Aarhus Old Norse Summer School

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',

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

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

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

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 < (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

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