Old Norse research in the Scandinavian Department is primarily literary and cultural historical. Our faculty’s research covers a broad range of Old Norse genres – sagas, myths, history, Eddic and skaldic poetry – and centres around methodological and theoretical issues, such as genre, discourse, orality/literacy, memory culture, as well as critical text editing and translating. Our research is interdisciplinary and often carried out in cooperation with historians, historians of religion, archaeologists and linguists on both a national and international basis.

• PhD Scholar Bergdís Þrastardóttir: Þættir, Icelandic sagas, saga genres, oral tradition and oral narratives
• Associate Professor Pernille Hermann: Old Norse prose literature, memory culture, orality and literacy
• PhD Scholar Mathias Nordvig: Old Norse literature, eddic poetry, the Prose Edda, myths and mythology, orality and literacy
• Postdoc Rolf Stavnem: Skaldic poetry, orality, narrativity, text-edition, translation
• PhD Scholar Lisbeth H. Torfing: Biographies of things/artefacts, social networks, names and namegiving, orality, kings' sagas, legendary sagas

Old Norse studies in the Scandinavian Department encourages international cooperation between researchers and students through Visiting Professorships, teaching exchange, frequent seminars and conferences. Over the last few years several international scholars have been affiliated with the Department.

15th International Saga Conference 2012

The Scandinavian Department offers regular BA and MA semester courses on Old Norse subjects, as well as annual summer schools. All teaching in Old Norse subjects is in English, and includes international guest lecturers which create an international milieu and learning environment.

Harvard Summer School in Scandinavia

Since 2007, Aarhus University has hosted The Harvard Summer School in Scandinavia. The topic of the summer school is Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, and it consists of two interrelated courses: Viking Studies: Lore and Literature and Viking Studies: History and Archaeology. Classes are taught on campus in the Nobel Park (Scandinavian Department), as well as on location, when students and professors take excursions to famous Viking and medieval sites throughout Denmark and neighbouring countries. Since 2011, an archaeological field school has been connected to the summer school. Harvard Summer School

Nordic Master’s Programme

Scandinavian Department and Aarhus University are cooperating with University of Iceland, University of Copenhagen and University of Oslo in offering a new Nordic Master’s Programme in Viking and Medieval Norse Studies.  The programme is designed for international students (language of instruction is English) and makes it possible for students to move between at least two of the cooperating universities during their study. The programme will start in the autumn of 2012. Nordic Master’s Programme

Old Norse study group

The Scandinavian Department houses a study group where texts are read in the original Old Norse and discussed. The study group is open for everyone and is intended for beginners as well as people with some training in Old Norse. Old Norse study group

Student Symposium March 2012

Todd Michelsen-Ambelang November 24th - Heroes and Outsiders: The Discourse of Impairments in the Sagas and Þættir of Icelanders

Marteinn Sigurðsson November 3rd - Tyr: A God and a Rune