This course will focus on questions related to how Icelanders have understood the human relationship with the (super)natural world since early times. It will begin with introductory lectures on Icelandic environmental history and on the history of creation as told in heathen Eddic poetry. Then it will continue by examining the role of vættir and spirits in Norse heathenism and animist belief systems at the time of the Landnám (i.e., the settlement of Iceland). It will then proceed to look at the process of demonisation of heathen ideas under Christian influence (after ca. 1000) as well as the changes wrought by Protestantism after ca. 1550. The endurance and refinement of traditional beliefs as a means of explaining natural processes will be a central theme. The self-taught natural philosopher Jón lærði Guðmundsson (1574-1658) and the literary circle around Bishop Guðbrand Þorlaksson (1541-1627) will serve as points of departure for discussions of Icelandic views of nature in the Early Modern age, when beings such as trolls, nature spirits and even outlaws were increasingly expelled into the highlands, down into the earth, or into the realm of folklore. 

The second part of the course will take place at Reykholt, near Snorri Sturluson’s compound at Reykholt. As the author of the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, Snorri was one of the primary architects of the premodern Nordic view of nature. The focus on the otherworldly will be followed up with emphasis on another Snorri, the pastor and poet, Snorri Björnsson of Húsafell (1710-1803). Snorri was known for his magical skills and his resistance to removing references to the devil from a new, “Enlightened” psalm book/hymnal, printed by Magnús Stephensen, a key spokesman of the Enlightenment in Iceland. The rich heritage of Icelandic folk literature and storytelling traditions will help to shape the discussion of the varied encounters between the older more animistic beliefs and the emerging Enlightenment and Romantic age. Our visit to Húsafell will also include views of glaciers (and former glaciers), as well as lavafields and caves that were once the abodes of fire giants.  We will also visit a unique Icelandic artist, Páll Guðmundsson, who reveals hidden spirits from the rocks. This encounter will foreshadow the final theme of the course, the potential for different and deeper approaches to nature than have been customary since the Enlightenment.

The course will involve multiple excursions and lectures in the field and will integrate perspectives, theories, case studies and methodologies from the Environmental Humanities; Literary Ecocriticism; Environmental and Climate History; Environmental Ethnography; Historical Ecology; Studies in Manuscript Culture.