Reading list for
Aarhus Old Norse Summer school
Viking mythology and Religion
Judith Jesch
Runes and Religion
Jansson, Sven B. F., Runes in Sweden (1997), pp. 106-20, 162-75.
Moltke, Erik, Runes and their Origin: Denmark and elsewhere (1985), pp. 223-83.
'Spindle whorl', http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/409249
Spurkland, Terje, Norwegian Runes and Runic Inscriptions (2001), pp. 155-71.
Sigurd in the Viking Diaspora
Byock, Jesse, 'Sigurðr Fáfnisbani: An Eddic hero carved on Norwegian stave
churches', in Poetry in the Scandinavian Middle Ages. The Seventh International
Saga Conference, ed. Theresa Pàroli (1990), pp. 619-628. (Can also be
downloaded from
http://www.viking.ucla.edu/publications/articles/sigurdr%20_fafnisbani.pdf)
Faulkes, Anthony (trans.), Snorri Sturluson. Edda (1987), pp. 99-105.
Jesch, Judith, 'Myth and cultural memory in the Viking diaspora', Viking and
Medieval Scandinavia 4 (2008), 221-6.
Margeson, Sue, 'The Völsung legend in medieval art', in Medieval Iconography
and Narrative: a Symposium, ed. Flemming G. Andersen et al. (1980), pp. 183–
211.
Stern, Marjolein, 'Sigurðr Fáfnisbani as commemorative motif', in Á austrvega.
Saga and East Scandinavia. Preprint papers of the 14th International Saga
Conference, ed. Agneta Ney et al. (2009), pp. 898-905. (Can also be downloaded
from http://hig.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:224754)
Völsunga saga ch. 12-20, from R. G. Finch (ed. and trans.), Vǫlsunga saga. The
Saga of the Volsungs (1965), pp. 19-34. (Can also be downloaded from
http://vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Volsunga%20saga.pdf)
Margaret Clunies Ross
Structure and Meaning in Old Norse myth
Clunies Ross, Margaret. 1994 Prolonged Echoes. Old Norse myths in medieval
northern society. I. The Viking Collection 7. Odense: Odense University Press.
Kirsten Hastrup, 'Cosmology and Society in Medieval Iceland', in: Island of
Anthropology. Studies in past and present Iceland, Odense 1990, p. 25-43
Jens Peter Schjødt: 'Contemporary research into Old Norse mythology' in
Reflections on Old Norse Myths. red. / Pernille Hermann; Jens Peter Schjødt;
Rasmus Tranum Kristensen. Turnhout : Brepols Publishers, 2007. s. 1-16
Practical analysis of an Old Norse myth: the World Tree in Norse myth and
society
The Seeresses' Prophecy in The Poetic Edda, transl. Caroline Larrington, Oxford
1996
Snorri's Edda, transl. Anthony Faulkes, Everyman 1987.
Anders Andrén: In the Shadow of Yggdrasill, in Tracing Old Norse Cosmology,
Nordic Academic Press, p. 27-67.
Margaret Clunies Ross: ‘Images of Norse Cosmology’ in Myths, Legends and
Heroes, In Honour of John McKinnell, University of Toronto Press, p. 53-76.
Luke John Murphy
Masculine Warrior Culture and its Supernatural Groupies: Valkyrjur, Dísir, and
Fylgjur
Gylfaginning ch. 33-41, in Snorri Sturluson, Edda, trans. Anthony Faulkes
(London: Everyman/J. M. Dent, 1987), pp. 26-34 (9 pp.)
Grímnismál, in The Poetic Edda, trans. Carolyne Larrington (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1996), pp. 50-60, 269-271 (14 pp.)
Hrafnsmál, Eiríksmál, and Hákonarmál, in Nora Kershaw, trans., Anglo-Saxon and
Norse Poems (Cambridge: Cambirdge University Press, 1922), pp. 76-87, 93-109
(20 pp.); available online at
<https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonnorsep00chadrich> (accessed
30.04.2012)
Michael Enright, Lady with a Mead Cup: Ritual, Prophecy and Lordship in the
European Warband from la Téne to the Viking Age (Dublin: Four Courts Press,
1996), pp. 1-37 (37 pp.)
Frands Herschend, ‘The Origin of the Hall in Southern Scandinavia’, Tor 25
(1993), pp. 175-199 (25 pp.)
Rolf Stavnem
The Rhetorics of Old Norse Mythology
Prologue and Gylfaginning in Snorri Sturluson: Edda, London 1987, p. 1-58
Sayings of the High One, in The Poetic Edda, transl. Carolyne Larrington, Oxford
1996.
Klaus von See: 'Snorri Sturlusson and the Creation of a Norse Cultural Ideology',
in Saga-Book 1998-2001, vol XXV, p. 367-393
http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Saga-Book%20XXV.pdf
Stephen A. Mitchell
Religion, Magic and Charms in the Viking World 1-2
Foley, John Miles. 1992. “Word-Power, Performance, and Tradition”. In Journal of
American Folklore 105. Pp. 275–301.
McKinnell, John. 2007. “Wisdom from the Dead: the Ljóðatal Section of Hávamál”.
In Medium Aevum 76, 1. Pp. 85–115.
Mitchell, Stephen A. 2014. “Magic and Religion”. In Pre-Christian Religions of the
North. Eds. Jens Peter Schjødt, Anders Andrén, and John Lindow. [unplublished
chapter].
