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The Beginning of Njáls Saga: Or the Attractions of Opposites.

06 December 2023, 6:00 pm–8:30 pm

A fourteenth-century manuscript of Njáls saga (Möðruvallabók).

Professor Haki Antonsson’s Inaugural lecture: The Attractions of Opposites. This event is free and open to all.

Event Information

Open to

All

Availability

Yes

Organiser

SELCS Department

Location

Gustave Tuck LT, Main building
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT

The main focus of the inaugural lecture will be the opening section of the late thirteenth-century Njáls Saga, widely considered the greatest of the Sagas of the Icelanders. The lecture will explore the author's approach to creating this section, while in a broader sense it will address the question of how saga authors employed their creative skills to invent individual scenes and sections, or even whole works. The lecture will highlight a hitherto largely unexplored technique that the saga authors used for these purposes. The lecture will touch on a number of Professor Haki Antonsson's past publications as well as ongoing research.

About the Speaker

Professor Haki Antonsson

Professor of Medieval Scandinavian Studies at UCL

Professor Haki Antonsson studied at the University of Iceland and the University of St Andrews, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2000. Before joining UCL in 2007, Haki held academic positions at the University of St Andrews, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Bergen. His publications include St Magnús of Orkney: A Scandinavian Martyr-Cult in Context (2007) and Damnation and Salvation in Old-Norse Literature (2018).