Aarhus Universitet
University of Aarhus
På Nordisk Institut ved Aarhus Universitet underviser og forsker vi i nordisk middelalderlitteratur, herunder sagaer, hagiografi, historieskrivning, nordisk mytologi og folkeviser. Vores tilgang til studiet af vikingetiden og middelalderen er fortrinsvis litteraturvidenskabelig og kulturhistorisk. I hvert semester underviser vi i en række emner om nordisk mytologi med fokus på mytologiens reception fra vikingetiden og frem til i dag. Vi udbyder en 1-årig uddannelse inden for området og arrangerer hvert år et intensivkursus i juli måned om den islandske sagalitteratur.
Ved Aarhus Universitet er der desuden et aktivt tværfagligt forskningsmiljø, og hvert semester udbydes der kurser inden for vikingetidens og middelalderens arkæologi, historie, religions- og kunsthistorie. Det tværfakultære Center for Vikingetids- og Middelalderstudier udbyder jævnligt tværfaglig undervisning, hvor undervisere fra forskellige fagområder indgår.
Nedenfor følger en oversigt over kurser i 2008-2009.
Institut for Antropologi, Arkæologi og Lingvistik
Viking Age Archaeology
v/ Søren M. Sindbæk og Else Roesdal and guest teachers
Starts September 2008
10 ECTS (MA)
This course gives a comprehensive survey of the archaeology of Viking Age Scandinavia, together with an introduction to the Viking experience abroad, and it draws lines of comparison to early medieval societies elsewhere in Europe. It aims to give first-hand knowledge of the material evidence and cultural dynamics of the North, including: agrarian economy, settlement and social ties; housing and daily life; kings, power and display; war and conflict; technologies; art and ornaments. The course includes ’hands-on’ demonstrations of original artefacts and introduction to laboratory analysis of artefactual and ecological evidence.
Communication and exchange in Viking and Medieval Europe
v/ Bjørn Poulsen, Søren M. Sindbæk, and guest teachers
Starts September 2008
10 ECTS (MA)
This interdisciplinary thematic course dissects the impact of communication and exchange within and between Scandinavian and other societies in Northern Europe ca. 500-1350. Drawing on contributions from archaeology, history, anthropology and numismatics, it will re-assess key tenets of Early Medieval economic history, including the crucial development of money and its use.
From Asgaard to Midgaard - the Materiality of Viking Age religion
v/ Mads D. Jessen og Andres Dobat
Starts September 2008
10 ECTS (MA)
The Old Norse written sources convey a complex mythological world and a multifaceted cosmology. However, in fact they contain very little information on Viking Age religious life. We need to include the variety of archaeological sources to find answers on questions such as: How were the mythological characters incorporated into the lives and thoughts of people and what was their function? How was religion practiced, and what was the background and meaning of cultic rituals? What was the impact of religion upon social aspects such as economy, warfare or politics? How was religious behaviour changed during the time of conversion? These are some of the questions which will be addressed in the course. Therefore, the primary objective will be to study the material record – the archaeological sources on Viking Age religion.
Place and landscape
v/ NN
Starts February 2009
10 ECTS (MA)
This course considers Viking culture and society from the perspective of place. It examines the cultural significance of sites and monuments within the frame of landscapes, and analyzes the cultural construction of ‘place’ – the socialization of space in relation to natural topography, ecology and power-landscapes. The course includes an excursion to sites and monuments in a selected study-area.
Afdeling for Religionsvidenskab
Old Norse Religion
v/ NN
Starts September 2008
10 ects (MA)
This course discusses the main functions Old Norse mythology had in the pagan religion of Scandinavia. The relation between myth and religion will thus be the focus, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective.
Nordisk Institut
Old Norse-Icelandic literature
v/ NN
Starts September 2008
10 ECTS (MA)
This course concentrates on medieval Icelandic literature and the way this literature took shape. Selected texts from a variety of genres, early historical works, Icelandic sagas, the prose edda and eddaic poetry, will be read from a literary perspective. Students will gain an overview of the extensive literary production of medieval Iceland and an insight in scholarly debates concerning the literature.
Old Norse Myth: The Sources and their Problems
v/ NN
Starts September 2008
10 ECTS (MA)
This course offers an introduction to the principal sources for the study of Old Norse mythology as well as insight into the problems surrounding the interpretation and understanding of these sources. Different groups of sources – textual and material, poetic and prosaic, Scandinavian and non-Scandinavian – will be read and examined with an emphasis on the written sources. Students will learn about source-critical problems, and different positions on the sources and their methodological implications will be discussed. Students should acquire an overview of the sources for the study of Old Norse mythology and gain a solid understanding of the methodological problems involved in studying medieval texts as sources of information about the pre-Christian period.
Myth and Memory
v/ NN
Starts February 2009
10 ECTS (MA)
This course discusses various ways in which medieval Icelandic literature, including sagas and eddas, can be studied as memories of the Viking Age. Attention will be paid to the constructed memory of the past and to the problems of representation. It will be discussed how the literature can be seen as interpretations of history and cultural memory, rather than a recording of facts. Topics that will be addressed are the medieval uses of pagan myths, the sagas’ status as history or fiction, and cultural memory.
Old Norse Myth in Medieval and Modern Times
v/ NN
Starts February 2009
10 ECTS (MA)
This course concentrates on the reception of Old Norse myth in medieval and modern times. A central concern of the course is to study the various ways in which the Icelandic authors of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries used myth as a point of reference to recreate the past in literary records. What role did the pagan past play in the literary reconstruction of history? And what kind of attitudes towards paganism and Old Norse myth do we find in medieval sources? Alongside the discussion of how the medieval authors incorporated Old Norse myth into different historical writings, the course will focus on various modern responses within fiction, art and politics.
LINKS
University of Aarhus
The Faculty of Arts
Center for Vikingetids- og Middelalderstudier
Afdeling for Religionsvidenskab
Institut for Historie og Områdestudier
Institut for Antropologi, Arkæologi og Lingvistik
NORDISK SPROG, LITTERATUR OG KULTUR 700-1500
KOORDINATOR
Rolf Stavnem
Aarhus Universitet
ADRESSE
Afdeling for Nordisk Sprog og Litteratur
Bygning 1467
Jens Chr. Skous Vej 7
8000 Århus C
MAIL
norrs@hum.au.dk