Closure of the third edition of the course Icelandic sagas
The third edition of the university extension course Icelandic sagas is closed today, 17 April, at 4 p.m., in the Aula Capella of the Historic Building. The event is presented by the director of the course Inés García López, and the secretary of the Consulate General of Iceland in Barcelona, Astrid Helgadóttir.
The third edition of the university extension course Icelandic sagas is closed today, 17 April, at 4 p.m., in the Aula Capella of the Historic Building. The event is presented by the director of the course Inés García López, and the secretary of the Consulate General of Iceland in Barcelona, Astrid Helgadóttir.
The closure includes two lectures. First, Dr Irene García Losquiño, teaching fellow at the Centre for Scandinavian Studies at the University of Aberdeen, presents a pioneering study about Viking settlements in the Iberian Peninsula. The study has been developed considering a significant number of flint tools and two stone anchors found in the archaeological site Os Moutillós (Galicia). García Losquiño has developed the study together with archaeologists Jan-Henrik Fallgren and Ylva Backstrom, experts on Vikings and osteology, respectively, and the specialist in documentation Kenneth Oakes. Some Galician town councils and institutions involved in heritage conservation as well as experts from the University of Santiago have also collaborated in the study. And, second, Dr Enrique Bernández, researcher in the Complutense University of Madrid and translator, pronounces the lecture “Navegando por el Norte: el viaje de Ohthere”.
It is the first university course focused on the literary phenomenon of Icelandic sagas. It gathers undergraduate students, postgraduate students, philologists, historians, archaeologists, translators, journalists, etc. This year, students were able to attend the masterʼs degree Viking and Medieval Norse Studies at the University of Reykjavik during one week, thanks to the collaboration between the Consulate General of Iceland in Barcelona and the Consulate of Spain in Reykjavik. In this sense, Inés García highlights “the importance of international university cooperation strengthening in a moment in which Icelandic and Catalan institutions are beginning to establish cultural, academic and economic relationships”.
Icelandic sagas
Sagas are narrative art appeared in 13th century in Iceland as a way to tell the history of Icelanders. They mix realistic events with fantasy, oral immediacy with enigmatic Skaldic poetry, and they catch readerʼs attention as if they were a modern novel. Their singularity and profusion compared to other European medieval literary productions continue fascinating people today.
With the course, the University of Barcelona makes an important contribution to studies and research on Scandinavian medieval literature. Moreover, the course can enrich Facultyʼs medieval romance studies.