This course offers close examination of global issues and features in literature, often those at the center of current critical interest. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
| Distribution Area | Prerequisites | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Arts and Humanities- or -Global Learning | 1 course |
Spring Semester information
Amity Reading215A: Tps:Viking Myths and Modern Myth-Making
This course introduces students to a wide range of texts from the Viking-Age North Sea region (ca. 793¿1300 CE), beginning with the first Norse territorial expansions into Anglo-Saxon England and ending with the widespread Christianization of Iceland and Norway. The course will include selections from Old English poetry, the Eddas (prose and poetic), Norse þattr, Icelandic sagas, Icelandic law, Arabic travel narratives, and various other documents that tell the story of cultural contact between the Viking peoples and their neighbors near and far. We will consider the act of encountering literature in translation, investigate the historical and etymological origins of the term Viking, and probe the assumptions behind pop culture representations of medieval Scandinavians. The course will also address the appropriation of Viking culture by modern special interest groups. What are the past and present myths surrounding Viking culture, and how can we begin to uncover the truth about this complex group of peoples?
Tamara Stasik