NEER Research Cluster

Old Norse-Icelandic Studies

MEMBERS

Professor Margaret Clunies Ross (Sydney) - Coordinator
Professor Geraldine Barnes (Sydney)
Emily Baynham (Postgraduate, Sydney)
Dr Katrina Burge (Melbourne)
Professor Kari Ellen Gade (Indiana, USA)
Dr Anna Hansen (Sydney)
Dr Kate Heslop (Zurich, Switzerland)
Dr John Kennedy (Charles Sturt)
Professor Dr Edith Marold (Kiel, Germany)
Dr Guthrun Nordal (Iceland)
Professor Diana Whaley (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)
Dr Tarrin Wills (Sydney)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The research cluster in Old Norse-Icelandic Studies aims to facilitate the meeting of all researchers in Old Norse-Icelandic Studies on a regular basis to exchange ideas and present research findings through the medium of one- or two-day symposia. The cluster also aimed to enable some of its international collaborators to visit Australia in 2008, particularly in connection with two ARC-funded Discovery projects currently conducted at the University of Sydney. These are 'Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages' (CI Margaret Clunies Ross; Research Associate Hannah Burrows) and 'Writing from the Edge of the World: Medieval Icelandic Literature and the Quest for Social Identity' (CIs Geraldine Barnes, Margaret Clunies Ross, Research Associate Anna Hansen).

EVENTS (INCLUDING MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS)

Conferences and symposia:

The Cluster was awarded $10,000 by NEER, for which it is very grateful, towards the costs of holding a symposium/workshop at the University of Sydney on 2 April 2008. Another $2000 was contributed by the Head of the School of Letters, Art and Media at the University of Sydney, and the remaining funds (mainly for the costs of travel and accommodation of international visitors) were provided from Margaret Clunies Ross's Skaldic Poetry Discovery grant. The money granted by NEER was used to cover the travel and accommodation expenses of Australian participants at the Symposium. After the Symposium on 2 April, the editorial team of the Skaldic Poetry project spent two and a half days at the University of Sydney and the Wombeyan Caves NSW on its annual meeting.

Seminars:

It is hoped that four papers presented at the 2 April symposium will be published as a special edition of Parergon. Margaret Clunies Ross has approached the editors Anne Scott and Andrew Lynch, who have indicated an in principle interest in these papers, which are currently being prepared for publication. The papers are:

Hannah Burrows, "Cold Cases: Law and Legal Detail in the Islendingasogur".
Kari Gislason, "Within and Without Family in the Icelandic Sagas".
Anna Hansen, "Crossing the Borders of Fantastic Space: The Relationship between the Fantastic and the Non-Fantastic in Valdimars saga".
John Kennedy, "Medieval Scandinavia and the General Reader: English Language Books on the Vikings for the Non-Specialist".

GRANTS APPLIED FOR and ACHIEVED

As mentioned above, Professor Barnes and Professor Clunies Ross hold two ARC Discovery grants at present, one of which will terminate at the end of 2008, the other at the end of 2009. These are not, however, directly related to the activities of the Old Norse-Icelandic Studies cluster. Professor Barnes has Special Studies Leave in 2009 and aims to write up 'Writing From The Edge Of The World' as a monograph during that year. Professor Clunies Ross and Dr Burrows will continue their editing work on the skaldic project in 2009, and expect to have another volume ready for the press in 2010 (one has already been published in December 2007). Professor Clunies Ross intends to apply for a new Discovery grant in 2009 for 2010 for a different project.