Skip to main content

IMC 2012: Sessions

Session 223: Scandinavia and Europe, c. 1050-1250, II: Kings, Crusaders, and Ancestors - Interpretative Models in Medieval Scandinavian Literature

Monday 9 July 2012, 14.15-15.45

Organiser:Edward Carlsson Browne, Centre for Scandinavian Studies, University of Aberdeen
Moderator/Chair:Edward Carlsson Browne, Centre for Scandinavian Studies, University of Aberdeen
Paper 223-aAn Earl, a Duke, and a Chieftain: Tostig, Skúli, and Snorri
(Language: English)
Alex Woolf, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of St Andrews
Index terms: Genealogy and Prosopography, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Scandinavian
Paper 223-bOrkneyinga Saga and Crusader Historiography in the North
(Language: English)
Roland Scheel, Institut für Skandinavistik, Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main
Index terms: Crusades, Historiography - Medieval, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Literacy and Orality
Paper 223-cEthics and Kingship in 12th- and 13th-Century Skaldic Verse
(Language: English)
David Baker, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge
Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Literacy and Orality, Mentalities
Abstract

The papers in this session build upon close reading of Norse-Icelandic sagas and verse to elucidate the mental conceptions these works had of important individuals and institutions within their society. Alex Woolf examines the portrayal of Tostig in Heimskringla in light of his probable descent from Snorri's patron Jarl Skúli. Roland Scheel considers narratives of crusading expeditions through the prism of Orkneyinga saga and the Danish chronicle Historia de profectione Danorum in Hierosolymam in an attempt to explain the emergence of a 'crusader conscience' in Scandinavian literature. David Baker looks at the nexus of historical lore and grammatical learning in 12th century skaldic verse and analyses the changing poetic interpretations of traditional narratives concerning legendary heroes.