Title: Objects and Agency in the Medieval North: The Case of Old Norse Magic Swords
Abstract: Old Norse sagas" literary depictions of magic swords highlight the active role of objects in shaping and renegotiating cultural constructions of personhood and identities. By focusing on narrative portrayals of these artifacts and the psychosomatic dynamics of saga characters' interactions with said artifacts, this study illuminates the ecological entanglements between cognitive and material spaces across the medieval North, stressing cross-cultural variability and diversity inherent in medieval worldviews.