Review of: Chris Callow: Landscape, Tradition and Power in Medieval Iceland. Dalir and the Eyjafjörður region c. 870 – c. 1265. In: H-Soz-Kult, 04.02.2022, open access.

Jan Alexander van Nahl 2021: »A waste of effort«? Towards a Reassessment of the Old Norse Kings’ Sagas (With a Comment on a ›Living Handbook of Old Norse Studies‹). In: Andreas Schmidt, Daniela Hahn (eds.): Unwanted Neglected Approaches, Characters, and Texts in Old Norse-Icelandic Saga Studies (Münchner Nordistische Studien 50). München, pp. 272-307. (open access)

I am talking a bit about an ongoing research project of mine, about darkness in the Sagas of Icelanders. You can find an Icelandic version here, and an English version here.

Review: Nicolas Meylan/Lukas Rösli (eds.): Old Norse Myths as Political Ideologies. Critical Studies in the Appropriation of Medieval Narratives.
open access

After seven years of reading, researching, and writing, my book on the role of contingency and chance in the Old Icelandic Kings' sagas has been published with de Gruyter!

Út er komin bókin Kontingenz und Zufall in den altisländischen Königssagas eftir Jan Alexander van Nahl, dósent í íslenskum bókmenntum fyrri alda við Íslensku- og menningardeild Háskóla Íslands. Það er De Gruyter sem gefur bókina út.

⇒ Háskólafréttir

Erindi á menntakviku 2021 (15.10.2021)

Markmið þessa verkefnis var að kanna hvort fagleg hugleiðing um sögulegar krísur hefði áhrif á viðhorf til COVID-19. Krísuhugtakið hefur verið áberandi rannsóknarefni á sviði miðaldabókmennta í áratugi og er þá fyrst og fremst um tengsl milli félagslegar og pólitískar krísu á Sturlungaöld og þróunar bókmennta á þeim tíma að ræða. Rannsóknarverkefnið sem hér er lagt fram snýr að því að kanna hvort krísuhugtakið sé fyrst og fremst fræðileg afstæð hugmynd sem tali lítið til raunveruleikans eða eða hvort hugleiðing um sögulegt samhengi af krísum skipti máli þegar veröldin og samfélagið lenda í krísu.

Í dag flutti ég erindi um siglingafræði á víkingaöld fyrir 30 áheyrendur á IÐNÓ, skemmtilegt, takk fyrir mig!

"Unzeitgemäßes zur radikalen Geschichtlichkeit des Menschen" (Literaturkritik 09/2021)

Review: Fritz Peter Knapp, Vergleichende mediävistische Literaturwissenschaft. Ein Wegweiser zur verlorenen kulturellen Einheit Europas vor tausend Jahren. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 2020.

In: Germanische Altertumskunde Online 2021 (link)

Abstracts welcome! (deadline for submitting an abstract is October 31st)

(Medieval) Scandinavian studies have been subject to cutbacks in recent years. This current state asks for individual assessment within different contexts. Old Norse literature, as one example, is a favorite among laymen, yet the employment of experts who make these sources available is more precarious than ever. Even more troublesome, Old Norse lore is regularly used as a source for allegedly age-old pagan customs, and populist groups as well as social media are quick to exploit connotations far from any scholarly state of knowledge. Specialists in Scandinavian studies face the challenge to counteract the misinterpretation of their objects of study, but they also have to deal with the apparent disinterest of (university) politics to maintain their expertise in times of sociopolitical challenges. This special issue seeks to bring together opinions on this complex status quo, including recent developments at certain universities or in certain countries, the role of individuals in shaping the field, the (mis)use of Old Norse sources in politics and society, adaptions in modern media, as well as ideas of the North in public perception.

More info here.

This peer-reviewed publication is free of charge! Please let me know in case you have any question!