Jesse Byock
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Jesse L. Byock (born 1945) is Professor of
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 ...
and Medieval Scandinavian Studies in the Scandinavian Section at the
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
(UCLA).


Career

He received his Ph.D. from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
. An
archaeologist 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 specialist in the archaeology, history and language of 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 ...
, he is Professor at UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. In
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, Prof. Byock is the Head Archaeologist and Director of the Mosfell Archaeological Project, excavating a Viking Age
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
described in the medieval
saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...
s and written sources. The Mosfell
excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...
include a large well-preserved
chieftain A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...
’s hall, Christian and
pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
burial sites, a conversion-age
stave church A stave church is a medieval wooden Christian church building once common in north-western Europe. The name derives from the building's structure of post and lintel construction, a type of timber framing where the load-bearing ore-pine posts ...
, and a harbor from the first centuries of Iceland’s settlement during the Viking Age. Jesse Byock is also affiliated Professor at the
University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...
(Háskóli Íslands) in the Department of History and the Programs in Medieval Icelandic and Viking Studies, where he teaches courses in Old Norse and the history, archaeology, sagas and sources of Viking Age and Medieval Iceland.


Archaeological Field Project

Byock has worked at the Mosfell Archaeological Project, an archaeologically rich environment, including the excavation of a viking long house, chieftain's hall, and pagan and Christian burial yards. The Mosfell Valley and
Mosfellsbær Mosfellsbær (, colloquially Mosó) is a town in south-west Iceland, east of the country's capital, Reykjavík. The coat of arms of the municipality is a tightly-knotted triquetra, a symbol often used in Celtic knotwork and strongly associated ...
lie within the greater Reykjavik area.


Notable Books

* * ''Viking Language 1, 2nd Edition: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas'' * ''Viking Language 2: The Old Norse Reader'' * ''Viking Age Iceland'' * ''L’Islande des Vikings'' * ''La stirpe di Odino: La civiltà vichinga in Islanda''


Documentary Film and Multimedia

* Ari Trausti and Jesse Byock. ''Fornleirfar Tala: Höfðingjar í Mosfellsdal'' (‘Archaeologists Talk: Chieftains in the Mosfells Valley’) Icelandic TV documentary, 2015 * Byock, Jesse. “The Lore of the Ring” (2005). BBC Radio 3 and BBC World Service. Radio essay to accompany the New York Metropolitan Opera’s rendition of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Repeatedly aired 2005 – 2013 * Byock, Jesse and Stephen Ross. ''A Viking Landscape''. (2004). Ross Films, Documentary about the Mosfell Archaeological Project. * “The Vikings: Fury From the North.” (2001). Jesse Byock, Historical consultant on the Vikings for the History Channel. * “Leif Eiriksson – The Man Who Almost Changed History.” (2000). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film for Public Television, Ward Television, Smithsonian Institution for the Year 2000 Viking Exhibition. * “Vikings: The Saga.” (2000). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film for Smithsonian Institution. Year 2000 Viking Exhibition. * “Leif Eriksson.” (1995). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film, Arts and Entertainment series, ''Biography''. * “Vikings in America.” (1995). Jesse Byock, Specialist narrator for documentary film, The History Channel. * Ulin, D., and Byock, J. “Medicine and Viking Disease.” (1995). An episode in the series, ''A Moment of Science'' for National Public Radio. * “Evidence of the Vikings.” (1995). BBC film for the historical documentary series, ''Timewatch'' on British Television. Jesse Byock, Principal historical consultant, heading the research and involved in the script writing, shooting, narrating, and clipping.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byock, Jesse 1945 births Living people Harvard University alumni 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers University of California, Los Angeles faculty Historians from California American male non-fiction writers