IMC 2017: Sessions
Session 529: Otherness, Monstrosity, and Deviation in Old Norse Literature and Culture, I: (Were)Wolves
Tuesday 4 July 2017, 09.00-10.30
| Sponsor: | Old Norse Network of Otherness (ONNO) |
|---|---|
| Organisers: | Gwendolyne Knight, Historiska institutionen, Stockholms Universitet Rebecca Merkelbach, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge |
| Moderator/Chair: | Rebecca Merkelbach, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, University of Cambridge |
| Paper 529-a | Taming the Wolf: Reading Bisclaret in Light of Old Norse Kennings (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Comparative, Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Language and Literature - Scandinavian |
| Paper 529-b | Fearing the Wolf: Fenrisúlfr in Old Norse Mythology (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions |
| Paper 529-c | Categorising the (Were)Wolf: Or, Are Shapeshifters People? (Language: English) Index terms: Anthropology, Language and Literature - Scandinavian |
| Abstract | Introducing the newly formed Old Norse Network of Otherness, and as part of a series of sessions, these papers explore a variety of issues concerning the representations of, and attitudes toward, different forms of otherness, monstrosity, and deviation in medieval Icelandic literature and culture, and beyond. These sessions are meant to complement the proposed sessions entitled 'Men and Masculinities in Old Norse Literature'. Drawing on a variety of theoretical and comparative approaches, questions of behavioural, socio-cultural and textual otherness will be addressed, and the interplay of genre, character, text, and culture will be explored through the others, monsters, and deviants of Old Norse literature and history. In this first session, different depictions of wolves and werewolves are traced across Old Norse literature and mythology, and the role of shape-shifting in establishing categories of being is examined. |