In this course we explore various categories of space in the field of Old Norse culture. Together with international guest scholars from different fields we want to find out how mythological, heroic, historical, geographical spaces or landscapes look like in written and oral narratives, but also on picture-stones, runic inscriptions, paintings, woodcarvings and manuscripts. Another promising question could be to ask about the relationship between texts, images and maps and the process of mapping itself.
Sagas and Space - Thinking Space in Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia
University of Zurich via Coursera
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Overview
In this course we explore various categories of space in the field of Old Norse culture. Together with international guest scholars from different fields we want to find out how mythological, heroic, historical, geographical spaces or landscapes look like in written and oral narratives, but also on picture-stones, runic inscriptions, paintings, woodcarvings and manuscripts. Another promising question could be to ask about the relationship between texts, images and maps and the process of mapping itself.
Syllabus
Week 1
Introduction and course overview: space as a key element of narration and representation
Week 2
Constructing mythological space: Eddic cosmography
Sources: Prose-Edda, Poetic Edda
Week 3
Discovering new spaces: geographical and social aspects; memory and space
Sources: Sagas (Grænlendinga saga, EirÃks saga rauða)
Week 4
Cosmography: descriptions of the world in texts
Sources: LeiðarvÃsir (Itinerary of Nikulas)
Week 5
Mapping the World: Cartography
Sources: Carta Marina
Week 6
Spatiality in visual media
Sources: picture-stones, runic inscriptions, paintings, woodcarvings, manuscripts
Week 7
Archaeology:
Sources:
Week 8 Language and space: spatial thinking in language; place names
Sources:
Conclusion and outlook
Taught by
Sandra Schneeberger
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Reviews
3.7 rating, based on 3 Class Central reviews
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I won't hesitate to name it as the best MOOC I have ever taken. Each week was run by different specialists (under the supervision of the main team) and it showed that the staff tried their hardest (and succeeded) to find the best specialist in each area. The course was demanding intellectually if not in the domain of time requirements - 5 hours a week seemed reasonable to me.
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