Viking and Medieval Studies

Scandinavia’s Viking Age and medieval past continue to inspire popular culture around the world. In Viking and Medieval Studies, you investigate this period and its people through their language, literature, history and archaeology in a large community of leading scholars and engaged students. Our master’s programme forms a basis for a future career in museums, cultural institutions and research, but also in private enterprises and media.

You will get an MA-degree based on a combination of language, literature, history and archaeology of the Viking Age and Middle Ages, not offered anywhere else. You will take part in a diverse community of students and scholars exploring the Viking Age and medieval world from multiple perspectives.

At the University of Oslo, we build on long academic traditions in Viking and Medieval, and we encourage our students to engage with new and current research questions.

We welcome both international and Norwegian applicants with an interest in the European Middle Ages and Scandinavia’s role within it. If you have a BA-degree in the Humanities and sufficient credits in relevant subjects, we encourage you to apply!

Our Viking and Medieval masters’ programme combines rigorous academic training with rich cultural and historical experiences. We are a vibrant group of researchers and students, welcoming you to a well-rounded and deeply enriching education in Viking and Medieval Studies.

In Oslo, history is around the corner, with historical sites, artifacts and cultural heritage from the Viking and Middle Ages right in your everyday surroundings. You will have access to primary sources on campus or in the National Archives, the National Library, the new Viking Age Museum, the Museum of Cultural History and the medieval ruins of Oslo.

Our courses regularly include excursions that give you hands-on experience. The proximity of collections and research institutes allows you to participate in fieldwork and research projects of significant historical interest. You will also have access to extensive archives, historical documents, and cutting-edge archaeological research.

At the University of Oslo, you will collaborate with leading scholars in Viking and Medieval studies and study alongside students who share your passion for Viking and medieval history. In this vibrant environment, you will be able to build valuable connections for future academic and professional endeavours. Moreover, you can also immerse yourself in modern Norwegian language and culture, and a society that celebrates its Viking heritage and medieval past. Local festivals, reenactments, and other cultural events provide inspiring and practical insights into these historical periods and their reception.

Our core courses in the Viking and Medieval Studies masters give you a wide, interdisciplinary basis with historical, archaeological and philological perspectives. Building on this basis you can specialise in one or more of these disciplines, through a wide range of elective courses and your master’s thesis.

We offer advanced courses in runology, skaldic poetry and mythology, as well as Old Norse and Celtic texts, language, literature, medieval history, and archaeology. In addition, you are welcome to take elective courses in Old or Middle English, Latin, or other disciplines relevant to your masters.

For your MA thesis, you choose to write a philological thesis or to combine several disciplines, which makes our programme in Viking and Medieval Studies uniquely interdisciplinary. In your second year, you can choose to do an internship or to take more courses before writing a 30-credit MA-thesis in your last semester, or to write a 60-credit thesis over two semesters.

Our students have done internships at several museums in Oslo, at the National Library as well as at research institutes abroad.

We offer more advanced courses in runology than anywhere else.

You can take advanced courses in skaldic poetry taught by world-leading scholars.

In our flexible and interdisciplinary programme, your BA competence will be a valuable asset.

Our scholars are involved in research projects on skaldic poetry, ecocriticism in saga literature, medieval text culture, and epigraphy.

We offer a lively study environment, and in collaboration with learning assistants we have several colloquia in addition to our ordinary teaching, as well as social events to support an active study environment.

You are also encouraged to take part in organising the Oslo Student Conference on Medieval Europe.

And you can participate in the Student Committee and represent students in the program council and at the Department Board at ILN. Join us and contribute to a good study environment!

For more information about life at UiO and Campus Blindern, see Student Life, or Instagram

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To give you an impression of the possibilities afforded by the programme, you can have a look at what previous students have written about:

Gísli`s Guide to the Heroic Ideal -A Philological Analysis of Gísla saga Súrssonar and its Eddic Allusions = https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/113625

Finding Meaning in the Fabulous: A Historical Linguistic Study of the word (Finn)gálkn = https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/117493

The use and evolution of Runes in Video Games -A case study of World of Warcraft- = https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/104535

The Devil's Warriors and the Light of the Sun: Contextualising Immram Curaig Ua Corra = https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/38143