Project description
Fascination of pre-Scandinavian pagan traditions in Modern times
The ancient Scandinavian beliefs still exist today and continue to captivate those who see them as a wellspring of esoteric knowledge. However, a growing concern has arisen regarding the association between these beliefs and far-right political ideologies. The MSCA-funded RUNEKITSCH project aims to investigate the link between runic inscriptions, eddic poetry and magic in pre-Christian Scandinavia, spanning from the High Middle Ages to the present day. The project’s goal is to identify High to Late Medieval practices, such as runic inscriptions and poetry that make reference to magic and runes. These reveal a fascination with the pagan past rather than being remnants of pre-Christian traditions. Additionally, the project delves into the ongoing phenomenon of alienated attraction, often referred to as runic kitsch.
Objective
This research project will examine a history of views of pre-Christian Scandinavia that begins in the High Middle Ages and continues
in the present day, focusing on a persistent association between runic inscription, eddic poetry, and magic. Rather than continuities
or survivals of pre-Christian practices into the Christian period, this research will reveal them as fundamentally High to Late Medieval
practices (such as magical runic inscriptions using eddic meters, and eddic poetry referring to runes and magic) showing a form of
alienated attraction toward the pagan past. The survival of this attitude will be traced through the Early Modern period, in which
learned writers not only take these Medieval Christian textual objects at face value, but also reproduce their stance of alienated
attraction, continuing to view the pre-Christian past as a source of esoteric knowledge. Finally, we see this view continually
reproduced through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries even as modern philology continues to develop. In this period, we also
see both “serious” scholarship on this subject and para-academic occultist interest in it become increasingly entangled with the
politics of the far right. Ultimately this research will reveal the continuing stance of alienated attraction as a form of runic “kitsch.” The
project will be carried out in four phases to cover the necessary methodological concerns and sources from three periods (Medieval,
Early Modern, Modern). The results will be disseminated as a monograph manuscript, as well as in media articles and through papers
given at international conferences.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- humanities languages and literature literature studies history of literature
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
405 30 Goeteborg
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.