Anyone who can make to Laugavatn on the 21st and 22nd of October is welcome to attend the Sigfús Blöndal Memorial Conference on Varangian Studies.

University of Iceland, Laugarvatn, 21-22 October of 2021

Day one (21 October)

Session 1 (12.45-15)

Chair: Sverrir Jakobsson

Þórir Jónsson Hraundal, Varangians in Arabic sources

Tonicha Upham, Naming, Defining, and Describing Women in the Arabic and Persian Sources on the Rūs

Csete Katona, “They die when he dies”. The king of the Volga Rus’ and his comitatus

Session 2 (15.45-17.15)

Chair: Daria Segal

Ildar Garipzanov, The Concept of “Varangian Christianity” Revisited

Monica White, The Rhythm of Byzantine-Rus Relations

Day two (22 October)

Session 3 (10-11.15)

Chair: Þórir Jónsson Hraundal

Sverrir Jakobsson, The Making of the Varangians

Ryan Fenster, The West on The North in The East: Western images of the Norse and the Rus’, 800-1250 AD

Session 4 (12.30-14)

Chair: Sverrir Jakobsson

Roland Scheel, Deconstructing Væringjasaga: Byzantine and Old Norse Perspectives on the Varangians

Daria Segal, Discursive Strategies Concerning Scandinavian Presence on the Territories of Rus’ in Old Church-Slavonic Sources.

Session 5 (14.45-15.45)

Chair: Daria Segal

Kjartan Jakobsson Richter, Nordic Missionaries

Valur Gunnarsson, The Ancient Rus and the Ukraine-Russia Crisis

Session 6 (16-17.00): Final discussion, the upcoming book project