Early Germanic Poetics and Religion from Linguistic and Comparative Perspectives

We are pleased to announce a two-day academic meeting that will immerse participants in the compelling world of early Germanic poetics and religious beliefs. During the conference, scholars and interested parties will come together to explore the interplay of language, culture, and religion in the Germanic world.

About the Conference

This two-day academic gathering will delve into the captivating realms of early Germanic poetics and its connections to religious beliefs from an interdisciplinary perspective combining philology, linguistics, and comparativism. The conference will serve as a pivotal platform for interdisciplinary discussions and multifaceted research findings.

We are pleased to invite scholars, researchers, and enthusiasts to our highly anticipated conference »Early Germanic Poetics and Religion from Linguistic and Comparative Perspectives«, to be held at the NorS Department, University of Copenhagen, September 18-19, 2023.

Conference Topics and Programme

The conference will cover a range of compelling topics including:

• Poetic features and religious significance of texts in early Germanic languages, including Old Norse, Old English, and Old Saxon
• Comparative analysis of Germanic texts and myths with those of other European and non-European traditions
• Linguistic analysis of early Germanic mythological names and religious terminology
• Rituals and ceremonies in early Germanic traditions and their relevance to poetics and myth
• Germanic deities, their representation in Germanic sources, and their counterparts in other traditions

The Conference Programme

Monday 18/09/2023

09.30 Welcome & Opening remarks

09.45-10.15

Old English b(e)aldor ‘prince’ and the luminous ruler

José Luis García Ramón

10.15-10.45

Archaisms and neologisms in the Old Norse poetic vocabulary

Guðrún Þórhallsdóttir

10.45-11.00 Coffee break

11.00-11.30

Wodan in Sachsen? Zur Suche nach ‚germanischem‘ Wissen im Heliand

Heike Sahm

11.30-12.00

Immersing in the Cult of Nerthus and Finding Paradise in Neorxnawang: Etymological Considerations and Cultic Connections between Germanic Deities and Their Natural Habitats

Corinna Scheungraber

12.00-13.30 Lunch break

13.30-14.00

Dwellings Undwindling II: The Germanic Horizon

Peter Jackson Rova

14.00-14.30

The roots *u̯el(h)-  in Germanic tradition

Birgit Anette Olsen

14.30-15.00 Coffee break

15.00-15.30

Revisiting Dumézil’s Loki: The Ossetic ‘Myth of the Wounded Sun’ Compared with its Scandinavian and Vedic Counterparts

Laura Massetti

15.30-16.00

Stars of the North: Indo-European Motifs in the Völuspa

Michael Janda

16.00-16.30

Old Norse Týr and Viðarr: solar turning points, wolves and the sky

Eldar Heide 

Tuesday 19/09/2023

9.30-10.00

Mythological collocations in the poetic Edda

Rudolf Simek

10.00-10.30

Collocations in Old English and Old Saxon religious poetry

Veronka Szoke

10.30-11.00

Old Norse Elves from a linguistic and comparative perspective

Riccardo Ginevra

11.00-11.15 Coffee break

11.15-11.45

Oat cuisine and orphaned motifs

Patrick Stiles

11.45-12.15

Fate and honey: Between Yggdrasill and Parnassos

Haukur Þorgeirsson and Joseph S. Hopkins

12.15-13.45 Lunch Break

13.45-14.15

What can we do with poetic riddles in Old Norse and Arabic?

Alaric Hall

14.15-14.45

What’s ‘Going On’ in Hárbarðsljóð? An Analysis of the Performative Nature of Hárbarðsljóð in a Comparative Context

Terry Gunnell

14.45-15.15 Coffee break

15.15-15.45

Charming the poetic mead: Egill’s Sonatorrek

Clive Tolley

15.45-16.15

Scribal Performance and Eddic Mythological Poems: From 13th-Century Sources to the Origins of Modern Editing

Frog

16.15 - 16.45

Ragnarøk: From Dawn to Dusk

Jonas Wellendorf

16.45 Closing remarks

Abstracts

Download the book of abstracts.

Registration

Registration for audience members has now closed.