Folklore and Nature on the Northern Shores of Iceland

Summer 2011. Post-graduate level. 10 ECTS credits. Language: English.

Location

Bjarnarfjörður (and vicinity) in Strandir, Iceland.

Registration

Enrolment deadline: TBA

Associated Disciplines

Folkloristics; Ethnology; Archaeology; History.

Keywords

Identity; Image; Folktales, Folk Belief; Center and Margin.

Description

In this course students will be introduced to Icelandic culture, folklore and nature through traditional cultural forms as well as in everyday life, media and contemporary innovation. Reflecting on both past and present, students will delve into the folk beliefs, calendar customs, life traditions, identity and images of Icelanders.

Through such expressive forms as oral tradition, Eddic poetry and the Icelandic Sagas we will look for representations of early times in Iceland. Through ethnology, archaeology and vernacular literary culture we will study national and local traditions, such as housing and food culture, but also the transnational communication of Icelanders with visitors and colonial authority through the ages. Through collections of folktales and legends we will explore narratives of hidden people, trolls and ghosts.

Taking a look at Icelandic film and media we will also explore how folklore and cultural images resonate in a variety of cultural forms and explore what images of nature, Vikings, 'rural folk', urbanites and international bankers may represent to the Icelandic audience, as well as to an international one. While the main focus is expressive and traditional culture, it is also multidisciplinary - drawing on the methods and perspectives of archaeology, history, ethnology and the natural sciences.

Icelandic culture is likewise closely interlinked with ecological and environmental conditions, as well as contemporary trends and images. Icelandic archaeology is, for example, particularly suited to geological analysis and comparison with ethnological and historical sources.

The course involves lectures, seminars and excursions into Strandir, on the northern shores of the West Fjords, a region known for its history of folklore and sorcery, driftwood, stark nature and rich marine life. Lecturers are scholars and academics in the field of Icelandic folklore, history and natural sciences.

Highlights

Icelandic folklore and nature with an emphasis on local culture in Strandir, on the northern shores on the Westfjords, in a global context. 

Learning Outcomes

Following the course, participants will have attained a working knowledge of Icelandic culture, history and nature with an emphasis on local culture in Strandir, on the northern shores of the West Fjords. They will also have the tools and familiarity necessary to delve deeper into subject on their own.

Supervisors

Kristinn Schram and Magnús Rafnsson.

Reading

A READER with selected articles will also be provided including excerpts, articles and chapters such as the following:

Ármann Jakobsson. 2009. “Food and the North-Icelandic Identity in the 13th Century Iceland and Norway”, Images of the North: Histories – Identities - Ideas (Studia Imagologica 14), ed. Sverrir Jakobbson et. al, Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Árni Björnsson. 1995. High Days and Holidays in Iceland, Reykjavík
Daisy Neijmann. 2010. “ Foreign Fictions of Iceland”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.
Edward H. Huijbens: 2010. “Nation branding – a critical evaluation assessing the image-building of Iceland”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.
Elves, Trolls and Elemental Beings (Icelandic Folktales II), trans. Alan Boucher (Reykjavik, 1977)
Gabriel Turville-Petre. 1964. Myth and religion of the North, New York.
Gísli Sigurðsson. 1996. “Icelandic National Identity: From Romanticism to Tourism”, in Making Europe in Nordic Contexts., Ed. P. Antonen. Turku: NIF Publications 35, pp. 41-75.
Guðrún Helgadóttir. 2010. “Nation in a sheep‘s coat: The Icelandic sweater”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.
Heiða Jóhannsdóttir. 2010. “Staging the Nation: Performing Icelandic nationality during the 1986 Reykjavik summit”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.
Hildigunnur Ólafsdóttir. 2010. “Powerful Images: Drinking in Iceland and Ideas of the North”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.
Icelandic Folktales and Legends, trans and ed. Jacqueline Simpson (London, 1972
Katla Kjartansdóttir. 2009.  “Remote, Rough and Romantic: Contemporary Images of Iceland in Visual, Oral and Textual Narrations,” Images of the North: Histories – Identities - Ideas (Studia Imagologica 14), ed. Sverrir Jakobbson et. al, Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Katla Kjartansdóttir. 2010. “The New Viking Wave”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.
Kristinn Schram. 2009.  ”The Wild Wild North: The Narrative Cultures of Image Construction in Media and Everyday Life”, Images of the North: Histories – Identities - Ideas (Studia Imagologica 14), ed. Sverrir Jakobbson et. al, Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Kristinn Schram. 2009. “Performing the North” in ARV: Nordic Yearbook of Folklore, ed. A. B. Amundsen, pp. 59-71.  
Kristinn Schram. 2010. “Banking on Borealism: Eating, Smelling and Narrating the North”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.
Landnámabók: The Book of Settlements, trans. Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards (Manitoba, 1972)
Legends of Icelandic Magicians, trans. and ed Jaqueline Simpson (Cambridge, 1975)
Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda (trans. Faulkes)
The Poetic Edda (translations by Larrington, Hollander, Dronke and others)
Viðar Hreinsson et al. eds. 2001.The Sagas of Icelanders, London.
Þorgerður Þorvaldsdóttir. 2010. “The Gender Equal North and Icelandic images of femininity and masculinity”, Iceland and Images of the North, eds. Chartier, D. & Sumarliði Ísleifsson.

Films viewed:

Huldufolk 102. Dir: Nisha Inalsingh
Children of Nature. Dir.: Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
101 Reykjavík Dir: Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
Nói the Albino. Dir.: Dagur Kári Pétursson
Jar City. Dir.: Baltasar Kormákur

Preliminary Schedule (subject to change)

June 2nd
Introduction
The World and Other-World of the Settlers

June 3rd
Poetry and Sagas

June 4th
Material Culture

June 5th
Nature and Survival
Orality, Literacy and Transnational relations
Excursion to Kaldrananes shores (driftwood spotting), the Hveravík archaeological site and the Húsavík farm (hands-on introduction to driftwood- and sheep farming)

June 6th
Seasonal and Life Traditions

June 7th
Folk Belief and Narrative

June 8th
Folk Belief and Narrative
Reception at the Museum of Sorcery.
Evening of traditional entertainment 

June 9th
Contemporary Culture: Media and Everyday Life

June 10th
Summing Up and Workshop
Excursion to the island of Grímsey (marine animal bird watching – angling optional)
(Angling and lecture en route)
>> 7PM – 9PM Dinner at Café Riis (catch prepared)
>> 9PM Reception at the Museum of Sorcery.
Evening of traditional entertainment

Structure and Evaluation

See: Framework

Guest Lecturers

Valdimar Tr. Hafstein, assistant professor in Folklore at the University of Iceland
Katla Kjartansdóttir, folklorist, Icelandic Centre for Ethnology and Folklore
Arnlín Óladóttir, ecologist, Regional Afforestation Project
Hafdís Sturlaugsdóttir, biologist and project manager at the West Fjords Institute of Nature
Other lecturers to be announced.

Enquiries

For specific information on this course and the Svartárkot program please send email to:  info@svartarkot.is