The imaginary world of the Vikings is a vast and amazing landscape that continues to puzzles us. Their myths abound with powerful, tricky and enigmatic gods, forceful giants and an array of supernatural beings, large and small, which seem hard for the modern mind to grasp.This course in Viking mythology and religion focuses on the myths and legends, histories and tales of the Viking world. We will investigate the great variety of textual and archaeological sources to the Viking Age and explore their worldview, beliefs and ethics. We will treat the difficult issues of the source material: that the originally oral mythology and legends are mainly preserved in medieval literature.

Period
16-07-2014 - 31-07-2014 (3 weeks)

Target group
Bachelor's and Master's students

Course aim
We will investigate the relationship between archaeological finds from the Viking Age and the medieval sources, and by employing a wide range of disciplines, such as history of religion, folklore, history, archaeology and literary analysis, we will provide a critical overview of the field of Viking mythology and religion. We will also provide the necessary analytical tools for any student interested in this field.



Credits
10.0 ECTS credits

Course fee
EUR 0: Students on a bilateral exchange programme do not have to pay. Freemovers are obliged to pay participation fees while tuition fees only apply to freemovers from countries outside the EU/ EEA/ Switzerland.

Course leader
Rolf Stavnem, Mathias Nordvig

Aarhus University International Centre
Address: Hoeg Guldbergs Gade 4, building 1650 Aarhus C
Postal code: 8000
City: Aarhus
Country: Denmark
Website: http://www.au.dk/summeruniversity
E-mail: SummerUniversity@adm.au.dk
Phone: +45 8942 2320