Norse in the North

Norse in the North, an early-career researcher conference, was hosted at the University of York in 2025. A range of PhD students from across the country joined us in York to present current research on Scandinavian culture from across the medieval period on the theme of ‘power and powerlessness’. Early-career medievalists, historians, linguists, and literateurs discussed a range of topics, such as: Scandinavian magic, emotional language, the Scandinavian equestrian-rider relationship, Scandinavian demonology, conversion narratives, and religious motivations.

Norse in the North is intended to perform as a space for demonstrating the strength and originality of Old Norse research in the North of England, in the form of an annual interdisciplinary conference in Old Norse and Viking Studies. This conference is shared between the universities of Durham, York and Leeds, and the first conference was held by Durham in 2012.

While Norse in the North is intended to bring postgraduate-researchers from across the north of England, the actual pull of this year’s conference was from across both England and Scotland. Speakers from Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham, York, Durham, St Andrews, and the Scottish Highlands and Islands all attended to speak. This included several non-speaking participants from York, Leeds, and Durham.

Also in attendance were a few masters students from York, Leeds, and Durham; and there were even some prospective A-level students in attendance who had applied for an undergraduate at the University of York. All attendants were graciously pleased to hear Dr Grace O’Duffy of the University of Oxford give her keynote address: ‘Structures of consent in Old Norse Literature’.

The generous funding of the Humanities Research Centre allowed for free entry tickets, allowing for a reasonably large conference of nearly one hundred attendees, and this no doubt encouraged the attendance of non-speaking researchers and interested parties.

The output of this event was a great deal of networking between early-career researchers from across the United Kingdom, with additional opportunities for masters students and prospective undergraduates to get a taste of high-level academic research. Speakers, by presenting their research, were able to enter into conversations with peers about their work, thus improving the quality of their research also. Additionally, conversations have been struck up with the Old Norse/Vikingist cohort at Leeds to help arrange their hosting of next year’s Norse in the North.