IMC 2006: Sessions

Session 1226: Aspects of Identity in Medieval Iceland

Sponsor:	Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Organiser:	Hannah Burrows, Department of English & Related Literature, University of York
Moderator/Chair:	Philip Cardew, London South Bank University
Paper 1226-a	Sibling Relations in Landnámabók (Language: English) Pragya Vohra, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York Index terms: Geography and Settlement Studies, Language and Literature - Scandinavian
Paper 1226-b	Speaking Law and Skaldic Verse: Lawspeaker-Poets in Medieval Iceland (Language: English) Hannah Burrows, Department of English & Related Literature, University of York Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Literacy and Orality, Social History
Abstract	Paper 1 will look at patterns of settlement in medieval Iceland in the light of kinship. Specifically, it will examine the effect of sibling relationships on the initial landnám, and, conversely, the effect of the landnám on the functioning of these relationships in a new context. Paper 2 will investigate the relationship between law and poetry in Old Norse culture, as represented in the figures of six lawspeakers who also composed skaldic poetry. It will consider factors such as education, ambition, and identity in the shaping of this connection and its development during the Commonwealth period.