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Viking and Medieval Norse Studies

This two-year Nordic Master’s Programme offers an interdisciplinary approach to Viking and Medieval Scandinavia by drawing on expertise in the fields of Norse literature (including the eddas and sagas), linguistics, history, textual criticism, palaeography, runology, folklore, religion, art and archeology at four different Nordic universities and associated research institutes. Two of these, the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies in Iceland and the Arnamagnæan Institute at the University of Copenhagen, share custody of the largest single collection of Icelandic medieval manuscripts in the world. The programme is designed for international students holding a bachelor’s degree with a medieval component in at least one of the following areas: literature, history, religion, linguistics, anthropology, archeology, art history or folklore. Prior knowledge of Old Icelandic/Old Norse is not required. The language of instruction is English.

Viking and Medieval Norse Studies is an international two-year graduate programme (120 ECTS credits) leading to a master's degree. The first two semesters take place at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík. In the third semester, the students can choose between courses at Aarhus University, Denmark, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, or the University of Oslo, Norway. The fourth and final semester is reserved for writing a master’s thesis at the University of Iceland or the University of Oslo.

The Viking and Medieval Norse Studies programme welcomes qualified students with different academic backgrounds from all over the world.

This fall (2017) we welcome 34 new graduate students in Viking and Medieval Norse Studies at the University of Iceland. We are fortunate to get good students from all over the world, and this new group of 34 comes from Andorra, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, UK, and US. This promises to be a good year!

The application deadline for enrolment in the autumn of 2018 has passed. Late applications cannot be accepted. New applications for enrolment in the autumn of 2019 will be accepted from early December 2018 through January 2019 with the deadline of February 1st, 2019.

Next application deadline: February 1, 2019 (online application).

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The Nordic Master's Programme is initiated by the Nordic Council of Ministers. It aims to stimulate  cooperation between Nordic higher education institutions on the development of joint Master's programmes of high international quality that will attract both Nordic and non-Nordic students.