IMC 2026: Sessions

Session 140: Temporal Endings in Medieval Scandinavia

Monday 6 July 2026, 11:15-12:45

Sponsor:	Viking Society for Northern Research
Organiser:	Timothy Bourns, Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington
Moderator/Chair:	Timothy Bourns, Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington
Paper 140-a	Ruling over Time?: Extraordinarily Long Lifespans in Norna-Gests þáttr and Ǫrvar-Odds saga (Language: English) Annett Krakow, Centrum Badań Nordystycznych i Staroangielskich, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions
Paper 140-b	Bishops, Butter, and Beer Cellars: The Role of Caithness in the Demise of the Northern Scottish Jarldoms (Language: English) Stephen Barnaby, Independent Scholar Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Local History
Paper 140-c	Fear and the Ending of the World (Language: English) Josie Collings, Department of English & Related Literature / Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions
Abstract	This session explores how people in medieval Scandinavia understood and narrated endings – personal, political, and cosmic. Annett Krakow investigates extended lifespans in fornaldarsǫgur, focusing on how characters reflect on their lives as death approaches. Stephen Barnaby analyzes the fall of the Norse jarldoms in Caithness, a key site of Norse-Scottish tension. Josie Collings examines fear in Snorri’s Edda, highlighting how emotions shape responses to the end of the gods. Together, the papers consider how temporality, mortality, and decline are represented across genres, offering insights into how individuals and communities faced the inevitability of change and the end of a time.