Cultural and Medieval Centre in Reykholt 

Harald Hardrada, the Mediterranean, and the Nordic World between the late Viking Age and the Eve of the Crusades  

Textual and material primary sources 

The First Symposium of the 

International Network A “Viking” in the Sun 

29-31 May 2023 

Program: 

Monday 29 May 

17:00 Departure from BSÍ – Reykjavík Bus Terminal 

18.30–19.00: Arrival in Reykholt 

19.00–21.00: Dinner 

21.00-21.30: James Cave:

Recitations from Snorri Sturluson’s Harald Saga in Norse and English.

Tuesday 30 May 

07.00: Breakfast 

9.00: Registration 

9.30: OPENING OF THE SYMPOSIUM (The Library of Snorrastofa): 

• Welcome by Bergur Thorgeirsson, Director of Snorrastofa, Cultural and Medieval Centre in Reykholt 
• Welcome and practical information by Gianluca Raccagni, University of Edinburgh, Chair of the international network A “Viking” in the Sun 

10.00-10.45: KEYNOTE LECTURE

David Abulafia (University of Cambridge): The Black Sea and the Viking road to Byzantium

10.45–11.15: Coffee Break 

11.15-12.45: TEXTUAL SOURCES 1: HARALD’S NARRATIVES

• Sverrir Jakobsson (University of Iceland): King Harald of Varangia and the Great Game of the eleventh century
• Jan Alexander van Nahl (University of Iceland): “You have managed everything in the worst possible way” – Anthropological findings on the Old Norse sagas of Harald Sigurdsson
• Carina Damm (Leipzig University): Haraldr the ‘Far-Traveller’? Following the víðfǫrla to Serkland

12.45–14.00: Lunch 

14.00–15.30: TEXTUAL SOURCES 2: MEDITERRANEAN ENCOUNTERS 

• Yannis Souraitis (University of Edinburgh): At the emperor’s service: Harald Hardrada in Byzantine sources 
• Harriet Clark (University of Nottingham): The Sicilian Campaign: The Making of a King 
• Marek Jankowiak (University of Oxford): A Viking and the Crescent: Harald Hardrada’s Islamic encounters 

15.30–16:00: Coffee Break 

16.00-17.00: MATERIAL CULTURE AND LEGACIES 1

• Glaire Anderson (University of Edinburgh): On Visualising Islamic-Viking Age Encounters: Material Evidence and Visual Culture Perspectives
• Svein Harald Gullbekk (Museum of Cultural History in Oslo): Harald Sigurdsson / Harald Hardrade and His Coinage Revisited

18.00-19.00: KEYNOTE LECTURE AND CONCERT

Supriya Nagarajan and James Cave:

Field of Broken Ice: Creative Responses to the World of Harad’s Saga

19.00–20.00: Reception Sponsored by the municipality of Borgarbyggð (in the Exhibition under the Church). Bergur Þorgeirsson: An introduction to the Snorrastofa. 

20.00–22.00: Gala dinner at Fosshótel Dining Hall 

Wednesday 31 May 

07.00: Breakfast 

08.30–9:30: Business Meeting of The International Network A “Viking” in the Sun (Library) 

9.30–10:30: MATERIAL CULTURE AND LEGACIES 2

• Caitlin Ellis (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies): A changed man? Souvenirs, sovereignty and the Mediterranean in Scandinavia
• Lisa Mahoney (DePaul University): St. Olaf and the Painted Legacy of Harald Hardrada 

11.00: Checkout from Hotel 

11.30–12:20: Lunch 

12.30: Departure from Reykholt to the waterfall Hraunfossar and the national park Thingvellir, the site of the Icelandic parliament from 930 to 1798. Also, a visit to a museum at the site. 

17.00: Arrival in Reykjavík 

Snorrastofa • 320 Reykholt • Tel: 433 8000 / 893 1492 • snorrastofa@snorrastofa.is • www.snorrastofa.is