Gro Steinsland (born 1945) is a Norwegian scholar of

medieval studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. A historian who studies medieval studies is called a medievalist. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening ...

and

history of religion The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The Prehistoric religion, prehistory of reli ...

and since August 2009 has been the Scientific Director of the Centre for Advanced Study at the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

. Steinsland has most recently been a professor in the Institute for Linguistic and Nordic Studies at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, where she was also a member of the international interdepartmental Centre for Studies in the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

and Nordic

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

profile
at forskning.no Aslaug Veum
"Gro Steinsland: Veit ho nok, eller kva?"
, Portrait, ''Apollon'', University of Oslo research magazine, 1 April 1998. Retrieved 17 January 2011. from its founding in 1993 until its dissolution.Gunnhild Røthe
"Vet dere nok eller hva? Om den moderne volven Gro Steinslands forfatterskap"
''Prosa''. Archived 16 April 2016. Accessed 9 August 2023. She taught in the Institute for Religious Studies at the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway ( Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway a ...

and has held guest faculty positions at Linacre College,

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

. In 2007-08, she led the international interdisciplinary research group in "The Power of the Ruler and the Ideology of Rulership in Nordic Culture 800-1200" at the Centre for Advanced Study of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and, since 1 August 2009, has been its Scientific Director. Steinsland specialises in pre-Christian religion, the associated

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

texts and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

and the

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

of Scandinavia. At both Oslo and Tromsø, she made Norse religion a main subject within the history of religion programme. She is a member of the group for theology and religious studies in the Academy of Science and Letters. As a historian of religion, her publications take Norse paganism seriously and present it in a non-traditional light as having been still strong and vital when it encountered Christianity. In 2005, she published a wideranging introductory book, ''Norrøn religion'' (Norse religion), which presents the subject from the perspective of myth and praxis. In her 1989 Ph.D. dissertation, ''Det hellige bryllup og norrøn kongeideologi: en analyse av hierogami-myten i Skírnismál, Ynglingatal, Háleygjatal og Hyndluljód'' (the sacred marriage and Norse ideology of kingship: an analysis of the myth of the ''hieros gamos'' in ''

Skírnismál ''Skírnismál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Skírnir', but in the Codex Regius known as ''Fǫr Skírnis'' ‘Skírnir’s journey’) is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in the 13th-century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM ...

'', ''

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...

'', '' Háleygjatal'' and ''

Hyndluljóð ''Hyndluljóð'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Hyndla') is an Old Norse poem often considered a part of the ''Poetic Edda''. It is preserved in its entirety only in ''Flateyjarbók'', but some stanzas are also quoted in the ''Prose Edda'', where they ...

''), she reinterpreted the sacred marriage between a god and a

giantess Giantesses are imaginary, gigantic women. They are widely believed to be mythological by the humans of modern-day, since the term "giantess" is so generic, it seems possible to describe female giants not native to Earth which fall under the very ...

as a power

myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

legitimising rulership rather than a fertility myth; she specialises in the interpretation of written sources but made extensive use of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and frequently takes an interdisciplinary approach. She emphasised the female aspect of pre-Christian religion, particularly in her 1997 book ''Eros og død i norrøne myter'' (

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

and death in Norse myths), in which she contrasts the sexualisation of death in, for example, references to drowning as being embraced by the sea goddess Rán with the post-conversion view of female sexuality as shameful. Steinsland has written newspaper opinion articles, for example in 2000 taking the position that

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

expedition to

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

was inspired by a conjectural "charade" orchestrated by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

."Heyerdahls og Odins 'narrespill': Med Thor Heyerdahls nye Odin-prosjekt er et 800 år gammelt 'narrespill' satt i scene, en gedigen skøyerstrek, regissert av Snorre Sturlason"
, Meninger - Kronikk, ''Aftenposten'', 24 November 2000. Retrieved 14 January 2011.

Selected publications

* ''Det hellige bryllup og norrøn kongeideologi: en analyse av hierogami-myten i Skírnismál, Ynglingatal, Háleygjatal og Hyndluljód''. Oslo: Solum, 1991. . Doctoral dissertation, University of Oslo, 1989. * (with Preben Meulengracht Sørensen) ''Før kristendommen: digtning og livssyn i vikingetiden'' Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1990. * (with Preben Meulengracht Sørensen) ''Menneske og makter i vikingenes verden'' Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1994. * ''Eros og død i norrøne myter''. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 1997. * (with Preben Meulengracht Sørensen) ''Voluspå, Gjendiktning og kommentar''. Oslo: Pax, 1999. * ''Den hellige kongen; om religion og herskermakt fra vikingtid til middelalder''. Oslo: Pax, 2000. * (with Magnus Rindal) ''Heilage stader i Norge''. Oslo: Det Norske samlaget, 2001. * ''Norrøn religion: Myter, riter, samfunn''. Oslo: Pax, 2005. * (Ed.) ''Words and Objects: Towards a Dialogue Between Archaeology and History of Religion''. (Conference proceedings) Instituttet for sammenlignende kulturforskning Serie B-Skrifter 71. Oslo: Norwegian University Press / Oxford/New York: Oxford University, 1984. * (Ed.) ''Voluspå, og andre norrøne helligtekster''. Verdens hellige skrifter. Oslo: De norske Bokklubbene, 2003. * (Ed.) ''Draumkvedet, og tekster fra norrøn middelalder''. Verdens hellige skrifter. Oslo: De norske Bokklubbene, 2004.

References

External links

at Institute for Linguistic and Nordic Studies, University of Oslo
Gro Steinsland
at OCLC Worldcat

at Worldwide Universities Network: Medieval Studies {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinsland, Gro 1945 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Oslo Academic staff of the University of Tromsø Old Norse studies scholars Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Norwegian women academics Writers on Germanic paganism