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Programme Structure

At Lögberg in Þingvellir National Park.

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.

1st semester (Autumn)

University of Iceland

Course work: 30 ECTS

2nd semester (Spring)

University of Iceland

Course work: 30 ECTS

3rd semester (Autumn)

Aarhus University or
University of Copenhagen or
University of Oslo

Course work: 30 ECTS

4th semester (Spring)

University of Iceland or
University of Oslo

Master´s thesis: 30 ECTS

The credit system at the University of Iceland and its partner universities in the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System or ECTS. Full-time studies for one academic year count as 60 ECTS credits, 30 ECTS credits each semester. At the University of Iceland School of Humanities, a typical course is 10 ECTS credits.

At present, the thesis semester can take place only at the University of Iceland or the University of Oslo, but work is currently underway to also include Aarhus and Copenhagen in the thesis semester. Students taking the third semester in Denmark (Aarhus or Copenhagen) will, therefore, have to take their thesis semester in Iceland.

There are thus at present four study tracks in the Viking and Medieval Norse Studies programme:




The study tracks 1 and 2 lead to a joint degree from the University of Iceland and University of Oslo. The study tracks 3 and 4 lead to a degree from the University of Iceland with a diploma supplement from Aarhus University or the University of Copenhagen.

Choosing a study track

Faculty members from Aarhus, Copenhagen and Oslo will be visiting Reykjavík in the 1st semester to present the course offerings in the 3rd semester (to the extent the course offerings have been decided) and participate in seminars. There is a limited number of seats at each of the three partner universities; this is especially true with the thesis supervision in the 4th semester. Consequently, it cannot be guaranteed that everyone gets his or her first choice placement in the 3rd and 4th semester. The deadline for choosing a study track is January 31.

For further information on the partner universities contact our VMN programme board members:

The 4th semester: The master's thesis

As already indicated, the 4th semester or the thesis semester can only take place at the University of Iceland or the University of Oslo.

The student shows in his master’s thesis that he/she can perform quality research in an independent manner on an academically important subject. The student has developed the ability to work independently and is prepared to write research papers on subjects in the area of medieval studies, on his own or with others.

A master’s thesis submitted to the University of Iceland should be approximately 50 pages, 20,000 words (ca. 400 words per page), inclusive of text, but exclusive of references, endnotes, appendices, and bibliography.

More information - Viking and Medieval Norse Studies