Publications

A new translation of Þiðreks saga af Bern into English by Edward Haymes and myself, soon to be available with The Viking Society for Northern Research.

OlD Norse for modern times, with Ian stuart sharpe and josh gillingham.

Kansas City: Outland Entertainment. Forthcoming

Alterity and Occidentalism in the 14th Century: Narratives of Travel, Conversion and Dehumanization. 

The Medieval Globe. 

Abstract: This article analyses five fourteenth-century Old Norse travel narratives in light of the learned geographical tradition of medieval Iceland. Three of the narratives, Þorvalds þáttr víðfǫrla, Eiríks saga víðfǫrla, and Yngvars saga víðfǫrla, focus on the travels of Nordic people to eastern Europe and Asia; while the latter two, Eiríks saga rauða and Grœnlendinga saga, tell of travels to the continent later named North America. While the travels to the East deal with pilgrimage and the search for the terrestrial Paradise in the service of individual salvation and missionary activities in Scandinavia and Iceland more specifically, the travels to the West are focused on the violent conquest and Christianization of newfound peripheral areas and their peoples. What these narratives have in common, and owe to the learned (Plinian) tradition, is their dehumanized view of foreign and strange people: the giants and monsters of the East, and the skrælingar and einfœtingar of the West. This article aims to show how a learned tradition was adapted for use in saga literature to contrast the monstrous and heathen periphery with the more central and piously Christian Iceland.

„Trölli sýnist mér það líkara“: Merkingarleg þróun orðsins blámaðr > blámaður frá tólftu til tuttugustu aldar. 

Andvari 2020.

Abstract: In this article I explore how the meaning of the word blámaðr has evolved since its first recorded use in twelfth-century Iceland to the twentieth-century. Originally the word had complicated layers of meaning, ranging from the demonic to the monstrous to Ethiopians to Muslims, while in modern Icelandic it is a derogatory term which has strictly come to mean a black African. Different literature, from hagiographies and medieval sagas to folktales, are analysed in order to shed light on how the word has been used to dehumanise groups of people perceived to be alien and ‘other’ to Icelanders.

Abstract: A review about three children’s books by Icelandic author Bergrún Íris Sævarsdóttir: (Lang)elstur í bekknum, (Lang)elstur í leynifélaginu, and (Lang)elstur að eilífu.

Abstract: This article analyses blámenn in light of critical race theory. Even though the concept of ‘race’ did not exist as such during the Middle Ages, the sources indicate a very active pre-racial mode of thought about certain groups of people — the very foundation of modern racism and the various atrocities it has culminated in during our time. This is equally true of Icelandic and continental sources, a fact which the author finds that the academic world cannot afford to overlook.

Abstract: This article explores the semantic history of the Old Norse-Icelandic word blámaðr. While scholars have traditionally focused only on its core mean- ing, “black African,” this article aims to illustrate how more complicated layers of meaning surround the word and its use in Old Norse literature.

Abstract: This article is written in response to an article written by my colleague, Bergsveinn Birgisson, in which he criticises some aspects of Old Norse-Icelandic scholarship. While I find some of his points valid there are several others that I disagree with.

Abstract: A review of an impressive volume of articles by the most recent generation of Old Norse scholars.

Abstract: A review of the volume The Legendary Legacy, an anthology on fornaldarsögur.

My first novel: A story about a down-on-his-luck theologian who resorts to desperate measures to bring back a loved one from the dead.

Abstract: An article in Icelandic about the idea of maternal imagination. I trace the concept back to ca. 500 B.C. and illustrate how ideas of maternal imagination evolved through the ages and in which form they arrived to medieval Iceland, where they obtained a life of their own.

Abstract: In this article I compare two didactic texts in Old Norse: Elucidarius, which deals with Christian knowledge and virtues, and Konungs skuggsiá or The King’s Mirror, which deals with royal knowledge and virtues. I then compare the two to an exchange in Eiríks saga víðfǫrla between the noble hero Eiríkr the far-travelled and the Byzantine emperor and reach the conclusion that not only is the saga-text indebted to both these texts, but that knowledge of monsters and other strange creatures was among those topics considered important for a king to be well-versed in.

Abstract: In this article I examine the evidence for a great knowledge of Continental learning among medieval Icelandic writers and clerics, and argue that not only had they access to or knowledge of a wide variety of sources on the so-called Plinian monsters, but that their purported existence was very important to their Christian worldview.

Abstract: In this article I explore the arguments for the attribution of the text known as Leiðarvísir to the 12th century Icelandic Benedictine abbot Nikulás Bergsson. I find the arguments lacking, available information confirming the identity of Abbot Nikulás virtually non-existent, and question the overall dating of the text. Instead I argue that Leiðarvísir should be read in its 14th century context, within the codex AM 194 8vo which was written in 1387 by the priest Óláfr Ormsson.

