Queens in the North: Elite women, social networks, & the world of the sagas

This event will take place in Room 104 of Senate House in Bloomsbury.

All are welcome and tickets are free but sign-up is required due to space constraints.

Summary: A vivid reconstruction of Scandinavia’s Viking Age past can be gleaned from the Old Norse kings’ sagas, and the distinctive place of women in their internal political scene still holds some surprises. In this talk Markus draws on his recent research on Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla and other sagas to explore their vision of royal and aristocratic women as protagonists who used social networks, interpersonal bonds, and political rituals to play the political game and claim political influence on par with with men.

Our speaker: Markus Eldegard Mindrebø is Associate Professor of Medieval History at the University of Stavanger, Norway. His research focuses on women, social networks, and political participation in the medieval Old Norse kings' sagas, as well as the representation of the medieval world in modern video gaming. Markus completed his PhD at Royal Holloway and is the author of Women, Politics, & Social Networks in the Sagas of Norwegian Kings, published earlier this year.

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Host or Publisher Kate Cooper, Bedford Centre for the History of Women and Gender