Grettir the Strong and Billy the Kid: Outlaws, myth and reality in Iceland and America

  Iceland

Reykjavik

Term: Summer 

Description: The main subject of the course is outlaws and outlaw mythology in Iceland and the USA. The various historical origins of outlaws, myths and folktales about outlaws, the mythological development, the fictionalized social bandit. The most common outlaw material in Iceland will be read and interpreted: medieval sagas, 17th century accounts, folktales, historical accounts, the relation between the highlands and the utopian/dystopic folktales on outlaws.

From the USA:
Eric Hobsbawm's well known works on social bandidts and subsequent criticism of his hypothesis, from various points of view, will serve as a reference point, but main emphasis will be on the interplay between myth and reality.

Objectives

The students are expected to gain a substantial knowledge of the historical and mythological variety of outlaw-material in Iceland and North-America, in international theoretical and cultural context.

Highlights: Outlaws are a fascinating subject as such, but in this course, there will be field-trips to a variety of Icelandic outlaw-sites, related to sagas and folktales. The course will start with a bus tour from the government building in Reykjavik, which once was a prison, housing one of the historical outlaws in Iceland. The bus will then head north, stopping at a few outlaw sites, such as the cave Surtshellir, and the group will stay one night in Skagafjordur. The legendary Drangey Island, known from the Saga of Grettir the strong will be visited, and then the the bus will take the group to Kidagil, the teaching and boarding location of the Svartarkot project. Kidagil and Svartarkot are in the vicinity of the rugged lava-field Odadahraun (Foul-deed lava), where a variety of folktales take place and some sites related to documented outlaws are to be found.

Cost in US$: Inquire for more information.

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Written Application

Svartarkot: Culture and Nature's Mission Statement: The Svartarkot Centre is an institute being developed in rural Iceland and dedicated to research and providing higher education on the interaction between culture and nature. The place, straddling the border between the settled landscape and the wilderness, is an appropriate place for investigating this interaction. The approach is multi-disciplinary, incorporating cultural studies, literature, history, anthropology, sociology, folklore, geography, geology, ecology and the natural sciences. Svartarkot is a farm giving participants first-hand experience of life on the edge of human habitation. Courses involve a generous number of excursions and field trips, capitalizing on the intriguing cultural and natural environment. The emphasis is on summer programmes intended for graduates or undergraduates. Courses are supervised by the Reykjavik Academy.