Mitchell, Stephen A. 2007. “Skírnismál and Nordic Charm Magic”. In Reflections on
Old Norse Myths. Ed. Pernille Hermann, Jens Peter Schjødt, and Rasmus Tranum
Kistensten. Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, studies 1. Series Eds. Judy Quinn,
Stefan Brink, and John Hines. Tournhout: Brepols. Pp. 75–94.
Wax, Rosalie and Murray. 1962. “The Magical World View”. In Journal of the
Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 1, no. 2. Pp. 179–188.
Jens Peter Schjødt
Old Norse Religion 1-2
Nordberg, Andreas. 2012. “Continuity, Change, and Regional Variation in Old
Norse Religion”. In More than Mythology. Narratives, Ritual Practices and
Regional Distribution in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions. Eds. Catharina
Raudvere and Jens Peter Schjødt. Lund: Nordic Academic Press. Pp. 119–151.
Saxo. Book 1 on Hadding. Saxo Grammaticus. The History of the Danes. Books I-IX.
1979. Translation by Peter Fisher, Ed. Hilda Ellis Davidson. Cambridge: D.S:
Brewer.
Schjødt, Jens Peter. 2014. “Óðinn”. In Pre-Christian Religions of the North. Eds.
Jens Peter Schjødt, Anders Andrén, and John Lindow. [unpublished chapter].
Schjødt, Jens Peter. 2012. “Reflections on Aims and Methods in the Study of Old
Norse Religion”. In More than Mythology. Narratives, Ritual Practices and
Regional Distribution in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions. Eds. Catharina
Raudvere and Jens Peter Schjødt. Lund: Nordic Academic Press. Pp. 263–287.
Schjødt, Jens Peter. 2011. “Diversity and Its Consequences for the Study of Old
Norse Religion. What Is It We Are Trying to Reconstruct?” In Between Paganism
and Christianity in the North. Eds. Leszek P. Słupecki and Jakup Morawiec.
Rzeszów: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego. Pp. 9–22.
Turville-Petre, E.O.G. 1964. Myth and Religion of the North. The Religion of
Ancient Scandinavia. Westport: Greenwood Press. Chapter 2: “Óðinn”. Pp. 35–74.
Völsunga saga chapter 1–12. The Saga of the Völsungs. The Norse Epic of Sigurd
the Dragon Slayer. 1999. Translation by Jesse L. Byock. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Ynglingasaga chapters 6–9. Heimskringla. History of the Kings of Norway by Sorri
Sturluson. 1999. Translated by Lee M. Hollander. The American-Scandinavian
Foundation. Austin: Texas University Press.
Mathias Nordvig
Introduction to the sources
Chapters 5, 6, 8, 10, 16, 17, 23, 25, and 27 in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and
Culture. 2007. Ed. Rory McTurk. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
5: Gunnell, Terry. "Eddic Poetry". Pp. 82–100.
6: Vésteinn Ólason. "Family Sagas". Pp. 101–118.
8: Helgi Þorláksson. "Historical Background: Iceland 870-1400". Pp. 136–154.
10: Barnes, Michael. "Language". Pp. 173–189.
16: Gísli Sigurðsson. "Orality and LIteracy in the Sagas of Icelanders". Pp. 285–
301.
17: Orton, Peter. "Pagan Myth and Religion". Pp. 302–319.
23: Larsson, Patrik. "Runes". Pp. 403–426.
25: Torfi H. Tulinius. "Sagas of Icelandic Prehistory". Pp. 447–461.
27: Whaley, Diana. "Skaldic Poetry". Pp. 479–502.
The Memory of Volcanoes in Old Norse Myths
Hallmundarkviða in English.
Nordvig, Mathias. 2014. “A Hot Topic: Volcanoes in Old Norse Mythology”. In Old
Norse Mythology in its Comparative Contexts. Eds Pernille Hermann, Jens Peter
Schjødt, and Stephen A. Mitchell. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[Unpublished].
The Mead of Poetry. Edda. Snorri Sturluson. 1995. Translation by Anthony
Faulkes. London: Everyman.
The Prophecy of the Seeress 47–51. The Poetic Edda. 1996. Translation by
Carolyne Larrington. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jiri Stary
Fate in Old Norse Mythology and Literature
The Saga of Arrow-Odd ch. i-iii, xxxi-xxxii, in: Seven Viking Romances (Penguin
Classics). Translated by Hermann Palsson; Penguin 1986, p. 25-33, p. 121-137.
The Seeress's Prophecy, Gripir's Prophecy, The Lay Of Hamdir plus notes, in: The
Poetic Edda. Translated by Carolyne Larrington, Oxford - New York: Oxford
University Press, 1996, p.3-13, 264-266, 143-150, 281-282, 238-242, 293-294.
Karen Bek-Pedersen, The Norns in Old Norse Mythology. Dunedin Academic
Press, 2011, p. 13-121
Paul C. Bauschatz, The Well and the Tree: World and Time in Early Germanic
Culture. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1982, p. 119-154.
Aaron Gurevich: The Origins of European Individualism. Translated by Katharine
Judelson. Oxford - Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1995, p. 19-28.
Åke V Ström, ‘Scandinavian Belief in Fate: A Comparison between Pre-Christian
and Post-Christian Times, in: Helmer Ringgren (ed.): Fatalistic Beliefs in Religion,
Folklore, and Literature, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1967, p. 63-88