This course will introduce students to Viking literature and culture.  Students will explore two important medieval genres: Old Norse mythology (including eddic and skaldic poetry) and Icelandic saga.  In addition, students will examine the literary representation of emotions, analyzing the important role emotions play in the construction of individual/communal identity, interpersonal communication/mediation, and codes of honor, justice, and vengeance.  

Upon successful completion of the course, each student should:

• Recognize Old Norse/Icelandic literary genres and conventions
• Understand Old Norse/Icelandic cultural values and how they are expressed in the literature
• Identify and analyze trans-historical connections among medieval and postmodern media
• Engage medieval literature critically and affectively
• Design original research project on emotions in an Icelandic saga
• Participate in a creative project that recreates Viking feast and game 

The Sagas of the Icelanders. Robert Kellogg, ed. Penguin, 1997. ISBN: 9780141000039

The Prose Edda. Snorri Sturluson. Penguin, 2005. ISBN: 9780170447552

Njal’s Saga. Robert Cook, trans. Penguin, 2002. ISBN: 9780140447699

Humiliation. William Ian Miller. Cornell University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780801481178