History Department

In July of 2015, with the assistance of a travel grant from the Scholarship in the Arts Fund at Memorial University, I was able to attend the Summer Course in Icelandic Language and Culture at the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies in Reykjavík, Iceland. My academic focus is on the Norse inthe North Atlantic, and the literary and material records left from medieval Iceland. This course has made it possible for me to more closely examine my source materials – particularly the Icelandic sagas – in their original Old Norse, because of the linguistic connections between Old Norse and modern Icelandic.

The course included in-class language instruction, guest lectures on Icelandic history andculture, and field trips to museums and important sites from the Icelandic sagas. There was a strong emphasis on speaking Icelandic with the other students on the course, but were encouraged to use our new language skills outside the classroom as well. Other students came from a broad range of academicbackgrounds: many were pursuing or had completed MA or PhD studies, several were linguists and translators, and a few (aside from myself) were medievalists. This also provided a unique opportunity to connect with similarly-minded academics, and I met several people with whom I intend to remain incontact, both personally and professionally.

The whole experience of travelling to Iceland and taking this course has helped me to betterunderstand the documents, eras, and people whom I have chosen to study. I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who is considering pursuing the study of Old Norse or modern Icelandiclanguages, or who has a particular interest in Icelandic history. While the course was extremely demanding, it was also (in large part because of this) extremely rewarding, and I believe it has mademe a much more capable student.