CfSS seminar 27/11 - Dr Christian Cooijmans, 'A Past that Never Was: Examining Vikings in the Late Medieval ‘Dane saga’ of Breda'

[Burrows, Hannah]

Dear All,

On Thursday, 27 November the Scandinavian Studies seminar series will be joined by Dr Christian Cooijmans (Oslo) who will talk on 'A Past that Never Was: Examining Vikings in the Late Medieval ‘Dane saga’ of Breda' (abstract below, and note the local Aberdeen interest!). The talk will begin at 5.15pm in CB009, 50-52 College Bounds. For those not in Aberdeen who would like to join online, the Teams link is copied below. After the talk, we will take the speaker to dinner at Poldino's — if you would like to join us for dinner, please let me know by noon on Wednesday. 

All welcome — we look forward to seeing you there.

Best wishes,

Hannah

Abstract: Tucked away in the present-day southern Netherlands, the historic town of Breda has long been home to a unique late medieval manuscript, whose contents represent an offbeat pastiche of premodern literary imagination. Customarily known by the name Dane saga (‘Denensage’), its verse text narrates how a group of ‘vikings’ – originally bound for Aberdeen – found their way to Breda, established a fortress there, and wreaked havoc across the region for thirty years. In doing so, the work exemplifies how memories of a bygone viking past – both real and imagined – served a continued role in the development of urban social memory in the late medieval Low Countries. Placing the Dane saga in its social and cultural context, this paper will explore its wide-ranging narrative influences, determine its potential authorship, and examine why it was produced in the first place.

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Dr Hannah Burrows, FRHistS
Senior Lecturer in Scandinavian Studies

Director, Centre for Scandinavian Studies

University of Aberdeen · Crombie Annexe (CA102) · Meston Walk · Aberdeen · AB24 3FX

Honorary Secretary, Viking Society for Northern Research

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The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.
Tha Oilthigh Obar Dheathain na charthannas clàraichte ann an Alba, Àir. SC013683.