Gareth Lloyd Evans, Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir, Carolyne Larrington et al.

Saga Emotions

A Joint Lecture on Feelings in Old Norse Literature

Fimmtudaginn 12. júní 2025 kl. 16.00 / Thursday, June 12, 2025, at 16.00
Oddi 101

How were emotions expressed in Old Norse literary texts? How can we trace the feelings of the past in sagas written centuries ago? This joint lecture explores these questions and more, marking the launch of Saga Emotions, a new academic volume that challenges and enriches our understanding of emotion in Old Norse literature.

The book investigates how emotions are represented in Old Norse literary texts, laying a particular emphasis on those genres which are regarded as quasi-historical or naturalistic. It engages with a broad range of individual emotions through close lexical examination and analysis of case-studies across a range of saga genres. The fundamentally lexemic approach is intended to grapple with the methodological issues raised by using modern emotion terms to interpret medieval texts, which risks forcing the material into preconceived and possibly anachronistic categories. In taking this approach, and by ranging beyond the better-known Íslendingasögur (sagas of Icelanders) also to consider samtíðarsögur (contemporary sagas), konungasögur (kings’ sagas), and biskupasögur (sagas of bishops) alongside other religious texts, the book reconfigures the field of emotion study in Old Norse literature. Saga Emotions is the first book to take this kind of systematic approach to Old Norse prose literature. As each chapter takes its cue from a particular Old Norse word or set of words with demonstrable emotional connotations, the book aims to bring rigour to, and to interrogate, the assumptions with which modern readers analyse these often profoundly strange medieval texts. The aim is to alert readers to emotion that is implicit or understated, and to warn against imposing modern and anglophone taxonomies on literary works that originate in a very different textual culture and social milieu.

The lecture begins with a keynote by editor Carolyne Larrington, University of Oxford, outlining the book’s main findings and approaches. This is followed by brief “lightning talks” from contributors, each showcasing key insights into how emotions like anger, grief, love, and joy appear in the medieval saga world.

• Secular love – Sif Rikhardsdottir, University of Iceland
• Going berserk and the killing mood – Gareth Lloyd Evans, University of Oxford
• Sadness – Edel Maria Porter, University of Castilla-La Mancha
• Compassion – Ásdís Egilsdóttir, University of Iceland
• Desire – Alexander Wilson, University of Leicester
• Grief – Kristen Mills, University of Oslo
• Disgust – Rebecca Merkelbach, University of Tübingen
• Pride – Katherine Olley, University of Nottingham
• Anger – George Manning, University of Oxford
• Shame – Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir, University of Iceland

The event will conclude with an open discussion, offering the audience a chance to engage with the speakers and reflect on the relevance of medieval emotional worlds to our own.

The editors of Saga emotions are:

• Gareth Lloyd Evans, Associate Professor of Old Norse at the University of Oxford.
• Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir, Assistant Professor of Icelandic Literature at the University of Iceland.
• Carolyne Larrington, Emeritus Professor of Medieval European Literature at the University of Oxford.

Fyrirlestrarnir verða haldnir á ensku og eru öllum opnir. / The talks will be delivered in English and are open to all.