SEVENTH ANNUAL COLLOQUIUM ON THINKING ABOUT MYTHOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY Special focus: Myth and History

Departments of Celtic and Scottish Studies and Scandinavian Studies School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures Organiser: Emily Lyle. Email: [email protected]

19-20 October 2019

Venue: Room 1.06, 50 George Square, Edinburgh

PROGRAMME

Saturday, 19 October 2019 9.30 Registration 9.50 Introduction: Rob Dunbar, University of Edinburgh, , UK

SESSION 1 10.00 KEYNOTE: Joseph F. Nagy, , USA The Myth-History Pivot in Medieval Irish, Norse, and Persian Epic and Saga 11.00 Coffee

SESSION 2 11.30 Alexandra Bergholm, University of Helsinki, Finland The Idols of the Celtic Pagan Gods: Historia or Fabula? 12.00 Morten Warmind, University of Copenhagen, Denmark Myth to History in Saxo 12.30 Break for lunch

SESSION 3 2.00 KEYNOTE: Emily Lyle, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK The Dynasty from Scyld to Hrothulf in Beowulf and from Skiold to Høther in Saxo’s Historia Danorum as Disguised Theogony 3.00 Katherine S. Beard, University of Iceland, Iceland An Eitri Analysis: The Evolution of the Þórr’s Hammer Symbol 3.30 Coffee

SESSION 4 4.00 Daniel James Watson, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Ireland The Mortal and Divine Histories of Mongán mac Fiachnai in Cín Dromma Snechtai 4.30 Jonathan M. Wooding, Sydney University, Australia Celtic Myths of the Otherworld in Tales of Middle Earth and Narnia 5.00 Reception 6.30 Close

Sunday, 20 October 2019 9.45 Registration (for new participants)

SESSION 5 10.00 KEYNOTE: John Carey, University College Cork, Ireland The Nature of the Fomoiri: The Dark Other in the Medieval Irish Imagination 11.00 Coffee

SESSION 6 11.30 Elizabeth Gray, Harvard University, USA Tuatha Dé and Fomoire in Cath Maige Tuired: Relatives, Vikings, and ‘Others’ 12.00 Ina Tuomala, University of , Scotland, UK Pseudo-history and Cultural Identity: Interaction and Integration in Cath Maige Tuired 12.30 Break for lunch

SESSION 7 2.00 KEYNOTE: Jonas Wellendorf, University of California at Berkeley, USA Baldr and Ragnarøk: Past and Future 3.00 James Parkhouse, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, England, UK Loki the Slandered God in Snorri Sturluson’s Edda 3.30 Coffee

SESSION 8 4.00 Pierre Bigot, Poitiers University, France The Use of Nordic Mythology as a Political Tool: The Case of Jarl Hákon Sigurdsson 4.30 Discussion on Myth and History 5.30 Close

There will be a conference dinner at 6 pm in a nearby Nepalese restaurant. Anyone wishing to join in should sign up for the dinner at Registration. Payment will be made at the restaurant.