Arthur of the North: First International Conference organized by The Nordic Branch of the International Arthurian Society (IAS)

The conference 'Arthur of the North' is dedicated to Old Norse Arthurian narratives, which were extremely popular and highly influential for the development of Old Norse literary culture in general. From a European perspective, they belong to a vast liter ary tradition which was transmitted in Latin and all the medieval vernacular languages. Therefore, the focus of the conference will not be exclusively on the narratives themselves, but will discuss the relevant Old Norse and European literary, cultural an d historical contexts as well. The main theme of the conference is a vast interlingual and interdisciplinary topic, with an appeal and relevance far beyond literary interest in Old Norse Arthurian narratives. With invited key note speakers and a widely a dvertised 'call for papers', the conference will be an interdisciplinary event and will gather senior and junior scholars from national and international institutions. The conference will result in an academic publication with international exposure. The conference and the intended publication, will further strengthen the international and interdisciplinary nature of Old Norse philology, literary history and history, as teaching and research disciplines. This interlingual and interdisciplinary topic re flects perfectly the dynamics of medieval cultural politics, and illustrates cultural dialogues across national and lingual borders. Consequently, it is most appropriate as a primary topic of discussion at new international and interdisciplinary cultural meetings. The event will thus not only serve to convey a historical perspective on how literary activities conditioned social and political contexts. It will also accentuate that past literary art forms and modern discussion of these in new international constellations are enormously influential conditional factors for modern formation and institutionalization of teaching, research and cultural cooperation, on national and international political level.