Abstract: My dissertation for the attainment of the degree Doctor of Philosophy focused on how Continental ideas about monstrosity were adopted in Icelandic literature with the acceptance of Christianity around the year 999/1000. The monograph deals with learned Icelandic texts and saga literature alike and seeks to both answer and ask questions about the function of dehumanization in medieval Iceland.

Abstract: A review of Soffía Auður Birgisdóttir’s monograph Ég skapa - þess vegna er ég. Um skrif Þórbergs Þórðarsonar (Reykjavík: Opna 2015), an analysis of the literary works of the Icelandic 20th century author Þórbergur Þórðarson.

Abstract: A prototype handbook for doctoral students in the University of Iceland School of Humanities.

Abstract: In this English reiteration of an older article I provide examples of how the term 'the fantastic' has been used in Old Norse studies to illustrate that a clear definition is lacking. Some scholars use Todorov's definition, yet most seem to use it to underline elements in the texts that they find 'fantastic' in the sense 'unrealistic'. I argue that this use of the term is unhelpful and does not further our understanding of medieval literature. A discussion of the 'supernatural' and 'paranormal' terms is also given.

Abstract: It is often toted that in the good old days, schoolchildren learned Icelandic history and literature with glee and devout patriotism, that their linguistic faculties were at the same time so finely attuned that modern youngsters are but horrific shadows of their parents and grandparents. This article vehemently rejects this anecdotal and misplaced nostalgia and argues that this Golden Age of learning never took place.

Abstract: In this article I discuss the perceived reluctance among some prominent public intellectuals to rely on scientific definitions, their apparent dismissal of the epistemological foundations of their own research and their frequent attempts to lambast the humanities. The article is a response to this discourse as well as an argument for the importance of the humanities.

Abstract: In this article I question the necessity of having opinions about everything and argue that often it is better not to have them, as opinions can quite often be worthless.

Abstract: In this brief article I answer the question whether the Loch Ness monster exists, and reach the conclusion that its existence now or at any other time in history is biologically impossible.

Abstract: In this brief article I answer the question whether sea monsters actually exist.

Abstract: In this brief article I explain the origins of the cryptid chupacabra and how it was eventually debunked.

Abstract: An article on a more personal note than usual. My great grandmother on my father’s side was a regular working class woman at the beginning of the 20th century, originally a farmer and later a nurse, until her death in 1958. She was also quite an accomplished poet, though she never wrote down her own verse and never thought much of her gift. When she lost her firstborn child she was overtaken with grief and wrote a poem about her. She once recited the poem to her friend, who remembered it and wrote it down secretly. This poem was later passed on to my grandmother, who then passed it on to me. This article serves as an introduction to and a publication of that very poem.

A book of poetry recycled from the Icelandic romantic poets.

Abstract: In this article I examine monsters in the worldview of medieval Icelanders and argue that the manner of dehumanizing the trollish people of the so-called Hrafnistumannasögur is in part indebted to Continental learning about monsters on the Earth’s peripheries.

Abstract: This is an introduction to and Icelandic translation of Kari Ellen Gade’s Article “Homosexuality and Rape of Males in Old Norse Law and Literature,” originally published in Scandinavian Studies vol. 58, no. 2, Early Law and Society (SPRING 1986), pp. 124-141.

Abstract: In this brief article I answer the question whether monsters exist.

Abstract: In this article I provide examples of how the term 'the fantastic' has been used in Old Norse studies to illustrate that a clear definition is lacking. Some scholars use Todorov's definition, yet most seem to use it to underline elements in the texts that they find 'fantastic' in the sense 'unrealistic'. I argue that this use of the term is unhelpful and does not further our understanding of medieval literature.

While I stand with the overall conclusion, I did get second thoughts about the modern approach to the supernatural undertaken in the article. A revised English version thus came into being, which can be found here.

Abstract: This short monograph is based on my master’s thesis. It is an overview of selected supernatural elements in the Íslendingasögur: mainly revenants, trolls and paranormal creatures such as dragons and finngálkn. My thesis proposes a certain method for the analysis of supernatural creatures within the saga literature.

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Abstract: My edition of author Þórbergur Þórðarson’s unpublished and untitled autobiographical novel, written in the 1930’s.

Abstract: My first academic work, with which I still agree. It is a detailed survey of Icelandic author Þórbergur Þórðarson’s negative views on romanticism in literature and his autobiographical parody of romantics, while privately he indeed also idealized his romantic feelings toward his ‘Beloved’ and other women, and wrote dramatic and heartfelt poems about them which he publicly claimed were either parodies or wilfully vomit-inducing. The conclusion is that his parody of romanticism was a way to distance himself from his own pain, both publicly and in private.

Abstract: A review of Jón Kalman Stefánsson’s novel Sumarljós og svo kemur nóttin. This was my first book review so I am fond of it, even though it is without question marked by the author’s naivety.