Variable subject matter; see departmental announcement for description. Sample topics: Scandinavian romanticism; the Modern Breakthrough; literature by and about women; the political tradition. Readings and discussion in English.

In this course we will examine reinventions and reworkings of Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia after the Middle Ages. From Wagner’s Ring to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, from Paul Henri Mallet to Marvel Comics, from Ibsen to Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, from Norwegian National Socialism to the men’s movement, from The Vikings though Eric the Viking to last year’s hit The Northman, from medieval tales of Vinland to Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga, Scandinavia’s deep past has inspired artists, writers, media producers and political movements. The Reformation, the late eighteenth century, the Victorian era and our own contemporary moment are especially marked by interest in the figure of the viking, sometimes in romantic, sometimes in grotesque mode. What is it about premodern Scandinavia that attracts these re-mediations? Which contemporary concerns do they speak to? In this course we will seek to answer these questions by examining the literary, religious, political, visual, musical, and media reception of premodern Scandinavian narratives and symbols. Participants will explore the cross-medial nature of this phenomenon in a creative project, and write a paper exploring its social, historical and artistic contexts.

This upper-division elective has no prerequisites and requires no knowledge of Old Norse. Readings will be made available on bCourses and all texts will be read in English translation. The class will consist of lecture and discussion.

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Requirements class fulfills