure”
Old Norse: New Approaches (Friday, 10.30)
Chair: John Lindow
1) Carrie Roy, “Fastening, Fixing and Binding: Exploring the Transcendent through Norse Material Culture”
2) Susanne Fahn, “Scribbles with Potential: The Importance of Marginalia in Icelandic Manuscripts.
3) Zoe Borovsky, “ePhilology, Giants and Old Norse”
4) Helga Hlaðgerður Lúthers, “Clashes in the Classroom: Scandinavian Studies Meets the Popular North”
Medieval Art History (Friday, 13.30)
1) Kaaren Grimstad & Michelle Nordtorp-Madson, “Pictures without Words and Words without Pictures: A Case Study of the Niflung Legend”
2) Lori Talcott, “The Norwegian Bolesølje: A Microcosm of Medieval Aesthetics and Belief”
3) Karl Aspelund, “National Culture by Stealth and Design: How a 19th Century Artist and a Secret Society Defined 20th Century Icelandic Cultural Tradition”
Old Norse: Institutions in Sagas (Saturday, 10.30)
Chair: Scott Mellor
1) Verena Hoefig, “Origin of a Political and Religious Elite: The Icelandic Goðar”
2) Felicia Becerra, “Finding the Moral of Hrafnkels Saga: A Study of Kinship”
3) Adam Oberlin, “Hákon Hákonarson’s Norway and Crusading as Institution”
4) Sirpa Aalto, “Categorizing Otherness in the Kings’ Sagas”
Old Norse: Myth (Saturday, 13.30)
Chair: Jack Niles
1) Merrill Kaplan, “Odin Gets a Head: Mímir, Seiðr, and Völsa Þáttr”
2) James L Frankki, “If the Gods Can Do It, Why Can’t I?: Cross-dressing in the Poetic Edda”
3) Céline Leduc, “Sacrifices in the Icelandic Eddas”
Nordic Saints (Saturday, 15.30)
Chair: Natalie Van Deusen
1) Joel Anderson, “The Miraculous Water of Gudmundr Arason and the Limits of Holiness in Medieval Iceland”
2) Thomas DuBois, “Birgitta’s Visions in Context”
3) John Lindow, “Olafr Geirstadaalfr and St. Olafr”
4) Tracey R Sands, “Clothing and Bodily Adornment in the Revelations of Saint Birgitta”
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