Viking and Old Norse Studies

Viking and Old Norse studies is one of the most distinctive and fascinating programmes available in UK higher education, offering the chance to engage deeply with the language, literature, archaeology, and culture of the Norse world during the Viking Age and medieval period. Old Norse is the language of the Icelandic sagas, the Eddic poetry, and the runic inscriptions that together represent one of the richest bodies of vernacular literature in medieval Europe. Viking studies as a broader field draws on history, archaeology, place-name studies, and cultural studies to understand the Norse peoples who raided, traded, settled, and transformed much of Europe and beyond between the eighth and eleventh centuries.

At University College London, this four-year full-time programme gives you the language skills to read Old Norse texts in the original while engaging with the full breadth of scholarship on the Viking world. You will study the sagas, including family sagas, kings' sagas, and mythological narratives, alongside Eddic poetry, runic tradition, and the archaeology and material culture of the Norse world. The UCL context provides access to leading scholars and to significant library and archival resources for this field, and you will develop the philological and analytical skills that serious engagement with medieval language and literature demands.

Graduates from Viking and Old Norse studies go on to careers in museums and heritage, particularly in Scandinavia and in the many parts of Britain with significant Norse heritage, as well as in archives, publishing, education, journalism, and academic research. The specialist knowledge this degree provides is rare and genuinely valued in the heritage and cultural sector. The analytical and linguistic skills developed are also transferable to a range of professional contexts.

Postgraduate study in Old Norse, medieval studies, Scandinavian studies, or archaeology is a natural continuation for many graduates.