Instructor’s email: wellendorf@berkeley.edu

Cross-listed with Religious Studies C108

L&S Breadth: Historical Studies OR Philosophy & Values

Three hours of lecture and discussion per week. The course is intended to present a survey of the religious beliefs of Scandinavia from prehistory through the conversion to Christianity (eleventh century), as illustrated in narrative and, to a lesser extent, archaeological materials. The approach will be primarily source-critical, with some use of comparative Germanic and Indo-European data. By the end of the course, students should know the sources well, have an understanding of the major problems involved in this study, and be aware of the more important scholarly trends in the field.

Workload: A midterm exam (20% of the course grade); a draft of term paper (10% of course grade); term paper (40% of the course grade); and a final examination (30% of the course grade).

Texts:

Edda, trans. Anthony Faulkes, ISBN-13: 978-0460876162

The Poetic Edda (second edition), trans. Carolyne Larrington, ISBN-13: 978-0199675340

Norse Mythology, by John Lindow, ISBN-13: 978-0195153828

 All other readings are to be found in the course reader which will be made available through bCourses.

Prerequisites: None, although some background in folklore and mythology, religious studies, medieval literature and history, or Scandinavian culture are likely to prove helpful