My colleague Larissa is going to be offering an online course in Old Norse this summer, and I highly recommend it for those of you curious about the language. Larissa is an accomplished linguist and medievalist and I highly, highly recommend her class.

The Eddas are important texts for us Heathens. While they are not sacred in and of themselves, they contain doorways and windows to the sacred. We can learn important things about our Gods and ancestors through them. We do ourselves a disservice by reading in translation. There is a saying very well known in translation studies: “translator-traitor.” In other words, the moment you’re dealing with a text in translation, you’re not longer dealing with the actual text. There is so much that we miss. This is a fantastic opportunity to acquire the basics of what is for us as Heathens, a very important language.

Course Description: This course will be an intensive introduction to the Old Norse language and literature. It will provide an overview of Old Norse grammar, as well as a brief survey of the Eddas. Readings will include excerpts from Gylfaginning of the Prose Edda, Hávamál and Völuspá of the Poetic Edda, and others depending upon student interest. The course will run once a week for 10 weeks, from June 3rd – Aug. 5th. The instructor will provide materials. No prior knowledge of Old Norse or Icelandic is necessary. If interested, please email larissa.parthenon@gmail.com.

Time: Sundays at 7pm EST.

Price: $250, payable in 4 installments if necessary.

About the instructor: Larissa is currently a PhD student in Medieval Studies at Yale University. She has a BA in Political Science from Columbia University and an MA in Medieval Icelandic Studies from the University of Iceland. Her mission is to make Old Norse more accessible to a wider audience.

please contact her directly at larissa.parthenon at gmail.com if interested.