HA is now the Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe

We have changed our name to Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe (JEMNE). We've updated our domain to jemne.org and our mission statement. Links to articles published under The Heroic Age will continue to function without change.

We hope you share our excitement as we transition!

Mission

JEMNE is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal dedicated to the exploration of all aspects of early medieval Northwestern Europe from c. 300–c. 1400. Our mission is to provide a forum for the investigation of the histories, cultures, and peoples of the medieval North Atlantic and North Sea regions in their local, intercultural, and global contexts. We seek to publish work using a variety of methodologies and frameworks both emergent and traditional. We welcome innovative approaches to the field.

Issue 21: Teaching in the Middle Ages

23-Aug-2023

Beowulf and Medievalism: The Monsters Are Now Heroes

Carol Parrish Jamison (Georgia Southern University)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11106534

Abstract: Assigning works of medievalism alongside canonical medieval texts can prove effective in engaging student interest and introducing new perspectives to familiar material. In this essay, I discuss teaching strategies that proved effective in my newly-created senior seminar course, Beowulf and Medievalism. In this course, I teach two translations of Beowulf, Seamus Heaney’s 1991 version and Maria Dahvana Headley’s 2020 version. Students then read several revisionist novels: John Gardner’s Grendel (1971), Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead (1976), Susan Signe Morrison Grendel’s Mother (2015), and Maria Dahvana Headley’s The Mere Wife (2018). Student responses to these works not only sparked interest in the original text, but inspired research on a variety of topics, including ecocritical perspectives to Beowulf, Beowulf-inspired video gaming, toxic masculinity in the heroic code, and the roles of women in both Anglo-Saxon and contemporary society. Notably, students showed interest in the shifting role of Grendel and Grendel’s mother, from monsters to heroes, as reflections of today’s political and cultural concerns.

23-May-2024

Teaching the Middle Ages in the Global South: A Few Whys and Hows

Renato Rodrigues da Silva (Universidade Federal Fluminense)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11264875

Abstract: The study and teaching of the Middle Ages have been challenged lately. This article aims to discuss why and how this context can be studied and taught. The text addresses the problem trying to answer those questions in the Global South. The main argument is as the Global South has no direct connection to the early medieval period, a relation of alterity (instead of continuity) is imposed, while in the Global North the argument for continuity prevails. The article also argues that addressing distant pasts (as the early Middle Ages) from a meaningful pedagogical perspective using backward design methodologies can contribute to shape historical consciousnesses that are attentive to diversity, empowering students to imagine and build more diverse futures.

Issue 21: General Articles

23-Aug-2023

Scyld and Grendel: Two Reigns of Terror

Richard Fahey (University of Notre Dame) and Chris Vinsonhaler (City University of New York)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11106950

Abstract: Scyld Scefing is often praised as a god cyning “good king” (11), who establishes a heroic encomium in the prologue of Beowulf. However, on closer investigation, we will argue that the brave deeds of Scyld do not appear very different from Grendel’s fyrendæda “crime-deeds” (1001). We will contend that this parallelism has profound ethical implications for both the famous Scyld and the infamous Grendel, and the juxtaposition of the Scyld-episode and Grendel-episode serves to highlight their lexical and thematic similarities. In this article, we will challenge conventional readings of Scyld as an appropriative model of heroism in the poem. We will suggest that while Grendel represents a terror to Denmark, Scyld equally represents a terror from Denmark. In the violent world of Beowulf, heroes and monsters reign supreme, and both pillage, plunder and terrorize their neighbors.

23-Aug-2023

Reviews

Jones, Fossil Poetry

Miles Tittle (University of Ottawa)

Featured Article from Issue 14

Laurence Nowell's Edition and Translation of the Laws of Alfred in London, British Library Henry Davis 59

Rebecca Brackmann (Lincoln Memorial University)

Abstract: Laurence Nowell, a major figure in the sixteenth-century study of Old English law, laboriously gathered, transcribed, and edited Anglo-Saxon laws, eventually producing an Old English-Early Modern English edition and translation of the Laws of Alfred. Nowell's translation, examined in the context of comparable undertakings by his housemate Arthur Golding, reveals Nowell's strategies for making the Old English laws seem contemporary while still retaining their authoritative status as an object from the distant past. His manuscript's textual and visual emphasis on the royal origin of laws suggests that Nowell's presentation of Old English law as old and yet familiar also had political resonance for contemporary Elizabethan England.

Featured Article from Issue 17

Her Own Hall: Grendel's Mother as King

M. Wendy Hennequin (Tennessee State University)

Abstract: This paper proposes that Grendel's mother is represented as a king through idiomatic constructions and her possession of a hall, heirloom sword, and treasure. Her representation as kingly serves plot progression, gives Beowulf a high-status enemy, and explains Grendel's mother's "unqueenly" behavior.

Call For Papers
General Submissions

Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe welcomes and encourages papers on topics unrelated to themed sections at any time. Please refer to the Submission Instructions for more information.

International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 8–10, 2025

JEMNE: Journal of Early Medieval Northwestern Europe has proposed two sessions for the next Congress:

The Role(s) of Generative AI in Medieval Studies(?)

This session seeks contributions that propose novel methodologies or demonstrate responsible implementations of Generative AI (GAI) in research projects related to medieval studies. Methodologies may include text-based or non-text-based use of GAI and proposals can span a wide range of scholarly activities, from traditional academic works that challenge our understanding of the past to digital humanities projects to public-facing scholarship. All methods and implementations should address both the ethical and practical dimensions of using GAI for a wide range of scholars with different levels of access to (and comfort with) GAI.

Submissions are accepted through the ICMS Confex System here.

Archaeology in the Medieval Past

This session invites contributions focused on archaeological approaches to the medieval past. We hope to broaden the conversation around the unique insights archaeological methods provide into the material culture and lived environments of medieval societies. We welcome all proposals, including updates and insights emerging from current projects, applications of innovative methodologies (both theoretical and applied), and fresh approaches to traditional methods.

Submissions are accepted through the ICMS Confex System here.

Legal Notices

All files in this issue are offered to users free of charge for educational or personal purposes. Authors retain intellectual ownership of copyrighted material. Permission is not granted for commercial use.

All artwork on this site is copyrighted to the credited artist, and permission must be obtained from that person before the art may be used elsewhere. All uncredited artwork is believed to be in the public domain. If this is incorrect, please email the Editor-In-Chief and proper credit will be given or the artwork will be removed at once, whichever is the preference of the artist and/or the artist's legal representatives. If an image is in the public domain, feel free to download it and upload it to your own site. Please do not link directly to the image.