Call for Papers

“Don't adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.”

(J.R.R. Tolkien The Fellowship of the Ring)


We extend a cordial invitation to all scholars and students (BA, MA, PhD) interested in the study of the Anglo-Saxon period and in the various ways of retelling the Anglo-Saxon past across centuries.

This year the conference theme is an invitation to explore the relationship between the various tellers and the way they shape their tales. Whether it be Anglo-Saxon England or any other place in space and time, the storytellers have their own unique ways of telling or retelling a story, which is often deeply rooted in their cultural, linguistic or socio-historical context. Since the conference promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond, we would like to invite papers from various fields of interest (e.g. literature, culture, historical linguistics, paleography, history). This will hopefully allow for the continuation of our attempt to map the presence of Anglo-Saxons across time and space, from Middle Ages until the present day.


Papers may address, but are not limited to the following themes:

  • The oral formulaic tradition and the position of the scop in Anglo-Saxon culture
  • Various Anglo-Saxon narrators and narratives (poetry, prose, historiography, etc.)
  • Anglo-Saxon narrators and their counterparts in other cultures (e.g. scops and scalds)
  • Literary and other representations of the Anglo-Saxon past
  • Historical imagination and historical fiction
  • The passing of time, cultural change and the concept of national identity or heritage
  • Synchronic and diachronic approach to the Old English language
  • Linguistic and stylistic analysis of different narrative modes
  • Incorporation and role/function of the Old English language into modern narratives


Conference language: English


Paper Proposals:

We invite students and scholars from various academic fields to submit their proposals (c.a. 250 words) for twenty-minute papers.

Please fill in the registration form here.


Submission deadline: 7th January 2018


Conference fee: There is no conference fee and all the conference materials will be free of charge.


Organised by:

Old English Student Society (Institute of English Studies, Jagiellonian University)


Organising committee:

Jagoda Nosal

mgr Krystyna Strzebońska-Cichorz


Conference supervisor:

dr hab. Władysław Witalisz


Old English Student Society KNA UJ