Skaldic Poems and the Conversion of Norway

SKALDIC studies the history of the Norwegian society during the period of conversion from pagansim to Christian religion through the analysis of court poetry composed during the conversion period (c. 970s to 1028 - during the reigns of Hákon Sigurðarson (970s-995), Óláfr Tryggvason (995-1000), the sons of Hákon (1000-1016) and Óláfr Haraldsson (1015-1028)).

This period is particularly interesting, as it marked the end of the pagan Viking period and the beginning of a Christian society in Norway, a period characterized by profound religious, social, and cultural changes.

The novelty of the project lies in the fact that the history of this period has earlier been studied mainly through archaeological findings and literary texts such as the sagas, but the court poetry has not been fully investigated by historians.

In analyzing the poetry, SCALDIC applies a variety of methods from history, philology, archaeology and psychogenealogy and through this interdisciplinary approach SCALDIC has the potential to undiscover new elements of the conversion period in Norway.

The scientific impact of the project lies thus in the fact that SCALDIC studies an unexplored facet of Norwegian history.During SCALDIC, the Experienced Researcher (ER) will largely benefit from his integration to the host institute, University of Bergen and from the experience of the supervisor, Prof.

Kirsi Salonen, and Prof. emer. Else Mundal. He will receive training in Old Norse language and modern Norwegian as well as medieval palaeography. Furthermore, the ER will gain experience in teaching, project managment and publishing.