SSNS Seminar – Dr Gwendolyne Knight – ‘Magical Stereotypes and Lived Religion in Medieval Sápmi’

The SSNS Seminar Series continues on 22 August with a talk by Dr Gwendolyne Knight – ‘Magical Stereotypes and Lived Religion in Medieval Sápmi’

This is a free, ticketed event; please register below.

Abstract:

‘This paper confronts the medieval stereotype of Saami ‘magic’ with results from recent archaeological and linguistic research concerning lived religion in medieval Sápmi, including the extent to which textual sources can or should be claimed to represent ‘medieval Saami’ individuals/groups. The stereotype of Sámi ‘magic’ has been especially enduring: firmly established by the Middle Ages, it gained particular traction in the brutal and intense missionary activity of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, and its effects are still felt in the present day. This paper contextualizes medieval ‘magic’ as a concept, then problematizes these stereotypes by centering Sami, rather than Norse, Swedish, or Latin, sources.’

Bio:

Dr Knight has an MA in Archaeology from the University of Aberdeen and an MA in Medieval Studies from Stockholm University, where she also completed a PhD. Following postdoctoral fellowships in Stockholm and Tokyo, Dr. Knight is now an assistant professor in premodern history at the Department of History, Stockholm University.

Registration below. Details for the Zoom meeting will be emailed in advance of the seminar.