Upcoming Conference:
Tionólfár comhdháil, ”Sacred Networks: New Perspectives on Hagiography and Saints’ Cults in the Celtic and Norse Worlds”, i gColáiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath, 1-2 Bealtaine 2026, faoi choimirce an Celtic Hagiography Network agus an Norse Hagiography Network. Is í an tOll. Siân Grønlie (Ollscoil Oxford) a thabharfas aoiléacht. Tá Institiúd don Léann Daonna UCD ag déanamh urraíochta don chomhdháil, le tacaíocht ó Scoil na Gaeilge, an Léinn Cheiltigh, agus an Bhéaloidis. Beidh an clárúchán oscailte agus an clár ar fáil go luath in 2026.
The Celtic Hagiography Network and Norse Hagiography Network will host the conference, “Sacred Networks: New Perspectives on Hagiography and Saints’ Cults in the Celtic and Norse Worlds” at University College Dublin, 1-2 May 2026. We are delighted to be featuring Prof. Siân Grønlie (University of Oxford) as keynote speaker. The conference is sponsored by the Humanities Institute at UCD with support from the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore. Registration and conference programme will be available in early 2026.
Sponsored Sessions at the Leeds International Medieval Congress, 6-9 July 2026:
Session 529: Perceptions of the Past in Insular and Norse Hagiography, I: (Re)Constructing Saints Tuesday, 7 July 2026: 9:00 AM-10:30 AM
Exequiel Monge-Allen (Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación Santiago de Chile) – Grían án inse Goídel: The (Reconstructed) Life and Deeds of St Máel Rúain of Tallaght
Natasha Bradley (University of Oxford) – Remaking the Harlot’s Past: Female Sexuality and the Differing Old Norse Versions of the Life of Mary of Egypt
Maria Zenkova (National Research University Higher School of Economy) – Genealogy and Sacred Chronology: The Prologue of the Old Norse Clemens Saga as a Narrative Strategy
Session 629: Perceptions of the Past in Insular and Norse Hagiography, II: (Re)Constructing the Past Tuesday, 7 July 2026: 11:15 AM-12:45 PM
Tiffany Nicole White (Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum, Háskóli Íslands, Reykjavík) – Pagan Temples in Old Icelandic Literature: Inspired by Hagiography?
Ido Kons (University of Cambridge) – A Legitimising Libellus: Presenting the Past in 12th-Century Glasgow
Gwenffrewi Morgan (University of St Andrews) – Applying a Welsh Environmental-Historical Model to a Re-Written Strathclyde Saint?: Jocelin of Furness’ Vita Kentigerni and Models of Hagiographic Periodisation
Session 729: Perceptions of the Past in Insular and Norse Hagiography, II: (Re)Constructing the Past Tuesday, 7 July 2026: 2:15 PM-3:45 PM
Bond West (University of Oxford) – Prose and Verse Intertextuality in Old Norse Religious Literature
Markus Heide (Universitetet i Oslo) – The Saint’s New Clothes: The Application of Pagan Motifs in Kennings in Plácitusdrápa
Sarah Schnödewind (Historisches Seminar, Universität Münster) – Constructing the Past in the Metrical Vita Ælphegi: Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 375
(Above sessions co-sponsored with the Norse Hagiography Network)
Session 1450: Dating Celtic Hagiography: A Round Table Discussion
Wednesday, 8 July 2026: 7:00 PM-8:00 PM
Participants: Jesse Harrington, Barry James Lewis, Russell Ó Ríagáin, Nicholas Thyr, Sarah Waidler
Session 1636: Recent Advances in Dating Irish Hagiography across Disciplines Thursday, 9 July 2026: 11:15 AM-12:45 PM