The next lecture in the Isle of Man College’s History & Heritage lecture series takes place on Wednesday 4th May, when Professor Howard Williams of the University of Chester will be talking about “Smiths, Myths and Viking Age Stones”.
Professor Williams will be examining depictions of smiths from Norse mythology on Viking Age stones in the British Isles, as well as on rune-stones and picture-stones from Scandinavia.
In northern England and southern Scotland, archaeologists have long been fascinated by scenes depicting the mythological smiths, Regin and Weland, which have been found on a number of Viking Age stones. In many cases, the scenes include the image of the smith alongside a range of associated items.
By exploring these scenes, Professor Williams will examine the complex identity of the mythological smith, and the role of the smith in early medieval life and society. He will also suggest that by viewing the figure of the smith as a part-human and part-mechanical ‘cyborg’, we can more easily understand the smiths’ role in Norse mythology as transformers of both people and things.
Professor Williams’ talk on “Smiths, Myths and Viking Age Stones”, will take place in the Lecture Theatre at Elmwood House at 6pm on Wednesday 4 May. All are welcome, and no booking is required. Parking for the lecture is at Thie Ushtey (off Greenfield Road).
Howard Williams is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Chester. His research focuses particularly on death, burial, and commemoration. You can find out more on his blog, Archaeodeath: Archaeology, Death and Material Culture, including his latest research about Weland the smith.
The History & Heritage lecture series showcases new research in history and heritage, both on the Isle of Man and further afield. Further details about the lecture series can be found online at http://catrionamackie.net/lectures/.
The first three lectures in the series are now available to view online.
We love helping Isle of Man businesses get the recognition they deserve! We bring your great local deals and lots of news on local events on the island..
The following Cookies are used on this Site. Users who allow all the Cookies will enjoy the best experience and all functionality on the Site will be available to you.
You can choose to disable any of the Cookies by un-ticking the box below but if you do so your experience with the Site is likely to be diminished.
In order to interact with this site.
To help us to measure how users interact with content and pages on the Site so we can make
things better.
To show content from Google Maps.
To show content from YouTube.
To show content from Vimeo.
To share content across multiple platforms.
To view and book events.
To show user avatars and twitter feeds.
To show content from TourMkr.
To interact with Facebook.
To show content from WalkInto.