Welcome to the website of the Viking Society for Northern Research, the world’s foremost learned society in the field of medieval Scandinavian and Northern studies.
The Viking Society is launching a new bursary in honour of Professor Peter Foote, who died in 2009. Having in mind his conviction that young scholars should spend as much time as possible experiencing at first hand the culture of Scandinavia (including Iceland, Greenland and the Faroes), his family made a generous donation to the Society to fund an annual bursary for a postgraduate student to spend time studying or researching in Scandinavia. This sum was supplemented by the proceeds of an auction, run by the Viking Society, which distributed Peter’s magnificent library to appreciative scholars and readers. The first bursary, worth £900, will be awarded for 2013-14. Applications are due by 15th July. More details below:
The Peter Foote Memorial Bursary honours the commitment of the late Peter Foote to scholarship, and particularly his belief that scholarship within the field of Scandinavian studies is enhanced by the opportunity to spend time studying in Scandinavia itself. The Bursary, generously funded by donations in memory of Peter Foote and a donation from the Foote family, is awarded to assist with travel to and from and / or subsistence while in Scandinavia (including Faroe, Finland, Greenland, and Iceland), in order to undertake study or research, for a period of not less than one week and not more than one year. It will not be awarded for the purposes of participation in a conference or training programme.
Applicants must be postgraduate students at a higher education institution in Britain and Ireland, whose postgraduate studies are in any field of Scandinavian studies from the Viking period to the end of the Middle Ages. They should also normally be members of the Viking Society. The Bursary for 2013-14 will be to the value of £900.00.
In the case of more than one application, the Bursary will go to the project which, in the Research Committee’s view, promises the greatest benefit as a contribution to scholarship and / or to the personal scholarly development of the applicant. Preference may also be shown to the applicant whose financial need is greatest.
A final report will be required from the Bursary holder, together with an account of expenditure with appropriate receipts. The report and account should be sent to the Hon. Secretary of the Viking Society (Dr Matthew Townend, Centre for Medieval Studies, The King’s Manor, York YO1 7EP) within three months of the end of the project for which the Bursary was awarded. The report will be placed on the Society’s website.
Applications, using the form available on the Research Support page of the Viking Society website, should be sent by e-mail to matthew.townend@york.ac.uk. The deadline for the 2013-14 award is July 15th 2013. Late applications will only be considered under exceptional extenuating circumstances.
Please see the Support Fund page for application form.
Next meeting: Annual General Meeting and Dinner:
This will be held on Friday November 15th at UCL. Dagfinn Skre of the University of Oslo will speak, topic to be announced.
Spring meeting 2014:
To be held at University College London, date to be announced. Erin Goeres will be the speaker.
The Society’s most recent publication is an edition of The Uppsala Edda by Heimir Pálsson, which appeared in 2012. This is based on the fourteenth-century version of Snorri Sturluson’s Edda found in the manuscript DG 11 4to, which differs considerably from the Codex Regius text edited by Anthony Faulkes, also published by the Society.
Snorri-Sturluson. Heimskringla I. The Beginnings to Óláfr Tryggvason: In 2011 the Society published the first part of a three-volume translation of Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla by Alison Finlay and Anthony Faulkes.
Volume II will be published in Summer 2013.
The Society’s Support Fund, which helps members with research and travel costs, continues to welcome applications. The procedures for applying have changed slightly, however. Please see the Support Fund page for details.
Members and prospective members are reminded that subscriptions, which are due for renewal on 1 October, have risen slightly in price: Ordinary membership now costs £25.00 and Student Membership is £10.00 per annum. This change applies to new subscriptions as well as renewals. See the membership page for information about how to join or renew your subscription.
